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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



TUTTtrt — 

Chap......... Copyright No. 

ShelfiL&S 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



When called to guide a patient through an illness the physician 
should be constantly a watchman, and a therapeutist only when neces- 
sity arises. 



A TEXT-BOOK 



OK 



PRACTICAL THERAPEUTICS, 



WITH ESPECIAL REFEREN'CE TO THE 



APPLICATION OF REMEDIAL MEASURES TO DISEASE 



AND THEIR 



EMPLOYMENT UPON A RATIONAL BASIS. 



BY 

HOBART AMORY HARE, M.D., B.Sa, 

PROFESSOR OF THERAPEUTICS AND MATERIA MEDICA IN THE JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE OF 

PHILADELPHIA; PHYSICIAN TO THE JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE HOSPITAL; LAUREATE 

OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE IN BELGIUM, OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF 

LONDON ; CORRESPONDING FELLOW OF THE SOCIEDAD ESPANOLA DE HIGIENE 

OF MADRID; MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN PHYSICIANS; 

AUTHOR OF " A TEXT-BOOK OF PRACTICAL DIAGNOSIS," ETC. 



SEVENTH EDITION, ENLARGED, THOROUGHLY REVISED AND LARGELY RE- WRITTEN. 







LEA BROTHERS & CO., 

PHILADELPHIA AND NEW YORK. 

1898. 






■'8 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1898, by 

LEA BROTHERS & CO., 

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress. All rights reserved. 



AUG 1 8 1898 






WESTCOTT & THOMSON, 
ELECTROTYPERS, PHILADA. 



2nd COrY, 

: :9f 



THIS VOLUME 

IS DEDICATED TO 

Dr. J. WILLIAM WHITE, 

PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL SURGERY IN THE UNIVERSITY OP PENNSYLVANIA 



EVIDENCE OF FRIENDSHIP AND ESTEEM, 



THE AUTHOR 



PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION. 



The continued favor shown by students and practitioners of medi- 
cine toward this book, once again exhausting a large edition in 
about nine months, has naturally given its author great pleasure, 
because this favor indicates that it brings to their hands information 
which proves valuable in actual practice. In the preface to the last 
edition the author stated that every endeavor had been made by re- 
writing the text and carefully preparing new articles to keep the book 
abreast of the times and as useful as before. Equal attention has 
been given to the present issue, and in addition a number of illus- 
trations designed to elucidate descriptions of technique or thera- 
peutic results have been inserted. 

The opportunity has been embraced to make the text conform, 
not only as it has done to the Pharmacopoeia of the United States, 
but also to the British Pharmacopoeia of June, 1898. 

By these constant endeavors to maintain the object for which the 
book was written it is hoped that it may remain popular with medical 
readers. 

222 S. Fifteenth St. 
August, 1898. 



PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION. 



Although the number of copies printed of the fifth edition of this 
work was almost three times as great as was the case with earlier 
editions, they have been rapidly exhausted and the author has been 
called upon within two years to prepare the manuscript for the sixth 
edition. The original object of the book was to present the physi- 
cian and student with a well-digested and concise, yet practically use- 
ful, statement of the best methods of treating disease. It was written 
for the reason that the author appreciated as a practitioner and teacher 
that many of the works upon this subject contain a vast amount of 
information so compiled as to be almost useless because the reader is 
forced to discover for himself what is worthy of his confidence. For 
this reason remedies which are so rarely employed as to be curiosities 
are not discussed in this volume, and the space so saved is utilized 
in rendering rational the application of well-tried remedies both new 
and old. 

Many books after appearing in several editions lose a large part 
of their original value because the statements that have been added 
are so confused with the original text that its conciseness is destroyed. 
Recognizing this fact, the author has rewritten a very considerable 
portion of the present edition in order to render the statements in the 
text clear and concise. He has also endeavored so to arrange the 
work that it can be readily used in conjunction with his Text-booh of 
Practical Diagnosis. 

As this volume is not intended as a year-book for the record of all 
things in therapeutics, only those measures which have proved useful 
and reliable in therapeutics are included. For this reason nothing is 
said of the use of serum in the treatment of many infectious processes 
in which it has proved itself of little or no avail, for instance in strep- 
tococcus infection or tuberculosis, or in croupous pneumonia. 

Philadelphia, 222 South Fifteenth Street, 
September, 1897. 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



The object of this book is to provide the physician or under- 
graduate student of medicine with a reliable guide in the study of 
Therapeutics, or the application of remedial measures for the cure 
of disease. It has been written because, in the belief of the author, 
most of the text-books on this subject treat of it as if the student were 
already a skilled physician or experimental pharmacologist. As a 
consequence, two classes of undergraduate readers exist. One finds 
that the mixture of science and empiricism is too difficult for him to 
fathom, and is hopelessly confused; the other simply learns the reme- 
dies and doses by heart, and gives drugs with little idea as to what 
they are to do. Further than this, the physician is often at a loss to 
decide when a remedy is indicated, even though his theoretical know- 
ledge of the subject be very thorough. Thus, he is told that ammo- 
nium chloride is a remedy in bronchitis, but the exact stage at which 
it is to be employed is often not stated ; or he knows that digitalis 
does good in cases of cardiac disease, but fails to recognize the fact 
that it is only when compensation is lacking that the drug is needed. 
For this reason Part IV. has been written, not with the object of 
providing a rigid system for treating disease, but rather for the pur- 
pose of bringing together the best remedies, and of showing how and 
why they are given. 

Rational therapeutics at the present day does not consist in a 
knowledge of doses and the materia medica, but exists as a complex 
art in which knowledge and its proper application, based on common- 
sense principles, go hand in hand. The treatment of "symptoms as 
they arise " by the employment of remedies recommended by some 
eminent authority is a variety of empiricism whose existence has 



11 



12 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 

depended largely on the fact that many physicians of the past have 
either been so ignorant as to be led where a writer willed, or so sloth- 
ful as to be willing to let others think for them. Scientific research 
has so largely opened up to every one the possibility of using drugs 
with a distinct idea of the reason for their employment that the 
writer has endeavored to bring together in a readable form the com- 
bined results of laboratory and bedside experience, thinking the time 
ripe for such a task. It is true that several other books give, in a 
more or less thorough manner, a resume of the physiological action 
of the drugs of which they treat, but in even the best of them only 
the most trained student of pharmacology can discover the close rela- 
tionships which exist between the results reached by the physiologist 
on the one hand and the clinician on the other. The two parts of the 
study are usually so divorced by the prolonged mental effort neces- 
sitated by the arrangement of the text that the student either ignores 
the physiological action for the sections on therapeutics, or crams the 
former to pass an examination required by the teacher whose course 
he must follow. As a consequence, too many physicians regard 
pharmacology simply as a species of mental training, or believe it to 
be a waste of time and energy. No one can think that the writer of 
this book will ever deny the value of original research or bedside 
experience, but he does desire to weave science and practice into so 
close a network that the foundations of experience may be cemented 
by the mortar of exact knowledge. In some instances, however, 
science and practice seem to be absolutely opposed, and only future 
research can explain the apparent contradiction. 

Throughout this book, in every part where drugs or diseases are 
considered, the writer has arranged the titles in alphabetical order, 
according to their English names. This has been done because it is 
desired to afford the reader a ready-reference book to which he may 
turn at short notice for desired information, for at present the state 
of pharmacology is so unsettled that a true classification is impossible. 
Thus, morphine may be classed by one writer as a nervous sedative, 
by another as a sleep-producer, by a third as a bitter substance, and 
by a fourth as a respiratory depressant. Bromide of potassium can 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 13 

with equal propriety be called a spinal sedative or a cerebral seda- 
tive, or caffeine be classed as a cerebral stimulant, a circulatory stim- 
ulant, or a diuretic. 

In order to make the book more complete, the preparations of the 
British Pharmacopoeia have been introduced ; and with the same 
object in view, a dose-list of drugs, both official and unofficial, has 
been appended for ready reference. The subject of medical elec- 
tricity has heretofore commonly found a place in most text-books on 
therapeutics, but has been advisedly omitted in this instance, since 
electrical therapeutics has outgrown any work save one devoted to 
that subject alone. 

For many of the articles on treatment the author wishes to thank 
friends who have earned prominence in connection with their special- 
ties. Thus Dr. Gr. E. de Schweinitz has contributed the articles on 
the treatment of diseases of the eye ; Dr. Edward Martin, those on 
the treatment of venereal diseases and on antisepsis ; Dr. Barton C. 
Hirst, those on the treatment of diseases of the puerperal state ; and 
Dr. J. Howard Reeves, the articles on the treatment of diseases of 
the upper air-passages. All of these articles enhance the value of 
the book to so great an extent that the author feels sure they will be 
sought out and read with interest. 

In addition to the general index, a copious and explanatory index 
of diseases and remedies has been appended, which will prove sug- 
gestive and valuable to practitioners, and for which the author is 
indebted to his friend and student, Mr. J. G. Clark. 

Philadelphia, 222 South Fifteenth Street. 
Sept., 1890. 



CONTENTS. 



PAET I. 

PAGE 

General Therapeutical Considerations 17 



PART II. 

Drugs ^ 

PART III. 

Remedial Measures other than Drugs 391 

Foods for the Sick 446 

PART IV. 

Diseases 453 

Table of Doses of Medicines 697 

Tables of Relative Weights and Measures in the Metric 

and Apothecaries' Systems 713 

Index of Drugs and Remedial Measures 715 

Index of Diseases and Remedies 733 



15 



PART I. 
GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 



Before entering into a study of the action of drugs upon a living 
body, it is necessary that the student should possess a clear idea of 
what the word " therapeutics " means, the reason why we resort to 
drugs, and, more important than all, that he should grasp the limita- 
tions which govern the administration of remedies. 

Two very foolish and unfounded ideas have recently been put for- 
ward by certain physicians — one being, that medical therapeutics is 
useless ; and the other, that this branch of medical knowledge is not 
advancing with so great a stride as is pathology or surgery. The 
individuals who laugh at the general use of drugs in disease belong 
to one of two classes : either they have never tried them, or if so have 
used the drugs ignorantly or wrongly, or else they believe that they 
are promulgating a new theory, and do not know that the eras of 
excessive dosage and of nihilism are alike relics of the past. No 
reform has ever attacked a crying evil without becoming excessive 
and absurd itself, and if successful in accomplishing its object has 
generally resulted not in the mere remedy of the faults it antago- 
nized, but in so complete a reversal of popular opinion as to force its 
converts into ways as reprehensible as their former habits. Thus, in 
exactly the same manner that the excesses of Catholicism resulted in 
fanatical Puritanism, so did the careless methods of physicians during 
the past century lay the foundation for the growth of homoeopathy or 
therapeutic nihilism. At the present time, although we have much to 
learn, it can be said that we have benefited by both of these errors, 
and are in consequence taking a path which may be considered the 
happy medium. 

To the majority of the readers of this book, however, the harmful- 
ness of over-dosing is sufficiently evident, and the cry of " no drugs 
at all " so absurd that no rebuttal need be offered. 

The statement that therapeutics is to-day more backward than are 
pathology and surgery is readily answered by a denial ; for the thera- 
peutist is able to treat successfully many diseases of which the pathol- 
ogist knows nothing, and is obliged to rest his treatment on empiri- 
cism simply because he cannot tell how his drugs act if the pathologist 
cannot tell him what the disease is. Rheumatism is a good example 
of this very point. 

2 17 



18 GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

In regard to surgery, every one must recognize the extraordinary 
advances made in this branch of medical science, yet comparatively 
few realize that it is solely by the introduction of drugs that all its 
triumphs are posssble. The definition of the word " therapeutics " in 
Billings's Dictionary is: " That branch of medical science which treats 
of the application of remedies to the cure or alleviation of disease," 
and, practically, the term is almost universally used to signify the 
employment of drugs for such purposes. The credit for the intro- 
duction of new instruments may or may not be accorded to surgery, 
but the discovery of new drugs must be accorded to therapeutics. We 
find, then, that ether and chloroform began to revolutionize surgery 
fifty years ago, and that corrosive sublimate, carbolic acid, and other 
drugs have revolutionized it once more within the lifetime of every 
one who reads this book. Cocaine has changed the entire aspect of 
eye surgery and other minor operations, and has immediately averted 
an enormous amount of pain and suffering which the surgeon could 
not relieve, and certainly could not remove, in the absence of its 
influence. To the accusation of backwardness the therapeutist can 
well reply by asking the champion of any other branch of medical 
science to put forward one discovery which equals antipyrine or ace- 
tanilide in power to relieve disease or pain, and last, but by no means 
least, those triumphs of modern therapeutics, the use of thyroid gland 
for myxoedema and antitoxin for diphtheria, are to be remembered. 

The man who does not believe in the proper use of remedies for 
the cure of disease lacks the very keystone of the arch upon which all 
medical investigation rests. 

The ultimate aim and object of all medical thought and effort is 
the cure or alleviation of disease, and therapeutics is the refined 
product culled from every department of medical learning. Like 
every other thing requiring a thorough knowledge of its component 
parts, it is often much abused by the careless and ignorant, but is 
a power for good in the trained hand of the properly educated 
physician. 

Further than this, therapeutics is the only universally used branch 
of medicine, for each and every branch must resort to it, and the 
most skilful operator who fails to treat his cases medicinally with 
equal skill will have worse results than he who, though bungling in 
his surgery, yet uses drugs intelligently after his slashing is finished. 

Homoeopathy depends upon more than one reason for its exist- 
ence. If infinitesimal doses are given, the patient is satisfied that 
he is receiving medicine, and Nature often produces her most rapid 
cures when left alone. Again, the entire basis of homoeopathic thera- 
peutics rests not upon the study of the causes of diseases, but upon 
the symptoms which constantly present themselves. As a result of 
this, so many minor symptoms are relieved that the patient's comfort 
is ensured, and doubtless in many instances seriousctisorders are dis- 
covered which might otherwise be cast aside or go unseen. No detail 
should be too small to attract the attention of the physician, and he 
who exercises care in detail must reap reward in larger measure. 



MODES OF ADMINISTERING DRUGS. 19 

The first duty of the physician when called to a case of illness is to 
reach a diagnosis as to the cause of the ailment, and not until he has 
formed a definite idea as to the condition which confronts him 
should he prescribe any medicinal agent. In certain cases where the 
symptoms are severe or indicative of immediate danger it may be 
necessary to give relief by the use of temporary remedies, not only to 
prevent death, but to remove symptoms which, because of their 
severity, mask the case so that a diagnosis is impossible. Thus a 
patient may be found in collapse or in a state of syncope. The 
cause of this state may be obscure, but the pulse, heart-sounds, 
and respiratory action may indicate the need of immediate stimula- 
tion. In another instance agonizing pain, as that due to a crisis in 
locomotor ataxia, or renal or hepatic colic, may require a hypodermic 
injection of morphine as soon as the physician assures himself that 
the pain complained of is genuine. In other instances the case may 
be so obscure that several days of careful study may be necessary, and 
during this time palliative remedies may be required. 

Before ordering a drug or method of treatment the physician should 
have a clear conception of what he is trying to accomplish. No 
remedy should be given unless there is a distinct indication for its use. 
The old-fashioned " shotgun " prescription, containing many ingredi- 
ents, one or more of which might hit the mark, should be supplanted 
by the small-calibre rifle-ball sent with directness at the condition to 
be relieved. Having decided upon the remedy indicated, the physi- 
cian must next determine the dose required. This latter decision is 
almost as important as the first, for very often an error in dosage 
will cause failure of the remedy. A large part of the therapeutic 
skill of the physician consists in fitting the dose to the needs of his 
patient. 

MODES OP ACTION OP DRUGS. 

Drugs act in two ways, which are sometimes called near and 
remote, direct and indirect. The near, or direct, action "of a drug is 
that influence which is felt by the exercise of its effects directly upon 
the tissues with which it comes in contact ; the indirect, or remote, 
influence is that result which comes as a sequence of its primary 
effect. As an illustration of this Ave may take the local use of can- 
tharides. The local, near, or direct effect of this is a blister; the 
remote or indirect effect is the absorption of exudations or the influ- 
encing of inflammatory processes. If pilocarpine is used, its direct 
effect is the sweating which ensues, while its indirect effect is the 
relief of dropsy through the removal of exudation by the increased 
action of the skin, salivary glands, and kidneys. 

MODES OF ADMINISTERING DRUGS. 

Drugs may be administered for the purpose of affecting the gen- 
eral system in many ways, but practically w T e employ only six 
methods, as follows : 



20 GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

1. By the mouth or stomach ; 

2. By hypodermic injection; 

3. By inhalation ; 

4. By the rectum ; 

5. By inunction ; 

6. By fumigation ; 

7. By the endermic method. 

By far the most usual manner of administering drugs is by way 
of the mouth, which is the natural means of entrance into the body 
for foreign substances. Whenever medicines are used in this way 
the physician should clearly bear in mind what the medicine is to do 
after it is swallowed. Thus, if the drug is intended to act directly 
upon the stomach, it should not be given after meals, but some time 
before, since the food and gastric juice may afterward so cover the 
gastric mucous membrane that the medicament cannot act upon it. 
Thus, in a case of chronic gastric catarrh or gastric ulcer, the 
nitrate of silver which is used should always be given half an hour 
or an hour before meals. On the other hand, if an ulcer or other 
trouble exist in the small intestine, the pill should be given some time 
after meals, and, if a heavy meal is taken, three or four hours after, 
since under these circumstances the medicine is swept out into the 
intestine almost at once, without remaining any time in the stomach, 
where it may be chemically altered. Very often it is necessary to 
give a medicine soon after food is taken, in order that it may not 
act in too powerful or concentrated a manner upon the viscus which 
receives it or upon the general system by reason of its rapid absorp- 
tion in concentrated form. 

The general rule, however, may be laid down that all medicines 
are to be taken after rather than before meals, unless a local gastric 
effect or very rapid absorption is desired. 

Next to the use of drugs by the mouth, by far the most popular 
method is their administration by means of the hypodermic needle and 
syringe. The logic of this method rests upon the absorption of all 
soluble substances from the subcutaneous tissues with great rapidity. 
Any substance soluble enough or suspendable enough to pass through, 
a hypodermic needle without forming an obstruction may be employed, 
provided it is not too irritating and that it is " clean." 

The proper places to give such injections are the forearm on the 
extensor surface, 1 the calf of the leg, the buttock, or the broad of the 
back — in other words, any spot where the tissues are not dense and 
unyielding. The skin of the part is to be grasped or pinched up 
with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand and the needle sent 
well into this raised fold, preferably above the finger and thumb, so 
that the pressure of the fingers may prevent joain and the too rapid 
entrance of the medicine into the system. The needle should always 
penetrate well into the loose connective tissue, so that the liquid 
injected may find lodgment in the loose and spongy subcutaneous 
tissues without separating the skin from its rather close adhesion to 

1 Hypodermic injections into the anterior aspect of the forearm often cause much 
pain in the hand by irritating temporarily the branches of the radial or ulnar nerves. 



MODES OF ADMINISTERING DRUGS 



21 



the tissues below or from the blood-vessels supplying it, for if sepa- 
ration occurs abscess and a slough may result. 



Fig. 1. 




Method of giving a hypodermic injection. The skin having been sterilized, the skin of the 
part into which the injection is to be given is to be raised by grasping it between the thumb 
and fingers of the left hand and the needle is then pushed into the base of this fold, as shown 
in the illustration. The injection may be made toward the body if it is preferred. 

The dangers from hypodermic injections are chiefly two. First: 
The needle may enter a vein, and the entire dose be carried at once, 
en masse, to the vital centres. Second : The solution or needle used 
may not be sterile, and an abscess results. The first danger is to be 
avoided by injecting into spots not well supplied with veins, and the 
second by thoroughly washing both syringe and needle with sterile 
water the instant before they are used, pushing a fine wire through the 
needle, and in some cases by soaking the latter in carbolized oil. The 
solution injected should be prepared by using freshly boiled water and 
adding thereto carbolic acid in such proportion that one-half to one 
drop of carbolic acid is present in each injection. It is claimed by 
some that this use of carbolic acid seriously hinders absorption, and 
in cases of urgency it should not be used. A third danger supposed 
to exist by some persons, but probably more feared than need be, is 
the injection of air into a vein with the medicament. It is well to see 
that all air is expelled from the syringe before making the injection. 
Most hypodermic syringes hold from twenty to thirty minims. 

When drugs are given by the rectum, we employ them for three 
purposes : First, to influence the general system by their absorption ; 



22 GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

secondly, to act locally upon any disease which may be present in this 
particular locality or in the colon ; and, finally, to dislodge substances 
or parasites which it is desired to bring away. The word "enema" 
is loosely used to denote all these injections, be their purpose what 
they may, and is synonymous with "rectal injection " or the more 
old-fashioned word "clyster." If nourishment is being given, the 
injection is called a "nutrient enema." Sometimes these injections 
are called "lavements." 

In this mode of administration it is very necessary that the physi- 
cian should use his medicaments in proper bulk ; and it may be laid 
down as a rule that no more liquid should be injected than is neces- 
sary to convey the medicine or food, unless the injection is for the 
purpose of emptying the bowel of faecal matter or other materials, or 
it be desired to distend the bowel in order to overcome obstruction, or 
to influence the colon by drugs, 

The reason for this lies in the fact that any large bulk of liquid 
sent into the rectum so stimulates its walls by distention as to cause 
spasmodic contraction, with expulsion of all the rectal contents, which 
is just what is needed when faecal matter is to be removed, but the 
opposite of what is desired when retention of a remedy or food is 
necessary for absorption or local action. In rectal catarrh or ulcer 
two to four ounces of liquid are usually sufficient in an adult to 
accomplish any medicinal influence locally or by absorption, while as 
a laxative enema one to two pints may be employed. 

In the use of injections we frequently find that the rectum becomes 
irritable, and promptly resists all efforts to force the entrance of' 
liquids or solids. This is to be avoided by giving the injection so 
gently that the bowel fails to recognize, as it were, the entrance of 
liquid, and by introducing a few drops of oil and laudanum in each 
injection. 

A large amount of distress often follows the gradual accumu- 
lation of fsecal masses in the colon which are not passed with 
the daily movement of the lower bowel. These can readily be 
removed by large injections of warm water or by the use of medi- 
cated liquids. 

A very important use of injections by the rectum is in the treat- 
ment of the various causes of intestinal obstruction. Here the great- 
est caution should be exercised that the injection be made with all 
possible gentleness, and slowly, the liquid being allowed to dribble 
into the bowel rather than to force its way. It is dangerous to use a 
greater pressure than is given by a fountain syringe at the height of 
two or three feet, as rupture of the peritoneal coat of the bowel may 
occur. Where a large quantity of water is use4 it should be care- 
fully warmed to 100° or a little more, and it Ts-well to add salt to it, 
so that it will represent the normal saline strength of blood-serum, 
namely, seven-tenths of one per cent. (For use of injections in 
special diseases see Part IV., and fcr Enteroclysis, Part III.) 

Suppositories are another means by which we introduce medicines 
into the bowel, either for local effect or to act after absorption of 
their contents upon the general system. 



MODES OF ADMINISTERING DRUGS. 23 

When drugs are given by inhalation they are generally employed 
with the object of affecting the respiratory tract alone, although there 
are notable exceptions to this in ether, chloroform, nitrous oxide gas, 
and other volatile substances. Aside from anaesthetics, we find such 
remedial measures adopted as the inhaling of steam laden with the 
drugs employed, the respiring of air loaded with the fumes of the 
medicament, or the inhalation of gases, and last, and most commonly 
resorted to of all, the use of the atomizing spray, which, if properly 
made and employed, so minutely divides the liquid containing the 
medicine that the inspired air carries it to the farthest bronchiole 
and pulmonary vesicle. Atomized sprays have also been found to 
possess great penetrating power in the treatment of inflammations 
under the skin or mucous membranes, as, for example, boils and 
carbuncles. 

As an example of the rules governing the administration of drugs in 
this manner we find that compound tincture of benzoin may be taken 
by inhaling the steam arising from hot water containing it, but can- 
not be used in a spray because it occludes the fine points of the atom- 
izing tubes. In a similar manner we may inhale the smoke of bella- 
donna or tobacco-leaves to relieve asthma, or the fumes of chloride 
of ammonium for bronchitis in its later stages. Fumigation with 
mercury, the sublimed vapor being inhaled, is also useful. Finally, 
we find that oxygen is sometimes very useful, the gas being readily 
inhaled, with good results in proper cases. 

The " spray " or atomizer is made in two forms — one form of appa- 
ratus being worked through the agency of compressed air, the other 
through the escape of steam from a small boiler. Very few of the 
compressed-air atomizers throw a spray fine enough to reach the 
deeper parts of the lungs, particularly if the air is compressed by the 
hand; but all instrument-makers now sell vaporizers or nebulizers 
which so minutely divide the liquid medicament that it enters the 
deeper parts of the lungs very readily. 

The inhalation of moist air is very useful in bronchitis, and 
greatly aids other remedial measures. Steam may be disengaged in 
a room by means of a kettle of boiling water or by placing pieces 
of unslaked lime in a pan of water. 

Inunctions consist in the rubbing into the skin of medicines gen- 
erally of an oily or fatty nature, or which assume this character 
through embodiment with oil or fat. The three substances most com- 
monly used in this way are cod-liver oil, mercurial ointment, and 
iodine ointment. They should always be applied on some part where 
the derm is thin and well supplied with subcutaneous lymphatics, as 
in the axillae, the groins, or the insides of the thighs. Other sub- 
stances have been and may be used by inunction ; but as this method 
is necessarily a disagreeable and dirty one, it is rarely resorted to 
unless the stomach is disordered or it is necessary to push the drug 
into the system by every possible avenue of entrance. 

The endermic method consists in the use of a blister, by means of 



24 GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

which the epiderm is raised, when a little morphine or other alkaloid 
may be slipped under it and so absorbed through the true skin. It 
is a painful method, almost never to be resorted to, having been 
entirely supplanted by the hypodermic method of medication. 

Drugs are also sometimes caused to enter the bodv through the 
skin by placing them in plasters or poultices, or by" the electrical 
process called cataphoresis. (Part III.) 

Remedies are administered in a number of forms, but chiefly as 
follows : 

Abstracts are dry powdered extracts mixed with sugar of milk 
until they are twice as strong as the crude drug. Abstracts are no 
longer official in the United States Pharmacopoeia. 

Aceta, or vinegars, are solutions of drugs in vinegar or acetic 
acid. There are two in the United States Pharmacopoeia (Acetum 
Opii and Acetum Scillae) and three in the British. 

Alkaloids are organic bases, forming salts with acid radicals, gen- 
erally occurring in crystalline form and abstracted from crude drugs. 
They nearly always represent the active principle of the drug. 

Aqu^, or waters, are used as vehicles either for the dilution of 
strong medicines or for the purpose of carrying minute amounts of 
flavoring materials. 

Cataplasms are not official in the United States Pharmacopoeia. 
They are virtually poultices made of linseed-meal or of bread-crumbs. 

Cerates are ointments containing wax to render them harder than 
would ordinary. fats. 

Charts, or papers, consist of bibulous paper soaked in a solution 
of the drug which they are meant to carry. 

Confections are sometimes called electuaries or conserves, and are 
soft pastes which contain the drug mixed with sugar or honey. 

Decoctions are solutions of drugs made by boiling and then strain- 
ing while hot. 

Elixirs are diluted tinctures rendered pleasant to the taste by the 
addition of aromatic substances and sugar. 

Emplastra, or plasters, are made up of adhesive substances placed 
upon a backing of cloth or leather and designed to adhere to the skin, 
being so applied for the purpose of holding a medicinal substance in 
contact with the body, of acting as a protective, or of aiding in the 
approximation of the edges of a wound. 

Extracts consist of the soluble parts of plants reduced to a semi- 
solid or solid condition by evaporation ; the soluble constituents being 
taken from the plant by water or alcohol. 

Fluid Extracts are made in the same way^as solid extracts, except 
that they are not so completely evaporated. 

Glycerita, or glycerins, are solutions of various substances in 
glycerin — the glycerin being used as a vehicle. 

Infusions are made by pouring boiling water on the crude drug 
and allowing it to stand for a short time until the water cools, after 
which the liquid is strained. Sometimes cold Avater is employed. 

Pills are small round masses which, as a general rule, should not 



MODES OF ADMINISTERING DRUGS. 25 

weigh more than three grains, in order to avoid too great bulk. If 
the material is a heavy one, as much as five grains may be placed in 
each pill. Pills may be without covering or coated with sugar or 
gelatin to preserve them and prevent the patient from tasting their 
contents. Sugar-coated pills must always be fresh and the sugar- 
coating pure. Gelatin is the best coating for pills. Many pills are 
fraudulently coated with varnish and are insoluble. 

Suppositories are small masses made into a cone shape and 
having for their basis cacao butter. They are designed to carry into 
the rectum certain medicines for absorption into the system or for local 
action. 

Tablets. — Under this name manufacturing pharmacists and others 
prepare compressed pills or lozenges, generally of small size, the mass 
being made to adhere by means of its being subjected to great pres- 
sure by special machinery. Smaller tablets are used for carrying 
powerful drugs for hypodermic use. These, however, are often only 
lightly pressed, so as to render them easily soluble. 

Tinctures are solutions of the active principles of drugs in alcohol. 

Triturates are made by adding 10 per cent, of the active medi- 
cine to 90 per cent, of milk-sugar. These are then carefully rubbed 
together until the two are intimately mixed, and are very valuable in 
the administration of medicines to adults or to children. 

Troches, or lozenges, are flat, hardened masses designed for hold- 
ing medicines in the mouth, so that they may be slowly dissolved, 
thereby aifecting the local mucous membrane 

Ointments, or unguents, consist of the mixture of some kind of 
fatty substance with the medicine which they are designed to carry. 

Wines are made in the same way as tinctures — strong white wine 
being used in the United States, and sherry or orange wine in Great 
Britain, in place of ordinary alcohol. 



DOSAGE. 

There is, unfortunately, no absolutely fixed rule which can be 
applied to dosage, for several reasons. In the first place, the indi- 
vidual may not be readily affected by drugs, or the disease-process 
which is present may so antagonize them as to render very large doses 
necessary. Further than this, the age and sex of a patient have much 
to do with the regulation of the proper amount of a drug which we 
may give. Finally, that curious but common condition of suscep- 
tibility to various remedies, that we call idiosyncrasy, creeps in as an 
important factor in the decision as to the dose which should be given 
in each case. By far the nearest approach which we can make to 
absolute accuracy in dosage is to use drugs according to the weight of 
the patient, but this method possesses the disadvantages that we can- 
not always weigh our patients, and that the presence of a large amount 
of fat or of dropsy will make an unknown quantity in our calculation 
as to the true weight of the active part of the individual. 

At present we are accustomed to be governed by a list of doses to 



26 



GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 



be given to all adults within certain limitations, and which are varied 
sufficiently to permit of great differences in the effects obtained. It 
is in this very point that the success of many a physician chiefly 
rests ; for the use of a dose by " rule of thumb " is as empirical and 
lacking in thought as is use of a remedy, not because we have a defi- 
nite action for it to carry out, but because it did some one else good 
who was suffering from what appears to have been a similar attack. 
The dose must be varied to fit the case in the same manner that the 
cut of a coat must be varied to fit each individual. 

There are a number of approximate rules in regard to the doses 
which are to be given in treating the diseases of children, the best of 
which is Young's rule. This is as follows : 

Add 12 to the ag;e and divide bv the age. Thus, if a child is two 
years old, we have the following formula : 2 + 12 = 14 -*- 2 = 7, or. 
one-seventh of the dose for an adult is the dose for a child of two 
years. This rule is not a law, however, for of narcotics children 
should receive less than this (one-half), and of purgatives or laxatives 
more than this (two or three times). 

Closely connected with the question of dosage is that of how drugs 
shall be ordered ; that is, whether we shall employ the apothecaries' 



Acetum lobeliae , 

Acetum opii , 

Acetum sanguinariae . . . 

Acid, acetic , 

Acid, acetic, dilute . . . . , 

Acid, carbolic 

Acid, hydrobromic. . . . 
Acid, hydrochloric. . . . 
Acid, hydrochloric, dil. . , 

Acid, nitric , 

Acid, nitric, dilute . . . . , 
Acid, nitrohydrochloric. . 
Acid, nitrohydrochloric. di 

lute 

Acid, phosphoric 

Acid, sulphuric. , 

Acid, sulphuric, dilute . . . 
Acid, sulphuric, aromatic. 

Aqua ammoniae 

Aqua destillata 

Liquor potass, arsen 

Oleum anisi 

Oleum amygdalae amar. . 

Oleum cari 

Oleum chenopodii 

Oleum carophylli ...".. 

Oleum cinnamomi 

Oleum crotonis 

Oleum cubebae 

Oleum gaultheriae 

Oleum hedeomae 

Oleum lavandulae 

Oleum monardae 

Oleum menthae pip 

Oleum menthae viridis . . . 

Oleum myristicae 

Oleum origani 

Oleum pimentae 

Oleum rosmarini , 

Oleum sassafras , 



Dropped from 



P.T2 
43 o 

CO 42 



51 

66 
102 
82 
94 
82 
57 
60 
70 
82 
63 
87 



54 

160 

57 

97 

45 

64 

58 

76 

102 

108 

94 

98 

77 

84 

86 

93 

95 

105 

82 



91 

102 
92 



CO Cl 

3 o 



SS 



64 
65 
92 

101 
99 

110 
70 



124 
81 
92 



54 


62 


48 


62 


52 


172 


47 


60 


94 


144 


41 


54 



61 
77 
112 
75 
133 
129 
133 
112 
104 
120 
136 
130 
133 
125 
132 
132 
128 
133 
133 
133 
142 



Oleum tanaccti . . . 

Oleum terebinthinae . 

Spiritus ammon. ar. . 

Spiritus camphorae . 

Spiritus aether, comp. 

Spiritus aether, nitr. . 

Spiritus menthae pip. 

Syrupus scillae comp. 

Tinctura aconiti . . 

Tinctura asafoetidse . 
j Tinctura belladonnae 

Tinctura benzoini co. 

Tinctura cannabis ind 

Tinctura cantharidis 

Tinctura capsici . . . 

Tinctura colchici . . 

Tinctura digitalis . . 

Tinctura ferri chlor. 

Tinctura hyoscyami 

Tinctura ignatiae . . 
j Tinctura iodi .... 
j Tinctura kino .... 
i Tinctura krameriae . 

Tinctura lavand. co. 

Tinctura lobeliae . . 

Tinctura myrrhae . . 
' Tinctura nucis vomicae 
| Tinctura opii , . . . 
I Tinctura opii camph. 

Tinctura opii deodor. 

Tinctura rhei .... 
j Tinctura sanguinariae 
I Tinctura stramonii . 
1 Tinctura tolutani . . 
j I Tinctura veratri virid 

Vinum aloes ... 

Vinum colchici rad. . 
J j Vinum colchici sem. 
j ; Vinum ergotae .... 
I Vinum opii .... 



Dropped from 



4= O 
CO 42 



110 
103 
108 
98 
120 



106 
120 
102 



124 

118 

116 

86 

114 

108 

114 

112 

112 

116 

117 

97 

110 

100 

112 

98 

94 

109 

98 

110 

100 

120 

108 

71 

92 

86 

148 






87 
102 
85 
81 
81 
120 
97 
88 



91 

83 
97 
100 
96 



95 

105 

92 






136 
142 
139 
140 
140 
144 
143 
122 
164 
145 
128 
146 
98 
136 
143 
124 
145 
139 
147 
140 
144 
148 
150 
141 
138 
145 
148 
143 
135 
141 
144 
134 
120 
156 
152 
94 
95 
105 
122 
102 



ABSORPTION OF DRUGS. 27 

weights or the metric system of weights and measures. There is no 
doubt that the latter are far preferable from a scientific point of view, 
and they are generally used in all civilized countries save England and 
America. Even here, however, their use is daily increasing. Whether 
we use the old or the new system, however, we should always take pains 
when ordering small amounts of liquids to write for minims rather than 
drops, for the size of a drop varies with the particular liquid with which 
we are dealing and the character of the mouth of the vessel containing 
it. This is well shown in the table on page 26, compiled by Kinsey 
and originally published in the American Journal of Pharmacy. 

When drugs are given hypodermically the dose should be generally 
one-half to one-quarter of that given by the mouth ; and if any thought 
of idiosyncrasy exist, the dose should be smaller still at the start if 
powerful remedies are to be used. 

By the rectum the dose should be twice the amount given by the 
mouth, unless the drug be very powerful or capable of very rapid 
absorption. 

ABSORPTION OP DRUGS. 

The knowledge of the rapidity with which certain drugs are absorbed 
from the various surfaces with which they come in contact is of 
importance in order that we may know when to repeat the dose if 
the first amount does not produce the desired effect. The rapidity 
of absorption depends upon a number of factors. If the circulation 
is active, absorption is active, but if it be depressed, absorption is slow. 
Thus, in a person apparently drowned, absorption may not occur at 
all until the vital functions are restored, and repeated doses given to 
the patient while unconscious, acting together, in the end poison him. 
This is often the case in delirium tremens where hypodermic injec- 
tions of morphine are given or when the drug is administered by 
the mouth. In dropsy absorption is peculiarly slow, and the drug 
may remain in the tissues for days, only to be absorbed with the exu- 
dation after severe purgation or profuse diuresis, or tapping. In 
general dropsies hypodermic medication is nearly always worse than 
useless. 

When the stomach or bowel is empty absorption from either is 
rapid, but when they are full it is very slow. In this fact we find the 
reason for the popular idea that a glass of whiskey when a man is 
hungry makes him drunk, whereas twice the quantity after dinner 
does not do so. 

Drugs in the stomach or bowel have no influence over the general 
system unless they are irritants. They only act when taken into the 
blood or lymphatics. 

Recent studies show that alcoholic solutions of drugs are more 
rapidly absorbed than are watery solutions or those made with gly- 
cerin or milk. 

When the stomach is depressed and its powers of absorption im- 
paired, the addition of some irritant or stimulant, such as capsicum, 
will often aid in the absorption of an important drug. 



28 GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 



DURATION OF ACTION OP DRUGS. 

The duration of the action of drugs depends partly upon their 
rapidity of absorption, but chiefly upon the rapidity or slowness of 
their destruction in the body or their elimination from it. Thus, 
volatile substances, such as ether, chloroform, and nitrite of amyl, act 
only for a short time and are quickly eliminated, whereas bromide of 
potassium and digitalis continue active during many hours, and are 
slowly eliminated, as in the case of the former, or oxidized, as in that 
of the latter. Again, if curare is given hypodermically it will cause 
paralysis, but if taken by the stomach in moderate amount it will be 
eliminated by the kidneys as rapidiy as it is absorbed, and produce 
no effects if these organs are active. 

From studying the rapidity of the elimination of a drug we learn 
how often to order a dose. Thus, digitalis may be given once, twice, 
or thrice a day, but carbonate of ammonium every two or three hours. 

When the physician is not careful in the use of a drug which is 
eliminated slowly, it may suddenly develop so severe an effect as to 
cause alarm, owing to the accumulation of the poison in the body. 
This is called "cumulative action." 



COMBINATION OF DRUGS FOR JOINT EFFECT. 

The study of the physiological action of drugs has aided us very 
greatly in improving our therapeutic measures. Thus, we now know 
that chloral is a heart-depressant and cannot be used in very full 
doses, or pushed to produce sleep in persistent insomnia, without 
grave danger ; whereas morphine, which also produces sleep, but does 
not depress the heart, but does depress the respiration, can be com- 
bined with it, and the two acting together, each in small dose, pro- 
duce a heavy sleep, although so little chloral is present that the heart 
is safe, and so small an amount of morphine is used that the respira- 
tion does not suffer. 

Another example of this is found in certain purgative pills where 
the purgative agent is assisted by belladonna and nux vomica, the first 
of which relaxes muscular spasm, while the second acts as a tonic to 
the alimentary tract, the drugs combining to accomplish one result. 

Skill in the combination of drugs, not only for increased physio- 
logical effect, but also for the purpose of making their administration 
pleasant to the taste, has much more to do with professional success 
than is generally supposed. This is particularly so in regard to 
children, for parents dislike forcing their children to take doses 
which they themselves regard as horrible, and they are ever ready to 
believe that as long as a medicine tastes good it is better than one 
which tastes otherwise. 

The medical practitioner who prescribes ever so wisely and appro- 
priately for a patient, but who is utterly regardless as to his combina- 
tions of drugs so far as taste is concerned, will sooner or later see a 
more ignorant man take from him that practice which his greater 



STRENGTH AND RELIABILITY OF DRUGS. 29 

wisdom entitles him to, but which is driven from him by his own 
errors in this matter. 

While in some cases there is no alternative but to give a bad dose, 
in others a little thought and care will often avoid offending the taste 
of the patient. 

STRENGTH AND RELIABILITY OP DRUGS. 

If a census could be made of those who die annually from the use 
of drugs which are impure or useless from weakness, the writer 
believes that a most alarming array of figures would be presented. 
For many years this was unavoidable to a great degree, either because 
our knowledge of the active principles of drugs and the methods of 
isolating them was deficient, or because the time consumed in their 
transportation by sailing vessels or on the backs of natives from the 
countries in which the natural products yielding the drugs were 
obtained, permitted deterioration to take place. At present these 
difficulties have been largely overcome. The trained pharmacist is 
taught how to make an essay for active principles in most of the valu- 
able alkaloidal drugs, and every physician should make careful inves- 
tigation into the quality of all preparations which he employs. That 
these remarks are not out of place will be seen by the fact that very 
recently an intimate friend of the writer bought from five of the lead- 
ing druggists of Philadelphia six ounces of tincture of nux vomica 
which were stated to have been made according to the directions of 
the United States Pharmacopoeia. That made by perhaps the leading 
druggist of the five contained twice as much strychnine and brucino 
as it should, and had twice as much solid residue ; or, in other words, 
a physician prescribing this tincture in full dose would probably have 
poisoned his patient and reported the case as one of unusual suscepti- 
bility to drugs ! On the other hand, the author has recently seen a. 
tincture of nux vomica which contained only a trace of alkaloid, but 
had much inert solid residue. In neither instance was the druggist 
a dishonest one intentionally, but one had used a crude drug which 
was unusually rich in alkaloids, while the other had purchased nux 
vomica beans which, by reason of immaturity, bad surroundings, or 
exposure to weather, were very poor in active principles. All these 
disadvantages may be avoided if physicians will insist that the drug- 
gists who dispense the drugs they order shall either themselves pre- 
pare assayed products, or purchase such products from any one of the 
large manufacturing chemists who put assayed goods on the market. 
When this is impossible, the physician should employ the alkaloids 
in pill form, or, if solutions are desirable, the alkaloid may be added 
to alcohol and water and given by drops, as is the case with any ordi- 
nary tincture. Digitalis and veratrum viride are practically the only 
drugs with which this cannot be done ; in the first the action of the 
drug does not depend upon a single active principle, but upon a large 
number, and in the second the relative proportions of jervine and 
veratroidine cannot be well estimated by the physician. H. C. Wood 
records a case in which opium poisoning occurred in a child who had 



30 GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

taken a Dover's powder ; the reason being that the amount of opium 
intended for many doses was in the powder that was dispensed, the 
other constituents not having been properly mixed with the opiate in 
compounding the prescription. Constant uncertainty is a dangerous 
element when we are dealing with patients who are desperately ill ; 
and in many cases failure and discouragement may both be avoided 
if the physician will see to it that the tools with which he works are 
in good order and capable of doing what he requires of them. A 
poor drug to the physician is worse than a rusty knife to the surgeon ; 
for the injury in the one case is unknown, whilst in the other it can 
he carefully watched and guarded. 

IDIOSYNCRASY. 

This is one of the most interesting features of the study of the 
action of drugs. It is a frequent cause of disappointment to both 
patient and doctor, and an equally frequent cause of excessive action 
from what the physician has thought to be a moderate dose. No rule 
can be laid down for the discovery of idiosyncrasy in a given case, 
except that females, particularly of the hysterical type, are more 
subject to it than are males, although certain men often present marked 
evidences of this tendency. No better illustration of idiosyncrasy can 
be adduced than the case which here follows, nor than that of a friend 
of the author who cannot eat a strawberry without suffering from a 
violent attack of hives. 

The first case is that of a woman of thirty years, suffering from 
severe headache, who received an eighth of a grain of the hydro- 
chlorate of pilocarpine, hypodermically, every twenty minutes, until 
nearly three-fourths of a grain was taken, without any evidence of its 
action either in salivary flow or sweat. But the tolerance of drugs 
did not stop here. Twenty drops of tincture of cannabis indica every 
four hours failing to relieve the pain, half-grain pills of the solid 
extract were ordered, two of which commonly affect a grown man 
most markedly. The extract had been proved to be active to other 
patients. In order to avoid any failure in absorption the pills were 
each cut in half before they were given, and forthwith administered, 
one every three hours, without any effect after ten had been taken. 
Twenty more of the pills from the same manufacturers, but from a 
different retailer, were now given, one every hour with the exception 
of a few irregularities in administration during the night, the entire 
twenty being swallowed between four o'clock one afternoon and two 
o'clock in the next afternoon. The thirty pills (fifteen grains) were 
taken in less than forty-eight hours without producing a single physio- 
logical sign of the slightest character. That the doses were really 
swallowed would seem to be undoubted, for their administration was 
carried out by a trained attendant, and their black color forbade their 
expulsion from the mouth on the bed without attracting attention. 
The hypodermic injections were given by the author, and, as the solu- 
tion was used as fast as it was made, the patient must certainly have 
received all of the pilocarpine. 



1DI0SYNCBASY. 31 

As there was daily an afternoon rise of temperature amounting to 
several degrees, quinine bisulphate was ordered in the dose of fifteen 
grains, to be given after six powders of one-sixth of a grain of calomel 
had been taken ; this not only failed to control the fever, but also 
produced no buzzing in the ears. The writer was now inclined to 
consider all the symptoms as hysterical, even including the evening 
rise of temperature. 

Twenty-four hours after the last dose of cannabis indica the attend- 
ant gave the patient, without orders, no less than sixty grains of anti- 
pyrin in sixteen hours without any physiological symptoms, and, under 
orders, she took from forty to fifty grains of bisulphate of quinine every 
day for three days without any signs of cinchonism. 

Wide experience has taught us, however, that several conditions 
act fairly constantly in regard to some idiosyncrasies. Certain dis- 
eased conditions — such as peritonitis or pain — allow large doses of 
opium to be given, and in lead-poisoning and paralysis patients may 
require enormous doses of active purgatives to move the bowels. 

The climate in which the patient lives, or has been accustomed to 
live, renders him more or less susceptible to certain remedies. Thus 
the East Indian runs amuck after eating hasheesh or cannabis indica, 
or the Chinaman goes into a delightful dreamland from smoking 
opium, whereas the Anglo-Saxon experiences no such agreeable sen- 
sations, as a general rule. Southerners generally require larger 
doses of purgatives than Northerners, often because their livers are 
not as active. 

The temperament of an individual is also a highly important matter 
to be considered. It is a notorious fact that phlegmatic dark-skinned 
persons usually yield to drugs less readily than blonds and nervous 
persons, more especially in respect to the drugs which act on the ner- 
vous system. Nervous light-haired women stand belladonna very 
l>adly as a general rule, while children will take large doses often 
without discomfort. Opium is usually badly borne by children. 

Habit is another important factor governing idiosyncrasy. We all 
know how rapidly one becomes accustomed to tobacco, and how mor- 
phine habitues take enormous amounts of their favorite drug without 
effect. 



INDICATIONS AND CONTRAINDICATIONS AND 
DEFINITIONS. 

The indication for a drug is any symptom or series of symptoms 
which we know the drug will relieve without causing at the same 
time an evil effect to be felt by other parts of the body. A contra- 
indication is any coexisting state or tendency which will be made so 
much worse by the drug as to forbid its use. Thus, one might be 
tempted to give quinine in meningitis for the fever, yet this would 
be bad therapeutics, since quinine is contraindicated because it will 
intensify the meningitis. 



32 GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

Abortifacients form a class of drugs which, as such, ought never to 
be employed. If pregnancy is to be interfered with, the interruption 
should be produced by instrumental means, and then only after con- 
sultation with another practitioner to get his views and protect one's 
self from possible legal difficulties. 

Alteratives are indicated where cell-growth is active to excess, but 
contraindicated where tissue break-down is present, or there exists a 
tendency thereto. 

Anaesthetics are drugs used to produce lack of sensation. They 
are either local or general. Many of the local anaesthetics produce 
loss of sensation through benumbing the parts by the cold they pro- 
duce. Cocaine is an example of a local anaesthetic which causes 
anaesthesia by a direct paralyzant action on the peripheral sensory 
nerves. The general anaesthetics are taken by inhalation and act 
upon the higher centres in the brain. 

A?iaphrodisiacs are remedies used to diminish sexual desire. 

Antacids are employed in cases where, as a result of morbid pro- 
cesses, lactic and butyric acids, or even hydrochloric acid, are found 
in abnormal quantities in the stomach. 

Anthelmintics are those remedies which are used for the purpose 
of removing intestinal worms. 

Antiarthritics is the name given those drugs which are employed 
for the purpose of relieving inflammations occurring in joints, whether 
these be in an acute or chronic condition of disease. 

Antihydrotics are used to prevent excessive sweating, either when 
it is local or general. Camphoric acid is probably the best general 
antihydrotic. 

Antiperiodics is a term applied to drugs or remedies employed for 
the prevention or cure of malarial poisoning. They are so named 
because they tend to break up the periodicity of the attacks, which 
periodicity is a characteristic of such diseases. 

Antiphlogistic 's are remedies employed to prevent the progress of 
inflammatory processes. They are nearly all contraindicated in the 
presence of tissues possessing an impaired vitality through previous 
conditions of disease. 

Aphrodisiacs are remedies used to increase sexual desire and 
power. 

Astringents are employed for the purpose of contracting or con- 
stringing tissues. They act either by coagulation of albumin, by pre- 
cipitating albumin, or by making the tissues more dense by con- 
centration. Theoretically, all astringents should be non-irritating, 
but practically they possess irritant properties, and are, in conse- 
quence, contraindicated in the presence of very acute inflammations as 
a rule. Three of the mineral astringents, however, possess marked 
sedative properties in addition to their astringent power, and car? 
therefore be used freely in acute inflammations when locally applied 
They are nitrate of silver, subacetate or acetate of lead, and the sub- 
carbonate or subnitrate of bismuth. 

Bitters are remedies designed to increase the activity of the 
mucous membrane of the gastro-intestinal canal by increasing its-. 



INDICATIONS, CONTRAINDICATIONS, AND DEFINITIONS. 33 

-tone. They may be divided into simple bitters and complex bitters. 
The first depend upon their bitterness solely for their activity ; the 
second class is well represented by quinine or strychnine, both of 
which are exceedingly bitter, but, in addition to their local effect on 
the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane, act as stimulants to other por- 
tions of the organism. A good example of a simple bitter is columbo. 
Many bitters contain so much tannic acid that they are not generally 
useful, and for this reason very few can be used with preparations of 
iron, since a tannate of iron would be formed. 

Cardiac sedatives are drugs which decrease the force of the heart, 
and, as a class, the amount of blood expelled at each beat of the ven- 
tricles. They are indicated in arterial excitement, contraindicated 
in arterial depression. 

Cardiac stimulants are drugs which increase the force of the heart, 
thereby increasing the quantity of blood expelled from the ventricles. 
This may be accomplished by an increase in the rapidity of the beats 
or by a greater output of blood at each contraction, the diastole being 
sufficiently prolonged to admit of the ventricles being well filled. 
They are contraindicated in the presence of arterial excitement, and 
indicated in arterial depression. 

Carminatives are remedies given for the purpose of expelling flatus, 
particularly if there is reason to believe that the "wind" has accu- 
mulated because of intestinal torpidity. Many of the carminatives 
are necessarily possessed of irritant properties, and are therefore con- 
traindicated in the presence of flatulence due to intestinal atony aris- 
ing from inflammation. The best carminative is spiritus setheris com- 
positus, or Hoffmann's Anodyne. 

Cathartics. — These are drugs employed when a positive and 
decided action of the bowels is desired. They occupy a position 
between the purges and the drastics. (See Purges and Drastics.) 
A good example of a cathartic is senna when given in full dose. 

Cholagogues are used to exert a stimulant influence over the flow of 
bile. Nitro-hydrochloric acid and mercury bichloride are perhaps 
the best types of pure cholagogues, while podophyllum and calomel 
represent the class of cholagogues which increase intestinal peristalsis 
in addition to stimulating the flow of bile. Cholagogues are, as a rule, 
contraindicated in the presence of acute inflammation of the gall- 
bladder or liver. 

Counter-irritants are remedies used to produce irritation at a spot 
distant from a painful or inflamed area, in order to relieve the diseased 
parts by reflex action exerted through the nervous system upon the 
painful nerve or disordered capillary network. 

Demulcents are substances used to protect any exposed parts of 
the body from irritation. 

Diaphoretics produce an increased secretion from the sweat-glands. 
They may be considered as internal and external. The internal are 
represented by pilocarpine, which stimulates the sweat-glands them- 
selves ; the external are represented by the Turkish and Russian 
baths, which, by increasing bodily heat, cause a profuse sweat by 
reflex action. 



34 GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

Diuretics are used to increase the flow of urine from the kidneys. 
They act by stimulating the renal epithelium to greater activity, 
thereby increasing the excretion of both the watery and solid con- 
stituents of the urine ; or they simply increase the watery constituents 
by increased blood-pressure in the kidney. 

It is to be remembered that the vegetable salts of potassium and 
the lithium salts increase the solids in the urine, not by stimulating 
the secreting epithelium of the kidney, but by uniting with insoluble 
material in the system, forming soluble compounds which are then 
readily eliminated. (See Eliminators.) They are indicated in con- 
ditions of renal inactivity due either to functional or organic causes. 
Irritating diuretics, such as cantharides, for example, are contraindi- 
cated in acute nephritis. Such a diuretic is only to be used where 
the kidneys are inactive through atony or prolonged chronic or sub- 
acute disease. 

Eliminators are drugs which, by forming soluble compounds with 
insoluble substances in the body, render them capable of being ex- 
creted by the excretory organs, such as the skin, kidneys, and bowels. 

Emetics are drugs used to produce vomiting. They act centrally 
when, as is the case with apomorphine, they stimulate the vomiting 
centre, peripherally when they irritate the walls of the stomach. 
They are indicated when Ave wish to unload the stomach of unde- 
sirable materials, or when we desire to cause an increased flow of 
bile from the gall-bladder, which is accomplished by the pressure 
exerted upon this viscus when the abdominal walls and diaphragm 
contract in retching. When the ducts are mechanically obstructed 
by a gall-stone emetics are dangerous, as they may cause rupture 
of the gall-bladder. 

Sometimes we are able by the use of emetics to rid the lungs and 
stomach of mucus in bronchitis or gastric catarrh. 

The contraindications to emetics are cerebral congestion or menin- 
gitis, gastritis, gastric ulcer, advanced pregnancy, and hernia. 

Emmenagogues are remedies used to produce or increase the men- 
strual flow. They are of two classes — direct and indirect. The direct 
are all of them irritants, and are seldom of much value ; the indirect 
are used to overcome the morbid condition underlying the menstrual 
disorder, and are therefore more rational.- Thus iron and arsenic may 
be used in amenorrhea due to anaemia with beneficial result. 

Expectorants are employed when it is desirable to promote secretion 
or to get rid of secretion in the bronchial tubes. Thus, in the early 
stages of an acute bronchitis the mucous membrane is hyperaemic 
and swollen, but dry and irritable. Ipecac and citrate of potassium 
form at this time a sedative expectorant mixture, which, while allay- 
ing irritation, promotes secretion, and so relieves the engorged area. 
On the other hand, after the acute stage is passed, there may be so 
much atony of the mucous glands that the secretion is either too 
scanty or too viscid to be coughed up. Stimulant expectorants, such 
as chloride of ammonium, eucalyptus, and terebene, are now to be 
employed. These latter drugs are contraindicated in the acute inflam- 



INCOMPATIBILITY. 35 

matory stage of the disease, as they would simply stimulate the irri- 
tated mucous membrane to greater irritation. 

Hypnotics are drugs used to produce sleep. They may be divided 
into those which produce sleep and relieve pain, and those which have 
no analgesic power. The latter are therefore not to be employed in 
sleeplessness due to pain, and the former are contraindicated when 
pain is absent. Thus, chloral produces sleep if it be ordinary func- 
tional insomnia ; but if the sleeplessness is due to pain, opium is the 
drug to be employed. Chloral, in ordinary doses, is the purest hyp- 
notic that we have. 

Mydriatics are drugs which produce dilatation of the pupil or 
mydriasis. Conditions of the eye associated with increased intra- 
ocular tension are contraindications to mydriatics, as a rule. 

Myotics are drugs which cause contraction of the pupil or myosis. 
They are best represented by eserine. 

Nervous sedatives are indicated and contraindicated in a reverse 
manner to nervous stimulants. 

Nervous stimulants are contraindicated in nervous excitement, indi- 
cated in nervous depression. 

Oxytoxics are drugs which increase the expulsive power of the 
uterine muscular tissues. 

Revulsives are remedies used to produce increased activity of the 
general system or parts thereof through reflex influences — that is, 
they cause a determination of blood to one part, thereby relieving an 
engorged area. Thus, in cerebral congestion or effusion a vigorous 
purgative or cathartic may give relief by exercising a derivative 
effect. Revulsives are closely allied to counter-irritants. 

Roborants are drugs or measures devoted to the repair and build- 
ing up of tissues in the body, and comprise both foods and drugs. 
Roborant treatment also includes hygienic surroundings, fresh air, 
light and healthful employment. 

Tonics are used to increase vital activity. They are indicated in 
instances of local or general systemic depression, contraindicated in 
cases of inflammation or excitation with excessive functional activity/ 
(See Bitters.) 

Vasomotor depressants are drugs which decrease arterial pressure 
by an action on the vasomotor nervous system rather than by an 
action on the heart. They act by relaxing the blood-vessels. 

Vasomotor stimulants are drugs which increase arterial pressure 
by an action on the vasomotor system, thereby producing contraction 
of the blood-vessels. 



INCOMPATIBILITY. 

The chief value of a knowledge of chemistry or pharmacy to a 
practitioner of medicine is the avoidance of what is known as an 
"incompatibility," or the placing in one prescription of two or more 
substances which will undergo chemical interchanges, decompositions, 
precipitations, or cause the formation of explosive mixtures. It is 



36 GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

impossible to detail all the incompatibilities, and only the most dan- 
gerous and common possibilities of error can be considered : 

1st. An acid should never be combined with an alkali. 

2d. An acid should not be added in any quantity to a tincture. 
The following prescription is an illustration of this : 

R. — Potassii iodidi ^ij. 

Acidi nitro-muriatici f^j. 

Tr. cinchonae comp q. s. fjiij. — M. 

S. — Use as directed : a teaspoonful. 

In this ridiculous mixture the acid is incompatible with the iodide 
of potassium, forming a chloride and setting free iodine, and would 
also change part of the alcohol in the tincture into an ether. 

3d. Alkalies should not be combined with the alkaloids. Thus : 

R. — Strychninse sulph g r -j« 

Potassii iodidi .... ^ij. 

Syr. sarsaparillse comp f^iij- — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful t. d. 

In this prescription the strychnine would be precipitated by the 
potassium salt, and the patient would get nearly all the strychnine in 
the last dose. 

4th. Potassium chlorate should not be ordered to be rubbed up 
with tannic acid or any other organic substance capable of oxidation, 
as it will explode. Permanganate of potassium is subject to the same 
rule. 

5th. Chlorate of potassium and ammonium chloride when mixed 
together may take fire. 

6th. Iron is incompatible with tannic acid, as it forms a tannate of 
iron, or ink. As all the vegetable astringents contain tannic acid, they 
should none of them be used with iron except chiretta and columbo. 

7th. Tannic acid should never be added to solutions of alkaloids. 

8th. Gum arabic is not to be added to solutions of iron, lead, or 
the mineral acids. 

9th. Alcoholic solutions of camphor and similar resinous substances 
are incompatible with water. 

10th. Fluid extracts are incompatible with water, as the addition 
of water will precipitate them. 

11th. All salts not acid but alkaline in reaction are decomposed 
by acids. 

12th. All salts which are acid are decomposed by alkalies. 

13th. All vegetable acid salts are altered by mineral acids and are 
decomposed by alkalies. 

14th. Iodine and the iodides should not be given with alkaloids. 

15th. Corrosive sublimate, the salts of lead, iodide of potassium, 
and nitrate of silver should always be prescribed alone, except in the 
following instances : 

(a) Corrosive sublimate may be given with potassium iodide, 
since it will throw down a precipitate which redissolves and forms 
a double salt. 

(b) Nitrate of silver may be used with extract of opium or hyos- 
cyamus. 

16th. Syrup of squill should not be given with the carbonate of 



CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS. 



37 



ammonium, as it contains acetic acid. Chloride of ammonium is not 
incompatible with it. 

17th. Cherry-laurel water should not be prescribed with morphine, 
as it may form the poisonous cyanide of morphine. 

18th. Chloral and cyanide of potassium should never be placed in 
the same prescription, as they will decompose each other, setting free 
hydrocyanic acid, 

19th. Cocaine and borax when added together form an insoluble 
borate of cocaine. Boric acid and cocaine do not result in this 
formation. 

20th. Calomel and antipyrin are incompatible, as are also sweet 
spirit of nitre and antipyrin. 

21st. Waters cannot be used in preparing saturated solutions of 
drugs, as they are already loaded with the volatile substance. 

22d. Pepsin and pancreatin should not be used together, since 
the former can only act in an acid and the latter in an alkaline 
medium, and the pancreatin is destroyed by the acid gastric digestive 
process. Further, one ferment may digest the other. 



CLASSIFICATION OP DRUGS. 

In order that the student may gain a definite idea as to the 
various actions of different remedies the following list of drugs is 
appended, which is of necessity somewhat arbitrary, and is not 
intended to be exhaustive, for many remedies might be placed in 
several classes. The endeavor has been made to place the best or most 
powerful drug of each class first in the list. It is to be remembered 
that a strict physiological classification is impossible. 



I. Alteratives. 






III. Antacids. 


1. Mercury. 






1. Ammonia. 


2. The iodides of 


potassium 


and so- 


2. Sodium and its salts. 


dium. 






3. Liquor potassa. 


8. Iodine. 






4. Magnesia. 


4. Iodoform.. 






5. Lime. 


5. Iodol. 








6. Arsenic. 








7. Cod-liver oil. 






IV. Anthelmintics. 


8. Colchicum. 






Those that are used against the round- 


9. Ichthyol. 






worm are — 


10. Taraxacum. 






1. Santonica. 


11. Mezereum. 






2. Spigelia. 


12. Nuelein. 






3. Chenopodium. 

4. Azedarach. 


II. Anesthetics. 






5. Santoninate of sodium. 


1. Ether. 








2. Nitrous oxide gas. 






3. Chloroform. 






Those used against the tape-worm are — 


4. Cocaine. 






1. Pelletierine. 


5. Eucaine. 






2. Aspidium. 


6. Bromide of eth 


yi- 




3. Pepo. 


7. Chloride of eth 


yl and methyl. 


4. Pomegranate. 


8. Pental. 






5. Brayera. 


9. Bromoform. 






6. Kamala. 


10. Carbolic acid. 






7. Turpentine. 


11. Antipyrin. 






8. Chloroform. 


12. Menthol. 









38 



GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 



Those used against the seat-worm, 
oxyuris vermicularis, are — 



Quassia. 
Turpentine. 
Tannic acid. 
Chloride of sodium. 



weak 



5. Vinegar. 

V. Antiseptics. (See also Disinfect- 

ants. ) 

1. Corrosive sublimate in 

lutions. 

2. Carbolic acid in weak solutions. 

3. Peroxide of hydrogen. 

4. Creolin. 

5. Lysol. 

6. Boric acid. 

7. Permanganate of potassium. 

8. Salicylic acid. 

9. Sulphate of iron. 

VI. Antipeiuodics or Antimalarials. 

1. Cinchona. 

2. Eucalyptus. 

3. Warburg's tincture. 

4. Arsenic. 

5. Methylene blue. 

VII. Antipyretics. 

1. Antipyrin. 

2. Acetanilid or antifebrin. 

3. Phenacetin. 

4. Guaiacol. 

5. Phenocoll. 

6. Quinine. 

7* Salicylic acid. 

8. Thallin. 

9. Carbolic acid. 
10. Kairin. 

VIII. Antispasmodics. 

1. Amyl nitrite. 

2. Chloral. 

3. Bromides. 

4. Opium. 

5. Belladonna. 

6. Camphor. 

7. Hoffmann's anodyne. 

8. Asafoetida. 

9. Musk. 

10. Valerian. 

11. Monobromated camphor. 

12. Amber. 

13. Cimicifuga. 

14. Hops. 

IX. Astringents. 
Vegetable : 

1. Tannic acid. 

2. Hsematoxylon. 

3. Kino. 

4. Catechu. 

5. Pvhatany or krameria. 

6. Pvhus glabra. 

7. Geranium. 



8. White oak. 

9. Black oak. 

10. Gallic acid. 

11. Kosa centifolia. 

12. Kosa gallica. 

All of these depend chiefly upon tannic 

acid for their active principle. 
Mineral : 

1. Sulphuric acid. 

2. Alum. 

3. Lead. 

4. Nitrate of silver. 

5. Nitric acid. 

6. Sulphate of copper. 

7. Bismuth. 

8. Sulphate of zinc. 

X. Cardiac Sedatives. 

1. Aconite. 

2. Veratrum viride and albumen. 

3. Antimony. 

4. Hydrocyanic acid. 

5. Veratrum sabadilla. 

XI. Cardiac Stimulants. 



10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 



Digitalis. 

Strophanthus. 

Ammonia. 

Ether. 

Alcohol. 

Caffeine. 

Nux vomica. 

Ignatia. 

Adonis vernaiis. 

Convallaria majalis. 

Sparteine. 

Amyl nitrite (momentarily). 

Opium. 



XII. Counter-irritants. 

Those counter-irritants that blister are 
called epispastics. They are — 

1. Cantharides. 

2. Thapsia. 

3. Ammonia or chloroform when 

under a watch-glass. 

Those that redden or produce local 

hyperemia of the skin are — 

1. Mustard. 

2. Capsicum. 

3. Turpentine. 

4. Ammonia. 

5. Chloroform. 

6. Burgundy pitch. 

7. Canada pitch. 

8. Most of the spices. 

Under the name of Escharotics are 
grouped a number of substances 
capable of acting as destructive 
agents upon the soft tissues of the 
body. They are — 

1. Chromic acid. 

2. Nitric acid. 



CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS. 



39 



3. Sulphuric acid. 

4. Nitrate of mercury (solution). 

5. Bromine. 

6. Caustic potash. 

7. Caustic soda. 

8. Burnt alum. 

9. Arsenous acid. 

10. Chloride of zinc. 

11. Vienna paste. 

12. Canquoin's paste. 

XIII. Diaphoretics. 

The only ones that we know as direct 
stimulants to the glands are — 

1. Pilocarpus or jaborandi. 

2. Warburg's tincture. 

The others are— 

3. Hot dry and hot moist baths. 

4. Dover's powder. 

5. Alcohol (particularly when hot). 

6. Nitrous ether. 

XIV. DlGESTANTS. 

1. Pancreatin. 

2. Pepsin. 

3. Hydrochloric acid. 

4. Diastase. 

5. Papain. 

XV. Disinfectants. 

1. Corrosive sublimate. 

2. Chlorine or chlorinated lime. 

3. Formaldehyde. 

4. Carbolic acid. 

5. Chloride of zinc. 

XVI. Diuretics. 

Those that increase both the solids and 
liquid constituents are probably — 

1. Caffeine. 

2. Squill. 

3. Cantharides. 

4. Buchu. 

5. Vegetable salts of potassium. 

6. Lithium. 

7. Juniper. 

8. Turpentine. 

9. Uva ursi. 

10. Chimaphila. 

11. Cubebs. 

12. Pareira brava. 
13.«Blatta. 

Those which increase the watery con- 
stituents of the urine without in- 
creasing the solids proportionately 
are — 

1. Digitalis. 

2. Nitrous ether. 

XVII. Eliminatives. 
1. The iodides. 



2. The salicylates. 

3. The vegetable salts of potassium 

and the purgatives. 

4. The lithium salts. 

5. Jaborandi. 

6. Colchicum (probably). 

XVIII. Emmenagogues. 



The direct emmenagogues are — 


1. 
2. 
3. 

4. 


Apiol. 

Binoxide of manganese. 

Permanganate of potassium 

Cantharides. 


5. 


Aloes. 


6. 


Mvrrh. 


7. 


Kue. 


8. 


Savine. 


9. 


Tansy. 


10. 
11. 


Pennyroyal. 
Guaiac. 


The indirect are — 


1. 


Iron. 


2. 


Arsenic. 


3. 
4. 


Copper. 

Tonics in general. 



XIX. Emetics. 

The direct are represented by — 

1. Apomorphine. 

2. Ipecac (which is both centric and 

peripheral). 

3. Tartar emetic (which is both 

centric and peripheral). 

The peripheral are — 

1. Sulphate of zinc. 

2. Mustard. 

3. Alum. 

4. Sulphate of copper. 

5. Turpeth mineral. 

XX. Expectorants. 
Sedative : 

1. Citrate or acetate of potassium. 

2. Ipecac. 

3. Antimony. 

4. Lobelia. 

Those which act as stimulating expec- 
torants are — 

1. Ammonium chloride. 

2. Apomorphine. 

3. Creasote. 

4. Eucalyptus. 

5. Tar. 

6. Terebene. 

7. Terpine hydrate. 

8. Oil of sandal-wood. 

9. Sulphur. 

10. Grindelia robusta. 

11. Garlic. 

12. Squill. 



40 



GENERAL THERAPEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 



Besides these we have nux vomica, 
which increases expectoration by stimu- 
lating the nervous system to coughing, 
and thus expels the mucus. Opium and 
the bromides depress the nervous system 
and allay cough, and so decrease expecto- 
ration. 

XXI. Hypnotics. 



9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 



Chloral. 

Bromides of potassium, sodium, 

etc. 
Opium. 
Sulphonal. 
Trional. 
Tetronal. 
Paraldehyde. 
Chloralose. 
Chloralamide. 
Hypnal. 

Hyoscine (in mania). 
Duboisine (in mania). 
Cannabis indica (in large dose). 



XXII. Nervous Sedatives. 

1. Chloral. 

2. Opium (in full doses). 

3. The bromides and hydrobromic 

acid. 

4. Chloroform. 

5. Amyl nitrite. 

6. Nitrites of potassium and sodium, 

and nitroglycerin. 

7. Ether. 

8. Bromide of ethyl. 

9. Nitrous oxide. 

10. Bromoform. 

11. Belladonna. 

12. Antipyrin. 

13. Acetanilid. 

14. Phenacetin. 

15. Calabar bean. 

16. Hydrocyanic acid. 

17. Lobelia. 

18. Conium. 

19. Cannabis indica. 

20. Sulphonal. 

21. Croton chloral. 

22. Paraldehyde. 

23. Camphor. 

24. Monobromated camphor. 

25. Asafcetida. 

26. Amber. 

27. Hoffmann's anodyne. 

28. Cimicifuga. 

29. Musk. 

30. Valerian. 

31. Humulus. 

32. Castor. 

33. Hypnal. 

34. Tobacco. 

XXIII. Nervous Stimulants. 

1. Nux vomica. 

2. Ignatia. 



3. Coca. 

4. Kola. 

5. Caffeine. 

XXIV. Oxytocics. 

1. Ergot. 

2. Cotton-root. 

3. Ustilago maydis. 

And indirect when in labor 

1. Quinine. 

2. Kola. 

XXV. Purgatives. 

Laxatives : 



Cascara sagradj 

Sulphur. 

Rhubarb. 

Frangula. 

Cassia fistula. 

Euonymus. 

Magnesia. 

Manna. 

Fruits. 



Cathartics (mineral) : 

1. Magnesium sulphate. 

2. Magnesium citrate. 

3. Sodium phosphate. 

4. Potassium and sodium tartrate. 

5. Sodium sulphate. 

6. Mercury. 

Cathartics (vegetable) : 

1. Castor oil. 

2. Senna. 

3. Aloes. 

4. Podophyllin. 

Cathartics (hydragogue) : 

1. Elaterium. 

2. Jalap. 

3. Colocynth. 

4. Croton oil. 

5. Gamboge. 

6. Scammony. 

7. The saline purgatives, if con- 

centrated solutions are used. 

XXVI. Tonics. 

1. Cinchona. 

2. Nux vomica. 

3. Calumba. 

4. Arsenic. 

5. Phosphorus. 

6. Mercury (in minute doses). 

7. Copper. 

8. Iron. 

9. Hydrochloric acid. 

10. Nitro-hydrochloric acid. 

11. Nitric acid. 

12. Phosphoric acid. 

13. Condurango. 

14. The vegetable bitters in general. 



'CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS. 



41 



XXVII. Vasomotor Depressants. 

1. Amyl nitrite. 

2. Nitroglycerin and other nitrites. 

3. Veratrum viride. 

4. Antimony. 

5. Aconite. 

6. Veratrum album. 

7. Veratrum sabadilla. 

8. Alcohol (in excessive doses). 

9. Jaborandi. 



XXVIII. Vasomotor Stimulants. 

1. Belladonna. 

2. Hyoscyamus. 

3. Digitalis. 

4. Nux vomica. 

5. Ergot. 

6. Stramonium. 

7. Caffeine. 

8. Convallaria. 

9. Suprarenal gland. 



PART II. 
DRUGS. 

ACACIA. 

Acacia, U. S., Acacice Giummi, B. P., Gum Arabic or Gum Acacia, 
is a gummy exudate from the stems and branches of small trees known 
as Acacia Senegal, and other acacias growing in Northern Africa and 
in Australia. As sold in the stores it consists of irregular semi- 
transparent lumps, which are either smooth or angular, according to 
whether the substance has been preserved in the original beads or 
broken by handling. Its color is slightly yellow or almost white, 
both color and transparency depending largely on the amount of the 
impurities by which it is contaminated. 

It is devoid of physiological action. 

Therapeutics. — Acacia is employed in medicine as a local applica- 
tion to inflamed and irritated mucous membranes, particularly of the 
upper air-passages, and also when dissolved in water in the form of a 
drink when the same conditions exist in the mucous membranes of the 
alimentary canal and genito-urinary tract. In all these states it is useful 
as a vehicle for more powerful remedies. Made into a mucilage with 
flaxseed, to which liquorice may be added, it is largely employed to 
loosen a hacking cough in children or in adults. The flaxseed should 
not be boiled, but allowed to stand on a moderately warm part of the 
"range," and the gum-arabic solution added with a little lemon-juice 
for flavoring purposes. Acacia is chiefly used in pharmacy for making 
pills, emulsions, and similar preparations, and is official in the form 
of the mucilage of acacia (Mucilago Acacia?, U. S. and B. P.) and 
the syrup of acacia (Syrupus Acacia?, U. S.), the first containing 340 
grms. of acacia and water enough to make 1000 grms., and the sec- 
ond 25 c.c. of the mucilage to 75 c.c. of syrup. 



ACETANILID, or ANTIPBBRIN. 

Acetanilidum, U. S. and B. P., w T as first employed in medicine by 
Cahn and Hepp, and is a white crystalline material only slightly sol- 
uble in water, but completely soluble in alcohol and ether. Applied 
to the tongue, it causes a burning sensation which is very slight. It 
has been known to chemists for many years, and is made by the action 
of glacial acetic acid upon aniline, forming acetaniiid or phenyl-aceta- 
mide. The word antifebrin is a registered name, and should be'avoided 

43 



44 DRUGS. 

by the profession, since its employment obliges the druggist to use the 
acetanilid made by one firm instead of the compound made by other 
chemists, who are able to make the drug as an ordinary chemical com- 
pound, and do not charge so high a price as do those holding control 
over the registered name. 

Physiological Action.- — Acetanilid has been studied experimentally 
and clinically to a very great extent, and fairly definite outlines of 
its action have been mapped out. 

Nervous System. — On the nervous system acetanilid has been 
found to act as a sedative, the sensory portion of the nerves and spinal 
cord particularly being quieted. After a poisonous dose general anaes- 
thesia comes on, with total loss of reflex action and with motor and 
sensory paralysis. The portions of the nervous system involved in 
these changes are, primarily, the sensory side of the spinal cord and 
the sensory nerves, the motor apparatus being least affected. The 
muscles are not influenced by the poison, except indirectly. 

Circulation. — On the circulation acetanilid has but little direct 
influence except when used in poisonous doses. Applied to the frog's 
heart, it at first accelerates its beat and increases its force, but soon 
causes a weakening, ending with arrest in wide diastole. Upon the 
higher animals it causes, in toxic dose, an immediate fall of arterial 
pressure with a diminution in the size of the pulse-waves and all the 
evidences of cardiac and circulatory depression, notwithstanding the 
fact that death ensues from respiratory failure. The cause of this 
fall of blood-pressure is a direct depressing action on the heart asso- 
ciated with failure of the vasomotor system, as asphyxia causes no 
rise in pressure. 

In medicinal dose acetanilid causes no circulatory changes of any 
moment. Sometimes the pulse-rate is increased, sometimes diminished. 
The tendency is, however, toward depression rather than stimulation 
of the circulation. 

Blood. — The action of this drug upon the blood, when used in 
large doses, is more pronounced than its influence upon any part of 
the body, causing this tissue to become brownish-red, decreasing its 
ozonizing and oxygen-carrying power, and, finally, reducing the 
haemoglobin to methaemoglobin to a very considerable extent. The 
question as to the influence of acetanilid upon the corpuscles is still 
somewhat undecided, some observers declaring that these bodies are 
disorganized, while others assert that they remain intact. In mod- 
erately large poisonous doses it may not affect the corpuscles, but if 
its use in large amount be maintained for some days, or a very large 
amount be used at one time, corpuscular destruction certainly occurs, 
free haemoglobin appearing in the urine in its characteristic forms. 
The normal alkalinity of the blood is decreased, and the urine becomes 
dark and brownish in color, so that the blood-crystals of Teichmann 
may be found in it. In ordinary medicinal doses the blood shows no 
change except in cases where idiosyncrasy is present or the doses are 
unusually large. Under these circumstances the blood in the arterial 
system becomes more blue than normal. 

Respiration. — No effect is produced upon this function by acetan- 



ACETANILID, OR ANTIFEBRIN. 45 

ilid when given in moderate doses. When poisonous doses are used 
the breathing at once becomes rapid and then impaired and labored. 
Large doses produce death by paralysis of the respiratory centres. 
The causes of these changes are, primarily, the alterations in the 
blood, which so influence oxygenation of the tissues as to lead the 
respiratory centres to greater effort, while at the same time they are 
beginning to be directly depressed by the drug itself, so that impair- 
ment of their function is soon manifest. Bokai asserts that the drug 
paralyzes the peripheral motor nerves, which, if true, brings forward 
a third factor in the respiratory failure. 

Temperature. — When given in full medicinal doses, acetanilid 
lowers the normal bodily temperature or else fails to produce any 
change. In poisonous doses it produces a decrease in temperature 
depending on the amount employed, and may produce collapse and 
rigors. On a fevered temperature it acts as a powerful and fairly 
constant antipyretic, lowering the fever by decreasing heat-production 
and increasing heat-dissipation, heat-production being the function 
most affected. 1 Whether the decrease in heat-production is due to an 
action on the heat-centres in the nervous system, or upon other causes, 
is not positively known. Some investigators have claimed that the 
fall depends upon the partial reduction of the haemoglobin of the 
blood, whereby less oxygen is carried to the tissues and less combus- 
tion ensues. This seems doubtful, in view of the fact that the most 
careful spectroscopic examination of the blood fails to show any such 
change from the use of medicinal doses. That the fall of temperature is 
not dependent on the sweat produced is proved by the fact that the tem- 
perature falls even if enough atropine be given to stop all perspiration. 

Kidneys, Tissue-waste, and Urine. — Much contradictory evi- 
dence exists in regard to the changes which occur in these organs and 
their excretory products under the influence of acetanilid, but most 
observers agree that the excretion of urea is increased, and it is a 
fact that the more laborious researches which have been undertaken 
have reached a similar result (Lepine, Chittenden, and Taylor). Less- 
uncertainty exists as to its influence on the elimination of uric acid, 
which is increased rather than diminished by the drug. After exces- 
sively large doses the urine becomes dark from the presence of broken- 
down blood-coloring matter. 

Elimination. — The drug is eliminated by the kidneys as para- 
amido-phenol sulphate, and is entirely passed out of the body in about 
twenty-four hours. 

Antiseptic Action. — The drug possesses antiseptic powers, but they 
are only exercised when the amount present is quite large. (See 
Therapeutics.) 

Toxic Changes from Prolonged Use. — Although it has been claimed 
that no untoward effects result from the prolonged use of acetanilid 
in large doses, there can be no doubt that this is untrue. Under these 
circumstances congestion of the liver, kidneys, and spleen occurs, and 
if the dose be poisonous, clots may be found in the cardiac cavities. 

1 Wood has criticized this statement. My reasons for holding to the opinions stated 
can be found in my Boylston Prize Essay of Harvard University on Antipyretics. 



46 DRUGS. 

There may be also a progressive decrease in the number of the red 
blood-corpuscles. 

Poisoning. — In man this drug in toxic quantity causes the lips to 
become blue, the face livid, cyanosed, expressionless, or anxious. 
The forehead and cheeks become covered by beads of sweat, which 
gradually extend over the rest of the body. The pulse is soft and 
compressible, but slow, and finally very weak. The respirations become 
slow and shallow. Poisoning has occurred rarely from its external use. 

The treatment of a case of poisoning by acetanilid should consist 
in supporting measures, the use of stimulants, external heat, bella- 
donna to maintain blood-pressure, strychnine to aid the respiration, 
and oxygen inhalations if they are necessary to combat cyanosis. 

Therapeutics. — The employment of acetanilid in fevers must depend 
very much upon the exact condition of the patient and the form of his 
disease. The mere existence of a malady, or of a high temperature, 
cannot, correctly speaking, be an indication for any particular rem- 
edy. The phase of the disease must be recognized, and the question 
as to whether the fever which is present is harmful must be duly 
weighed. (See Treatment of Fever, Part IV.) 

In typhoid fever the studies of most clinicians show that though 
the drug possesses very decided antipyretic power, it often causes great 
depression and collapse, and in no way influences the duration or gen- 
eral course of the disease. 

For the same reasons the value of acetanilid in phthisis is doubt- 
ful, since, although it greatly aifects the temperature, it is very apt to 
cause collapse, profuse sweating, and depression. Thus the writer has 
repeatedly seen cases of phthisis in which the attempt to control the 
fever resulted in the manner just stated, and Riese points out, what the 
author has also noted — namely, that in this disease cyanosis is very 
apt to come on after the use of the drug. 

In regard to the employment of acetanilid in sthenic fevers, it at 
once becomes evident that a drug absolutely unsuited to a case of 
asthenic disease may, on the other hand, agree with a sthenic-fever 
patient very well. In consequence of this, we find that the sweating 
produced by acetanilid is not so marked or troublesome in diseases of a 
dynamic type, and that, -in consequence, it more rarely causes collapse ; 
but even in this class of cases, and particularly in both varieties of 
pneumonia, the use of acetanilid is rarely advisable. Indeed the anti- 
pyretic use of this and similar compounds is yearly becoming less if 
cold can be used in their stead. 

In much the same manner that antipyrin was found, some time 
after its introduction, to be possessed of pain-relieving power, so ace- 
tanilid has been discovered to possess similar properties — a discovery 
the credit of which must be given to the French investigator Lepine. 
Almost every form of nerve-pain seems to indicate its employment. 
It has been successfuly used in the crises of ataxia, the agonizing 
dartings of gastralgia, in cases of sciatica, and severe headaches often 
yield to its influence. A large amount of experience has proved it to 
be of value in epilepsy. 

The employment of acetanilid in acute rheumatism may be separated, 



ACETANILID, OR ANT1FEBBIN. 47 

if desired, into that devoted to the cure of the disease, with the relief 
of pain and the reduction of pyrexia. There can be no doubt what- 
ever of the ability of the drug to control the fever of this disease, 
and the question as to whether it favorably influences the severity of 
the malady is to be answered very forcibly in the affirmative. (See 
Rheumatism, Part IV.) The dose for cases of rheumatism should be 4 
(0.2) to 6 grains (0.5) three times a day. In subacute rheumatism of 
the muscular type acetanilid will often give great relief. 

Acetanilid is of great value in the treatment of chancroids when 
used in dry powder, and it is useful in the antiseptic dressing of 
wounds. 

In many cases of obstinate vomiting, particularly that following 
surgical operations when an anaesthetic has been used, acetanilid is a 
useful drug. The drug is usually best given in the dose of 1 grain 
every half hour until 6 grains are taken ; and the following prescrip- 
tion may be used in compressed tablet, pill, or powder, preferably the 
latter, in order to increase the sedative effect on the stomach and steady 
the heart : 

R. — Acetanilidi gr. vj. 

CafFein. citrat . . ... . . gr. iij. 

Camphor, monobromati gr. vj. — M. 

Ft. in pil. vel chart. ]So. vi. 
S. — Wash down with a little water or else dissolve powder in a drachm of 
brandy; pour over cracked ice, and give it from a spoon. 

Acetanilid has even been recommended when applied locally as a 
haemostatic in epistaxis, and has been given internally with asserted 
advantage in haemoptysis. 

Acetanilid very distinctly increases the susceptibility of a patient 
to cold, and for this reason it should not be used for the relief of neur- 
algic or other pain before leaving the house in cold weather if it can 
be avoided. 

Untoward effects are not very common if acetanilid be used with 
care. The writer has collected a number of cases (thirty-eight) in which 
unfavorable signs appeared after its use, but untoward action was never 
seen unless the dose given was excessive for the case which received it. 
The dose most commonly producing such symptoms was from 3 (0.15) 
to 10 grains (0.65). In only three instances of the series did death 
occur — one from heart-clot and two from excessive dosage. No deaths 
were reported from moderate amounts, although some of the cases were 
very alarming. Very rarely symptoms of poisoning by acetanilid, such 
as are described on p. 46, follow its now general use as a dusting powder 
over wounds and other breaks in the skin. 

Administration. — Acetanilid may be given in doses varying from 
2 (0.1) to 10 grains (0.65), the last-named amount being usually far 
too much. As it is virtually insoluble in water, it should always be 
administered in wine or spirit, in which it will dissolve, or in capsules 
or pills. The antipyretic effect begins to be felt about one hour after 
the drug is taken. When neuralgias are to be treated or similar 
forms of pain are present, monobromated camphor, in the dose of j 
a grain, may be combined with acetanilid with advantage. 



48 DRUGS. 

R. — Acetanilidi gr. xx (1.3). 

Camphor, monobromati gr. v (0.3.) — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. x. 
S. — One every two hours. 

This pill is not to be used if there is reason to believe that marked 
renal congestion or irritation is present. 

ACETATE OP POTASSIUM. 

Potassii Acetas, U. S. and B. P., is a neutral white salt of saline 
taste, readily deliquescent and soluble in water. It was at one time 
very largely used in the treatment of rheumatism in the "alkaline 
method," as when it enters the blood it is changed into an alkaline 
carbonate. It has, however, been supplanted by the salicylates in 
the treatment of most cases of rheumatism. The dose should be 
from 1 to 2 ounces (32.0-64.0) a day. A combination of 10 grains 
(0.65) of the iodide of potassium and 30 grains (2.0) of the acetate 
is useful in rheumatism in some instances. 

In hepatic torpor acetate of potassium is exceedingly useful, and 
aids in promoting the flow of bile as well as that of the urine. It 
has been used in the treatment of the uric-acid diathesis, and acts 
powerfully in rendering an acid urine alkaline. At one time it was 
supposed to purify the blood by aiding in the oxidation of effete 
material. The dose of potassii acetas is from 20 grains to 2 ounces 
(1.3-64.0), but the latter dose is only employed when a purgative 
effect is desired. 

ACETIC ACID. 

Acidum Aceticum, U. S. and B. P., as used in medicine, is a 
clear liquid made up of 36 per cent, of acetic acid and 64 per cent, 
of water, and has a sweetish odor. It is obtained from wood by 
destructive distillation. 

Acetum, or Vinegar, is practically a dilute acetic acid. 

Therapeutics. — Acetic acid is seldom used internally. As a pow- 
erful escharotic the glacial or absolute acetic acid (Acidum Aceticum 
Glaciate, U. S. and B. P.) is used. It can be applied to warts and 
other growths, and to old sores where the granulations are profuse and 
slow to heal. The dilute acid {Acidum Aceticum Dilutum, U. S. 
and B. P.) is used as a lotion in night-sweats and to arrest epistaxis 
and other small haemorrhages. As a lotion to be widely employed 
it should be diluted one-half. Vinegar, or dilute acetic acid, has been 
used internally for the decrease of obesity, but is a harmful and useless 
remedy, disordering digestion and reducing the patient's strength. 

Sometimes inhalation of vinegar fumes from a cloth saturated with 
this liquid will control vomiting. 

In the following mixture acetic acid has been used with success 
for the removal of vegetations about the external genitals : 

R. — Acid, salicylic gr. xxx (2.GP). 

Acid, acetic f£j (32.0).— M. 

S. — Apply with a camel' s-hair brush. 

Very little pain is caused by this application. 



ACONITE. 49 

Poisoning. — When over-doses of acetic acid are taken the treat- 
ment consists in the use of large doses of milk, alkaline liquids, such 
as lime-water, soap-water, etc., and the general measures adopted for 
the treatment of gastro-enteritis. (See Gastro-enteritis, Part IV.) 

Contraindications. — Nursing mothers should not take freely of 
vinegar, as it may produce a troublesome diarrhoea in the nursling. 



ACONITE, or MONKSHOOD. 

The aconite of the U. S. P. is derived entirely from the tuberous 
root of Aconitum Napellus. At one time the leaves were official, but 
are so no longer, and for this reason the term " radix " is not to be 
employed, as it is a useless distinction. 

Aconite is indigenous in Germany, France, and Switzerland, and 
is cultivated as a garden-plant all over Europe and America. The 
root is so strikingly like that of horseradish as to be readily confused 
with that article of food, but does not emit the pungent fumes of the 
latter when it is scraped or broken. It is to be remembered, how- 
ever, that it produces a distinct feeling of heat in the mouth when 
chewed. The active principle upon which the therapeutical value of 
aconite would appear to depend is aconitine, but there is reasonable 
doubt whether this can be relied upon as completely as the preparations 
of the crude drug ; the aconitine of commerce, moreover, varies very 
much in strength, because some of it is amorphous and impure, while 
other samples are very pure and crystalline. Further than this, even 
the crystalline form is exceedingly variable. In addition to aconitine, 
Dunstan asserts that there are two amorphous alkaloids — namely, aco- 
nine and napelline — and this investigator believes that there is a fourth 
alkaloid closely allied to napelline. 

Physiological Action. — When aconite is placed on the tongue it 
produces a sensation of tingling and burning which extends over the 
pharyngeal surface and into the stomach if the drug is swallowed. 
This is due to its primary irritant and secondary benumbing action on 
the sensory nerve-endings of the mucous membrane. It sometimes 
causes a sensation of constriction in the fauces. Aconite is rapidly 
absorbed and destroyed by oxidation or eliminated. 

Nervous System. — In full medicinal dose aconite depresses the 
functional activity of the perceptive centres in the brain, the sensory 
side of the spinal cord, but chiefly depresses the peripheral ends of the 
sensory nerves. Applied to a mucous membrane, it acts as a local an- 
aesthetic, but is too irritating for this use in the eye. On the motor 
portion of the body it exerts little influence unless given in large, 
poisonous doses, when it paralyzes the motor tract of the spinal cord 
and the peripheral motor nerves. 

Circulatory System. — When aconite is given in moderate medi- 
cinal dose it exercises no marked change on any part of the organism 
save the circulation, which becomes somewhat slower by stimulation of 
the vagus centres and by the drug acting as a sedative to the heart- 
muscle itself. The arterial pressure is slightly decreased by these doses, 



50 DRUGS. 

chiefly by the decrease in cardiac force. If large doses are used, the 
pulse becomes still more feeble and slow, and the arterial pressure falls 
from depression of the vaso-motor centre. When a poisonous dose is 
given it causes first a very marked fall in pulse-rate and arterial pres- 
sure, preceded sometimes by a quickening due to a condition of weak- 
ness and abortive cardiac action : this condition gradually passes into 
diastolic arrest of the heart, the viscus becoming paralyzed and refusing 
to respond to stimuli. 

Respiration. — In moderate doses aconite quiets the respiratory 
movements slightly, particularly if the breathing is hurried. In poison- 
ous doses it paralyzes the respiratory centres, and so causes death. 

Temperature. — Aconite acts as a distinct reducer of fever, prob- 
ably because of increased heat-radiation arising from relaxation of the 
capillaries and impaired circulation. 

Absorption and Elimination. — Aconite is rapidly absorbed 
and destroyed by oxidation, so that its effects do not last for any 
length of time. The effect of aconite when given in a large medicinal 
dose lasts for about three hours. It usually increases the urinary flow. 

Poisoning. — When aconite is taken internally in excessive amount 
it causes tingling of the mucous membranes wherever it touches them, 
w T hich sensation finally amounts to severe burning. This soon passes 
away, and is followed by a sense of tingling about the lips and finger- 
tips or all over the skin. At the same time the patient feels relaxed ; 
the pulse at first becomes weak and slow, but later on rapid and run- 
ning, so that it seems a mere trickle under the finger ; sweating more 
or less marked is present, and fainting may ensue. Vomiting may occur, 
but is rare. The respirations now become slow and shallow, seeming to 
expand the lung to the smallest possible extent consistent with life. 
The face is pallid and anxious. Consciousness is preserved unless lost 
through an attack of syncope. There may be exophthalmus, or the 
eyes may be sunken and dull. The sclerotic coat of the eye is pale 
and pearly-looking. There is excessive pallor. Clonic convulsions 
of unknown origin sometimes occur. There may be marked anaes- 
thesia of the skin. The pupils may be normal, contracted, or di- 
lated to a wide degree. The temperature of the body is very *low. 
Death may be gradual or sudden, the slightest movement of the 
body which can throw any strain on the heart stopping that organ 
in diastole. 

Treatment of Poisoning. — The patient is to be placed in a prone 
position on a bed or board, with the feet higher than the head, in order 
to confine the circulation as far as possible to the vital centres at the 
base of the brain. Hot bottles or bricks are to be placed about the 
body for the purpose of maintaining the bodily heat. Emetics are not 
to be given if the symptoms are severe, as vomiting may cause cardiac 
failure, owing to the muscular effort involved, or the stomach may be 
so depressed that the emetics will not act. If vomiting comes on, it 
should be into a towel, the patient not being allowed to raise his head. 
The stomach is to be washed out by means of a stomach-pump or a 
siphon made of rubber tubing. Ether may be given hypodermically, 
and followed by alcohol, and this again by digitalis. The ether acts at 



ACONITE, OR MONKSHOOD. 51 

once, and lasts while the alcohol is being absorbed, and the alcohol sup- 
ports the heart until the digitalis, which is the physiological antagonist 
of aconite, but slow and prolonged in its effects, asserts itself. Atropine, 
because of its stimulating effect on the vaso-motor system, may also be 
used. If the breathing fails, artificial respiration is to be employed, or 
if the heart seems about to cease its action, a whiff of the nitrite of 
anryl may start it going again, but only a few drops of the nitrite should 
be used, as large amounts depress this organ. Full hypodermic doses 
of strychnine, such as -^ to ^ (0.003-0.006) of a grain, may be given 
to stimulate the respiration and heart. 

Untoward Effects. — Aconite may cause in susceptible persons a 
vesicular, or even a pustular, eruption, or instead intense itching of the 
skin may be developed. 

Therapeutics. — The employment of aconite in disease is one of the 
most universally recognized procedures in medicine. It fulfils indi- 
cations which nothing else can, and lends itself to the control of a 
large number of morbid processes, its effects being uniformly explain- 
able by its known physiological action. It is used chiefly for its 
influence as a cardiac and circulatory sedative, for its effects on the 
peripheral sensory nervous system, as in the vomiting of pregnancy, 
and in those states in which, through inflammation elsewhere, the 
nervous system needs a sedative which will simultaneously reduce 
arterial tension. In the early stages of all acute inflammations aco- 
nite is of service. It may be applied locally over superficial nerves 
in neuralgia in the form of an ointment (2 grains [0.1] to 1 drachm 
[4.0], or as the oleate of aconitine, 2 grains [0.1] of the oleate to 
100 [6.0] of sweet oil). In the earlier stages of gonorrhoea aconite 
in small doses frequently repeated is a most valuable remedy, and 
later in the disease tends to prevent chordee by its influence on the 
nervous centres. It is useful in croup, quinsy, sore throat, severe 
colds, bronchitis, and asthma due to exposure, in their early stages. 
"When sujjpression of menstruation follows an exposure to cold, this 
drug, given with a hot drink and a hot sitz bath, will often restore the 
normal flow. In pericarditis it is valuable to allay the inflammation 
and quiet the excited heart, and it is also of great value in the earliest 
stages of sthenic pneumonia if great arterial excitement is present. 
Aconite is by far the best circulatory and nervous sedative for children 
suffering from sthenic fevers, particularly of the irritative type. It 
ought not to be used in adynamic, asthenic affections. Aconite is use- 
less and harmful in prolonged acute diseases, such as scarlet fever, if 
constantly employed. 

In persons who suffer from asthma which is preceded by coryza 
aconite does good if given in the earliest stages. 

In nervous 'palpitation of the heart and in the palpitation of exces- 
sive cardiac hypertrophy aconite is very valuable. In many cases of 
this character where there is not only hypertrophy, but irregular inner- 
vation, the use of a prescription containing aconite and digitalis proves 
of service, for the minute doses of digitalis stimulate the vagus nerves, 
and the aconite not only steadies the heart, but also counteracts the 
stimulant effect of the digitalis on the heart muscle : 



52 DRUGS. 

R.— Tine, aconit f^ss (2.0). 

Tine, digital f^ss (2.0). 

Tine, belladonna fgj (4.0). 

Tine, gentian, comp q. s. ad fjiij (00.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful every six hours. 

In the epistaxis of full-blooded people aconite often affords great 
relief. 

Full doses of Duquesnel's crystalline aconitine are of value in some 
cases of obstinate neuralgia. This crystalline salt is about 4 times 
stronger than the amorphous variety. 

Administration. — As a general rule, small divided doses of the- 
drug in the form of the tincture, J to -^ a drop (0.015-0.03) given 
every fifteen minutes, will act better than a full dose given at once, 
unless the condition of the patient requires very active treatment. 

Preparations. — Tincture of aconite {Tinctura Aconiti, U. S. and 
B. P.) is used in the dose of 1 to 5 drops (0.06-0.3) in water, re- 
peated every hour if needed so often. A very useful way of employ- 
ing it is in the form of tablet triturates. The extract of aconite 
{Extraction Aconiti, U. S.) is given in the dose of -J- to j of a grain 
(0.015-0.045), while of the abstract (which is no longer official) 1 
grain (0.05) is used. The fluid extract {JExtractum Aconiti Fluidum, 
U. S.) is given in the dose of 1 to 2 minims (0.05-0.1). Fleming's 
tincture ought never to be used. The active principle aconitine is 
not official in the U. S. P. Its dose is -^-J-g- to ytq °^ a g ra, i n (0.0003- 
0.0006), but it ought never to be used internally. The B. P. prepa- 
rations that are not official in the TJ. S. P. are : aconitine {Aconitina), 
aconite ointment ( TJngiientum Aconitinw), and aconite liniment 
{Liniment um Aconiti). 

ADONIS VERNALIS. 

From Adonis vernalis, a plant indigenous in Europe and Asia, is 
derived a glucoside, Adonidin. When given to one of the mammalia 
— the dog, for instance — it causes an increase in heart-force and a 
rise of arterial pressure. In the frog poisonous amounts arrest the 
heart in diastole. 

The indications for the use of adonis are all conditions of cardiac 
failure, particularly the presence of cardiac dropsy. It is much infe- 
rior to digitalis and caffeine, but may be employed when these fail, as 
it sometimes succeeds under such circumstances. Within the last few 
years adonis vernalis and bromides have been combined in the treat- 
ment of epilepsy with asserted success. 

The dose of adonidin is J to J of a grain (0.008-0.016) three times 
a day ; or 4 to 8 parts of the plant — all portions of which are employed 
— may be added to 180 parts of water, and of this infusion a table- 
spoonful (16.0) may be given every four hours. 



AGARICIN— ALCOHOL. 53 



AGARICIN. 

Agaric, or Touchwood, or Punk, has been used in the Southern 
United States very largely in the dose of 5 grains (0.3) every few 
hours in the treatment of the night-sweats of phthisis; and agaricin, 
the alcoholic extract of the drug, has been used with very extraordi- 
nary results, under these circumstances, by certain German and 
English physicians, in the dose of from 1 to 2 grains (0.05-0.1) 
every five hours. Its physiological action is unknown, but it is sup- 
posed to act upon the nerve-filaments in the sweat-glands. The 
writer has employed it frequently in varying dose, and has never 
seen any decrease whatever produced by it in the sweats of phthisis, 
although he has watched it most closely, expecting to see great relief 
follow its use. Sometimes agaricin causes nausea and diarrhoea. 

ALCOHOL. 

Ethyl Alcohol (Alcohol Ethylicum) is the only alcohol used in 
medicine. Some of the other alcohols are exceedingly poisonous. 
Amylic alcohol is fusel oil. 

Alcohol is a liquid derived from the fermentation of starches or 
sugars in the presence of heat. It is official in four forms — namely, as 
Alcohol, U. S., containing 91 per cent, by weight of the spirit and 9 per 
cent, of water; Alcohol Absolution, V. 3. and B. P., containing not more 
than 1 per cent, by weight of water; Alcohol Deodoratum, containing 
92.5 per cent, by weight of alcohol; and Alcohol Dilutum, U. S., or 
dilute alcohol, 41 per cent, by weight spirit and the remainder water. 
The drug is generally given in the form of whiskey or brandy, and 
when the word alcohol is used in the saying, " Give the patient alco- 
hol," one of these two liquids is always meant unless it is otherwise 
stated. 

Physiological Action. — Nervous System. — Alcohol acts first as a 
powerful excitant, and afterward, when given in very full dose, as a 
most active depressant and paralyzant of the nervous system. Locally 
applied in small amounts to the peripheral nerves, it excites them at 
first and paralyses them afterward. By the primary stimulation of 
the brain it increases the rapidity, but not the depth, of thought, and 
it increases the reflex activity of the spinal cord, the muscles, and 
the nerves. In large doses it produces lack of co-ordination by 
depression of the brain and lower nervous system, the loss of co-ordi- 
nation being due largely to impairment of sensation, so that the power 
of touch and the muscle sense is interfered with. This makes a 
drunken man fail to recognize the angles or uneven surfaces of sur- 
rounding objects, and the impaired mental power and disordered judg- 
ment, combined with the badly-acting motor and sensory pathways, 
cause him to stumble and fall. 

Circulatory System. — When alcohol is ingested, either by man 
or the lower animals, it stimulates the heart-muscle and increases the 
rapidity as well as the force of its beat. According to Dogiel, the 
increase in rate is partly clue to stimulation of the accelorator nerves, 



54 DRUGS. 

but Castillo denies any such influence. Wood teaches that the effect 
of alcohol is not through any action upon these nerves, but upon the 
heart itself, and is probably correct in his belief. Along with the stim- 
ulation of the heart a rise of arterial pressure ensues, largely due to 
increased heart action and partly to vasomotor stimulation. In very 
large toxic doses alcohol depresses and finally paralyzes the heart and 
vasomotor system as well as the nervous system. 

Respiration. — Respiration is stimulated by small doses of alco- 
hol and decreased by large ones. 

Temperature. — Alcohol at no time increases to any extent the 
actual number of heat-units in the body. It produces a sensation of 
warmth, and warms the extremities by causing the heart to pump hot 
blood from the centre of the body to the cold parts. If it be used in 
excess, the temperature rapidly falls, owing primarily to the increase 
of heat-radiation produced by the excessive distribution of heat just 
named, and secondarily by the depression of vital power, which is 
caused by a too rapid destruction of the tissues of the body in the 
eifort induced by the drug. Calorimetrical studies show that, while 
more heat may be created under its influence, so much heat is dissi- 
pated that the temperature nevertheless falls. 

Bodily Metabolism. — The quantity of carbonic acid given off 
by the body under the use of alcohol is in most instances increased, 
but it may be decreased. The effect on the absorption of oxygen is 
not known. Some observers have noted an increase, some a decrease, 
of such absorption, and some no change at all when alcohol is taken. 
Upon the giving off of nitrogenous substances it acts as a decided 
depressant, which seems to prove that it inhibits rapid tissue-changes 
and is a conservator of vital power. It adds force, but not tissue, to 
the body. 

Elimination. — Alcohol is largely "burnt up" in the body, but 
when taken in excess of the body's oxidizing power it is eliminated 
by the breath and by the skin, kidneys, and intestines. 

Digestion. — Alcohol added in any amount to food in a test-tube 
containing digestive ferments retards or inhibits digestion, but in the 
stomach, on the other hand, when used in moderation, it assists the 
process ; for by reason of its irritant and stimulating properties it 
induces the secretion of an excess of the digestive juice. When exces- 
sive amounts are ingested it disorders digestion by inhibiting the action 
of the digestive ferments. 

Therapeutics. — The employment of alcohol in disease can here be 
only briefly alluded to, special mention of its indications being named 
when the diseases in which it is used are discussed. (See Part IV.) 
Its chief uses are as a rapidly-acting stimulant in all forms of cardiac 
failure due to shock or to poisons, and as a systemic support and stim- 
ulant in low fevers and prolonged wasting diseases, in old age, and in 
convalescence from acute disease. In both croupous and catarrhal 
pneumonia alcohol is useful, and particularly is this true when these 
affections occur in children. (See Pneumonia, Part IV.) 

Some additional conditions, to state them specifically, in which 
alcohol is indicated are fainting, snake-bite, surgical shock, and chronic 



ALCOHOL. 55 

pneumonia in its later stages, and excessive wasting due to prolonged 
suppuration. It is also useful in poisoning by depressant drugs, such 
as aconite or antimony. 

Alcohol should never be given in the presence of circulatory excite^ 
nient, but whenever the circulation fails during the progress of an 
acute disease it is useful. In the pneumonia of children, whether it 
be croupous or catarrhal, brandy or whiskey is very useful in the dose 
of 5 to 60 drops (0.3-4.0) every two hours in a little water or milk. 
(See Administration.) In exhausting fevers, such as typhoid or typhus, 
alcohol finds its true usefulness. While it is well to give alcohol in 
many cases of enteric fever from the beginning to the end of the attack, 
for the double purpose of aiding digestion and of supporting the system, 
its administration should not be a mere matter of routine, but should 
be based upon clear ideas of the indications it is calculated to fulfil. 
If the pulse is weak and the patient seems to be sinking, or the appe- 
tite is failing and adynamia is a pressing symptom, alcohol is indi- 
cated ; but if the pulse is good, and the passage of the patient through 
his illness is not a stormy one, alcohol should be excluded from the 
sick-room. Sometimes ordinary whiskey or brandy will in severe 
typhoid fever disorder the stomach. The physician should then em- 
ploy an old brandy or wine which has acquired an aroma which is 
called a " bouquet." 

In persistent vomiting small doses of good brandy poured on 
cracked ice will often do much good. 

Alcohol is not only of service internally, but it is also useful exter- 
nally as a wash or evaporating lotion over bruises, inflamed joints, 
and wounds of a contused character. It acts as a cooling and anti- 
septic dressing. It is also useful for washing the skin of invalids, and 
"salt and whiskey" applied by rubbing is a good mixture to stimu- 
late the skin of unhealthy persons. 

Acute Poisoning. — In advanced poisoning by alcohol, with coma 
and total relaxation, external heat and hypodermic injections of digi- 
talis and strychnine are indicated if the heart or respiration seems to 
be failing. Belladonna should be administered to stimulate the vaso- 
motor system if the skin is relaxed and clammy, and counter-irrita- 
tion to the back of the neck is to be employed if any brain symptoms 
are pressing. The after-treatment consists in the use of substances 
stimulating to the stomach, such as ammonia, spirit of Mindererus, 
and spices, unless there is gastric inflammation, when emollient sub- 
stances should be used to quiet the irritation. If persistent vomiting 
comes on, it must be quieted by the patient swallowing pieces of ice, by 
aconite, cocaine, or minute doses of ipecac. Counter-irritation should 
be applied over the belly. If the emunctories are not acting freely, 
thorough purgation by jalap or elaterium (40 grains (2.8) of jalap 
powder or \ of a grain (0.01) of elaterium should be employed); or full 
doses of calomel followed by a saline may be given if milder effects 
are sought. For the morning vomiting of drunkards Fowler's solution 
of arsenic is often a valuable remedy. 

In view of the frequency with which alcoholic and opium poison- 
ing are confused, the following table is appended, which will be found 



56 



DRUGS. 



of value in making a differential diagnosis as to the condition of the 
patient : 

Alcoholism and Opium Poisoning. 

Opium Poisoning. 

1. Pupils contracted. 
Pulse 2. Kespiration and pulse slow and full. 



Alcoholism. 

1. Pupils normal or dilated. 

2. Respiration nearly normal 
rapid, and finally feeble. 

3. Face may be pallid. 

4. Skin cool, perhaps moist. 



3. Face suffused and cyanosed. 

4. Skin warmer than in alcoholic poi- 
soning. 

5. Pulse slow, strong, and full till late 
in poisoning. 

There is scarcely any difference as to consciousness in the two conditions. 
In medico-legal cases the urine should be saved in hermetically sealed vessels for 
examination. 



5. Pulse rapid, at first strong, then 
weak. 



Acute Alcoholism and Apoplexy. 



A Icoholism. 



1. Pulse rapid, compressible, and weak. 

2. Skin moist, or relaxed and cool. 

3. Bodily temperature lowered. 

4. Pupils equally contracted or dilated ; 
generally dilated. 

5. No hemiplegia. 



Apoplexy. 

1. Pulse apt to be strong and slow. 

2. Skin hot or dry. 

3. Bodily temperature raised. 

4. Pupils unequal. 



the 



5. Hemiplegia: one side tossed, 
other remaining motionless. 

6. Respiration stertorous, the lips being 
inflated on one side on expiration. 

7. Facial palsy. 

8. Unconsciousness complete. 



6. Breathing not so stertorous nor so 
one-sided in lips. 

7. No facial palsy. 

8. Unconsciousness may not be com- 
plete. 

The smell of alcohol in the breath is no guide, as acute alcoholism may have caused 
the rupture of a cerebral blood-vessel. 

Chronic Poisoning, or the Alcohol Habit. — Chronic poisoning by 
alcohol results in very characteristic changes in the tissues. As the 
liver receives the alcohol from the stomach diluted only by the portal 
blood, it is often affected very early, and cirrhosis of this organ comes 
on with its accompanying gastric and nutritional symptoms. Mental 
disturbances are common, and neuritis may develop in its painful forms 
or produce paralysis or symptoms resembling locomotor ataxia. 1 The 
treatment of chronic alcoholic poisoning may be carried out in two ways : 
First, by the isolation of the patient and the complete withdrawal of the 
drug at once ; secondly, by a better plan, a gradual tapering-off in the 
daily amount of the spirit. In either instance isolation must be abso- 
lute, and all smuggling of alcohol to or by the patient prevented. The 
attendants must be absolutely trustworthy. Careful scrutiny of bed- 
clothes and closets will often be rewarded by finding hidden whiskey- 
bottles. The depression of the patient when recovering from alcohol- 
ism must be met by the use of nutritious broths, highly seasoned in 
order to stimulate the stomach, by easily digested or predigested foods, 
and by small doses of morphine or coca if the patient be very weak 
and need such a stimulus. Koumyss is an exceedingly valuable and 
nutritious preparation under these circumstances. 

In the treatment of the atonic stomach of drunkards nothing does 
so well as the following pill : 

1 See author's work on Diagnosis, Lea Brothers & Co., 1896. 



ALCOHOL. 57 

R. — Oleoresin. capsici n\x(0.65). 

Olei caryophylli n\,x (0.65). 

Hydrarg.chlor. mit gr. xx (1.3). 

Aloe Socotrinre gr. xl (2.65). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One three times a day after or before meals. 

If this pill fails to move the bowels, a saline purgative should be used. 
The following are the principal points in the differential diagnosis of 

Chronic Alcoholism and the General Paralysis of the Insane. 
Alcoholism. Paretic Dementia. 

1. Attacks shorter, and more widely 1. Attacks more prolonged, 
separated by intervals of sanity. 

2. Delirium may be of any character. 2. Delirium of grandeur more marked 

and defined. 

3. Visions more characteristic, and are 3. Visions often not evil, but pleasant, 
evil. 

4. Tremors confined to head and arms. 4. Tremors more diffused. 

5. Tremors removed by dose of alco- 5. Tremors made worse by alcohol. 
hoi. 

6. Mental symptoms temporarily re- 6. Mental state made worse by alcohol, 
moved, or at any rate improved, by al- 
cohol. 

7. Tremors occur chiefly in the morn- 7. Tremors not confined to the morn- 
ing, ing. 

There is danger of pneumonia from failure of the right side of the 
heart in subacute and chronic alcoholism, and the physician should 
always be on the lookout for this complication. 

Administration. — Brandy and whiskey are generally used as rapidly- 
acting stimulants. They should be exhibited in the form best adapted 
to the work they are intended to perform. If the action must be 
instantaneous, as in a case of fainting, they should be employed hot 
and concentrated, so that the stomach has not to warm the liquid 
before absorption. They are to be used hypodermically if still more 
rapid action is required. If administered to aid digestion and support 
the system, then they should always be given with the food — never 
alone, and never concentrated. They may be given as milk-punch or 
as eggnog, the latter being the "heavier " of the two so far as diges- 
tion is concerned. In fevers of a typhoid type the dose of whiskey or 
brandy should be for an adult from 1 to 4 tablespoonfuls every three 
or four hours. More than a pint in tw T enty-four hours is rarely re- 
quired, but this amount often does great good and is not excessive. 
When brandy or whiskey is given to children, the following rules as to 
dosage may be used as indicating the approximate proper dose : 5 to 
10 drops every four hours for a child of 1 month old ; 10 to 20 drops 
for a child of 2 months old ; 20 to 30 drops for a child of 3 months 
old ; 30 to 40 drops for a child over 3 months old ; 60 drops for a child 
over 4 months old. In some cases, however, it is well to use half 
these doses every tw T o hours. In all cases the liquor should be diluted 
with hot or cool water. Wine-whey is very light and useful. Mulled 
wine and champagne are particularly useful in the treatment of irri- 
table stomach. (See Foods for the Sick.) Champagne when used as 
a medicinal stimulant should always be as devoid of sugar as possible 
— that is, what is known as " extra dry." Gin is rarely employed as 



58 DRUGS. 

a stimulant, except when the kidneys are torpid. Stout and porter are 
of value in wasting diseases, in convalescence from acute diseases, and 
for nursing women. 

Contraindications. — All states of cerebral excitement, unless due 
to exhaustion, acute inflammations, the alcoholic habit, apoplexy, 
meningitis, acute nephritis, aneurysm, and advanced atheroma, con- 
traindicate the use of alcohol, as does also the history of the alcoholic 
habit. 

The official preparations of alcohol are as follows : 

Whiskey (Spiritus Frumenti, TJ. S.) should be at least three years 
old, and be made, in America, from rye for medicinal purposes. 

Brandy (Spiritus Vini Gallici, TJ. S. and B. P.) is obtained by the 
distillation of fermented grapes or fruits, and should be from three to 
five years old before use. 

Cologne-water (Spiritus Odoratus) is used solely as a lotion and 
perfume. 

Red Wine ( Vinum Rubrum, TJ. S.) is made from grapes not deprived 
of their skins. White Wine {Vinum Album,) is the fermented juice 
of grapes the skins of which have been removed. 

Dilute Alcohol {Alcohol Bilutum, TJ. S.), deodorized alcohol 
(Alcohol Beodoratum, TJ. S.), pure alcohol {Alcohol, TJ. S.), and 
absolute alcohol (Alcohol Absolutum) are also official. 

The unofficial preparations are : 

Rum, which is made from the fermentation of molasses, and con- 
tains about 40 to 45 per cent, of alcohol. 

Gin is made from rye or barley, with the addition of juniper-berries 
and hops. (Good gin and the Spiritus Juniperi Compositus of the 
TJ. S. Pharmacopoeia are virtually identical therapeutically.) When 
diuresis is required and atony of the kidneys is present, without 
inflammation, gin is a useful medicament, provided that a stimulant 
is indicated. Gin is one of the alcoholic drinks most apt to produce 
cirrhosis of the liver. 

Port Wine ( Vinum Portense) is a fermented wine, to which pure 
spirit is added to increase its strength. It is one of the strongest table 
wines, and is useful as a stimulant in convalescence. 

Sherry ( Vinum Xericum) has about 30 per cent, of alcohol in it. 
It is not official in the TJ. S. P. 

Beer is made by a slow fermentation, while ale is made by a more 
rapid fermentation at a higher heat. Most of the beer in America 
contains about 4-6 per cent, of alcohol. 

Porter resembles the other malt liquors closely, except that it 
contains more solids, due to a scorching of the grain by a high 
heat. 

The B. P. preparations that are not official in the TJ. S. P. are 
rectified spirit (Spiritus Rectificatus), sherry ( Vinum Xericum), and 
Mistura Spiritus Vini G-allici, which is a useful, pleasant, and nutri- 
tious stimulant made by beating up the yolks of two eggs with half 
an ounce of sugar, and then adding four ounces each of brandy and 
cinnamon-water. This is sometimes called " egg-flip." 



ALLIUM— ALLSPICE— ALMONDS. 59 



ALLIUM. 



Garlic, or Allium Sativum, U. $.-, is a stimulant to digestion, owing 
to the volatile oil it contains, which by its somewhat irritating proper- 
ties excites the gastric mucous membrane to increased secretion. In 
persistent colds, where the bronchial tubes are particularly affected, a 
garlic poultice, made by pounding the bulbs in a mortar, is a very 
efficient though disagreeable remedy. In the treatment of children 
with colds garlic may be used boiled in milk, and the liquid given as 
a drink, warm or cold, or the oil of garlic may be given in emulsion 
in the dose of 1 or 2 drops (0.05-0.1). It ought not to be given dur- 
ing the febrile stage, as it is stimulating. If the skin in any case is 
too delicate to permit of the use of pounded garlic alone, it may be 
mixed with equal parts of bran, and a regular poultice or plaster 
made thereof. Employed in this form, allium is useful if applied 
over the spine or feet in the treatment of the cerebral and spinal con- 
vulsions of infants ; placed over the belly in cases of g astro-intestinal 
catarrh, it acts almost as well as a spice poultice. Allium-juice has 
also been used, in the dose of 2 to 5 drops (0.1-0.3) to relieve ner- 
vous vomiting. The dose of the syrup (Syrupus Allii, U. S.) for a 
child is 1 drachm (4.0), but 4 drachms (16.0) may be given to an adult. 



ALLSPICE. 

Allspice, or Pimenta ( U. S. and B. P.), is the nearly ripe fruit of 
Pimenta officinalis, a tree of the West Indies. It contains an official 
volatile oil (Oleum Pimentos, U. S. and B. P.), used for flavoring pur- 
poses, as a constituent of spice plasters, in diarrhoea mixtures, or as a 
carminative. It will also prevent the griping of purgative medicines. 
The dose of the oil is 1 to 5 drops (0.06-0.3). Aqua Pimentos {B. 
P.) is given in the dose of 1 to 2 ounces (32.0-64.0). 



ALMONDS. 

Almonds are official in the form of the bitter almonds {Amy g dolus 
Amara, U. S. and B. P.) and the sweet almonds {Amygdalus Bulcis, 
U. S. and B. P.). Bitter almonds develop hydrocyanic acid in the 
presence of water, by the reaction between the amygdalin and water 
in the presence of the emulsin contained in them ; this is not the 
case with sweet almonds. 

Sweet almonds, when rubbed up in a mortar with water, form a 
pleasant-tasting emulsion of an agreeable odor that is very useful as a 
vehicle for remedies having a disagreeable taste. Almond bread has 
been proposed as a food for diabetics, owing to its containing virtually 
no starch ; but it is requisite that the oils and saccharine constituents 
of the almond shall first be removed. (See Foods for the Sick.) 

When half an ounce of sweet almonds are rubbed up with thirty 
grains of gum arabic and two drachms of sugar, to which is added 
gradually a half-pint of distilled water, the mixture being then 



60 DRUGS. 

strained, an emollient and soothing drink is formed, which is very 
useful in irritations of the stomach and intestines and of the air-pas- 
sages and pharynx. The expressed or fixed oil of almonds is a useful 
demulcent, and has been recommended in the cough of phthisis, given 
in the dose of a few drops in emulsion. 

Bitter almonds give off an oil {Oleum Amygdala* Amara?, U. S.) 
which is exceedingly poisonous, owing to the prussic acid which it 
contains, and it is said that one drop will kill a cat, while seventeen 
drops have killed a man. 

Bitter almonds are used to allay irritable coughs and similar states, 
but are not frequently employed, because other drugs are less danger- 
ous, more stable, and more active as remedial agents. The emulsion 
of bitter almonds is made as is that of sweet almonds, and may be used 
in teaspoonful doses for the same purposes and as a vehicle in cough 
mixtures. Both emulsions are useful as vehicles in the treatment 
of gonorrhoea, as they diminish the burning on urination. Almond 
emulsions, when locally applied, are supposed to be of value for the 
removal of freckles and sunburn. 

The preparations of sweet almonds are : an emulsion (Bmulsum 
Amygdala?, U. S. and B. P.), dose 1 to 2 ounces (32.0-64.0); a 
syrup (Syrupus Amygdala?, U. S.), dose 2 drachms to 2 ounces (8.0- 
64.0); a compound powder (Pubis Amygdala? Compositus, B. P.), 
given in the dose of 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0); and the oil (Oleum 
Amygdala? Expressum, U. S. and B. P.), the dose of which is 1 to 4 
drachms (4.0-16.0) Aqua Amygdala? Amarce (U. S.) is prepared 
from the oil of bitter almonds. The dose is 30 to 60 drops (2.0-4.0). 



ALOES. 

Aloes, or Aloe of the U. S. P., is derived from Aloe Perryi, or 
Aloe vera. In the U. S. P. of 1890 the first is called Socotrine aloes 
(Aloe Socotrina, IT. S.), the second Barbadoes aloes (Aloe Barbaden- 
sis, JJ. S., B. P.). Aloes is the inspissated or dried juice of the leaves 
of the plant. It is also probably derived from several other species. 
Aloes contains an active principle known as aloin (Aloinum, U. S.), 
which is a crystalline substance. As aloin is generally sold it is, 
however, an amorphous powder of extremely bitter taste. 

Physiological Action. — Locally applied to the tongue, aloes is a 
bitter of rather a persistent taste. According to the studies of Ruther- 
ford, the drug increases very considerably the flow of bile in the dog, 
but in man it cannot in any sense be regarded as a medicament for 
the production of an increased biliary flow. Rutherford's doses given 
to the dog amounted to as much as sixty grains, equal to three or 
four drachms in man. In the lower animals and in man aloes acts 
very slowly, requiring many hours for its influence to be distinctly 
felt, unless the dose be toxic in amount. As much as four drachms 
of aloes have been injected into the veins of a horse without inducing 
purgation, probably because four drachms were not enough to affect 
the bowels. Aloes has been used endermically, and when so employed 



ALOES. 61 

is said to act thoroughly. It is eliminated by the milk of nursing 
women, and will cause purgation in an infant put to the breast of a 
patient taking it. If the closes be quite large (10 to 20 grains), the 
passages will be watery ; but if the dose be more moderate (2 to 3 
grains), the stools will be thick and pultaceous. 

Therapeutics. — Aloes should be used only when a somewhat slow 
stimulant to peristaltic movement is desired, and never where the 
object of the physician is to relieve congestions by depletion through 
the intestine. It is a favorite remedy in cases of subacute or chronic 
constipation, but it is distinctly harmful if continued for any length 
of time, as it seems to produce atony of the bowel. Owing to its bit- 
ter properties it acts as a tonic to the stomach, and is often given with 
iron to promote the absorption of this metal by stimulating the liver 
and by preventing any constipation which might be produced by the 
chalybeate. 

When taken in a large enough dose to produce a copious passage, 
aloes nearly always produces a feeling of weight and fulness in the 
region of the rectum after the evacuation, and the writer has seen 
severe rectal catarrh produced in this way. If given alone it is very 
apt to produce griping, and it ought always to be combined with 
other drugs whose tendency is to prevent intestinal spasm. 

In cases of haemorrhoids occurring in persons suffering from gen- 
eral muscular relaxation and atony, aloes is said to do great good, 
but its use under these circumstances is by no means universal or 
generally accepted as correct. For weak, anaemic persons leading 
sedentary lives it may be combined with tonics to relieve the consti- 
pation so often a pressing symptom in these cases. In amenorrhoea 
dependent upon atony of the sexual system, or anaemia, or constipa- 
tion, it is thought to have a specific emmenagogue influence. Locally 
applied in the form of the glycerole of aloes, it has been employed 
in the healing of old or neiv fissures of mucous membranes, and even 
in bed-sores. The glycerole of aloes is to be made by evaporating 
four, to eight parts of tincture of aloes and gradually adding thirty 
parts of glycerin. 

Contraindications. — Constipation occurring in plethoric persons 
should not be treated by aloes, and it should not be used if any 
irritation or catarrh of the intestine is present. Pregnant women 
should use aloes most carefully, lest abortion be produced, and if 
hepatic congestion or inflammation is present it ought not to be used. 
Fever is said to contraindicate the use of aloes, as does also rectal 
catarrh. 

Administration. — Aloes is generally given in a pill, combined with 
spices and belladonna. (See Constipation, Part IV.) The dose should 
be about 1 to 5 grains (0.06-0.3) as a laxative, and 10 grains (0.6) as 
a purge. The Aloe Purificata, U. S. P., should always be used. The 
official preparations most commonly employed are the pill of aloes 
(Pilulce Aloes, TJ. S. and B. P.), 2 grains (0.12) each of aloes and 
soap ; the pill of aloes and myrrh (Pilulce Aloes et Myrrho?, TJ. S. 
and B. P.), 2 grains (0.12) of each constituent; the pill of aloes and 
mastich (Pilulce Aloes et Mastiches, TJ. S.), 2 grains (0.12) of aloes, 



62 DRUGS. 

or the "Lady Webster dinner pill;" the pill of aloes and iron 
(Pilulce Aloes et Ferri, U. S. and B. P.), 1 grain (0.06) of aloes and 
1 grain (0.06) of dried sulphate of iron; and the pill of aloes and 
asafoetida (Pilulce Aloes et Asafcetidce, U. S. and B. P.), containing 
4 grains (0.26) of aloes, asafoetida, and soap. The dose of all these 
is one or two pills. Aloes is also official as Extraction Aloes Aquo- 
sum, dose 1 to 2 grains (0.06-0.12). The liquid preparations are the 
tincture (Tinctura Aloes, U. S. and B. P.), dose 1 to 3 flui drachms 
(4.0-12.0); the tincture of aloes and myrrh (Tinctura Aloes et 
Myrrhce, U. S.), 1 dose 1 to 2 fluidrachms (4.0-8.0). The B. P. 
preparations, besides those given, are the Decoctum Aloes Compositum, 
dose J to 2 ounces (16.0-64.0) ; and the Extractum Aloes Barbadensis,, 
the dose of which is 2 to 6 grains (0.1-0.3). 



ALUM. 

Alum (Alumen, U. S. and B. P.) is the sulphate of aluminum and 
potassium in the U. S. P., but in the B. P. both it and the sulphate 
of aluminum and ammonium crystallized from a watery solution are 
official. At present much of the alum of commerce is made in the manu- 
facture of coal-gas for illuminating purposes, and it is therefore very 
cheap. It occurs in the form of octahedral crystals, and has an astrin- 
gent taste and acid reaction. After the crystals are exposed to the 
air for some time they become covered with a white coating. 

Physiological Action. — When alum is brought in contact with a 
mucous membrane it produces whitening, constriction, and puckering 
of the part, and applied to the skin thickens and toughens it by 
means of its astringent action. In either case it decreases secretion 
and causes contraction of the local blood-vessels and capillaries. 
Large amounts given for any length of time seem to increase secre- 
tion. 

Poisoning. — Very large amounts are necessary to produce death. 
As much as two ounces will not kill a sickly dog. This is largely 
due to the fact that the vomiting and purging rid the animal of the 
drug, for if vomiting is prevented death rapidly ensues from gastro- 
enteritis. Injected into the blood, alum produces embolism and 
thrombosis. 

Therapeutics. — Alum is used at present in a number of diseases, 
chiefly as a local application. In cases of ordinary sore throat appli- 
cations of a strong solution (20 grains to the ounce of water — 1.3- 
32.0) on a swab will be found very useful. It would be of much service 
in this condition were it not that it posseses a destructive action on the 
teeth. In hemorrhage, when the leaking blood-vessels can be directly 
reached, alum is a remarkable hemostatic, aiding in the arrest of the 
bleeding in three ways — namely, by coagulating the albumin, by con- 
stringing the parts, and by crystallizing when applied in large amounts 
on lint, and thereby affording a surface which is rough and aids coagu- 

1 Sometimes called Elixir Proprietatis. 



AMBER. 63 

lation. In hemorrhage after tooth-extraction its application is a very 
useful treatment. Dissolved in water or alcohol, 2 grains to the ounce 
(0.1 to 32.0), it makes an exceedingly efficient application for sponging 
in night-siveats or localized siceating of the feet or hands. In haemop- 
tysis a fine spray of a strong solution of alum, 20 grains to the ounce 
(1.3-32.0), may be employed, the necessity of the spray being made 
very fine being constantly borne in mind. This method may also be 
resorted to in bronchorrhoea or chronic bronchitis with excessive secre- 
tion, and in chronic catarrh of the pharynx and larynx. In mercurial 
ptyalism the drug may be used on a swab. Bathing the parts affected 
with an alum solution is said to be an efficient remedy in chilblains, and 
even for pruritus vulvae . As a vaginal wash for excessive leucorrhoea, 
in the strength of from 10 to 20 grains to the ounce (0.65-1.3 to 32.0) 
of water, alum is of value. Some observers claim good results from its 
use in diphtheria and tonsillitis. In. follicular tonsillitis the alum-stick 
may be deeply inserted into the depressed follicles or applied to the 
swollen surface of the gland. In ingrowing toe-nail with granulations 
a piece of twisted absorbent cotton soaked in strong alum solution and 
inserted under the edge of the nail will in most instances do a great 
deal toward a cure. Dried alum [Alumen Exsiccatum, U. S. and B. 
P.) is useful as a dressing for old ulcers and sores, and has been 
highly recommended as an application vfor swollen gums where they 
press upon and override a tooth, particularly at the back of the jaw. 
The possibility of its exercising an evil effect on the teeth should not 
be forgotten when this treatment is resorted to. 

Internally, alum has been used in diabetes, gastralgia, and dysen- 
tery of an acute and chronic type. In lead colic it seems to be of 
value in conjunction with morphine to allay the pain. At one time 
alum was largely employed in membranous croup in emetic dose for 
the dislodging of the membrane and for the astringent effect exer- 
cised as it was swallowed and expelled. 

The emetic dose of powdered alum is a heaping teaspoonful for a 
child or a tablespoonful for an adult. 

Alum may be used as an antidote in acute lead-poisoning, as it is 
a soluble sulphate and also an emetic. 

G-lycerinum Aluminis (1 to 5) is official in the B. P., and is used 
as a local astringent application. 

AMBER. 

Succinum is derived from a fossil resin found in Prussia and 
Bohemia, and is used in the form of the oil {Oleum Succini), which 
is volatile, quite irritant, and obtained by destructive distillation from 
the deposits named. 

Therapeutics. — Oil of Amber is one of the best remedies for per- 
sistent hiccough that we have. It is very useful as a counter-irritant 
over rheumatic joints, and has been used in asthma, whooping cough, 
and hysteria with good results. In the bronchitis of infants, with 
nervous disturbance, oil of amber in the proportion of 1 to 3 parts 
of olive oil applied to the back and front of the chest is of service. 



64 DRUGS. 

In adults suffering from acute laryngitis with an extension of the 
inflammation into the bronchial tubes full doses of sodium bromide 
given internally, with this proportion of amber oil and olive oil 
rubbed into the neck and chest, are very useful. The dose internally 
is 2 to 6 minims (0.1-0.3) given in emulsion. 



AMMONIA (NH 3 ). 

Ammonia is a gas of a very acrid, burning taste and sensation, 
capable of producing death very rapidly, when inhaled, by inflam- 
mation of the air-passages and the spasm of the glottis which ensues. 
It is made in large amounts in the manufacture of coal-gas. 

Physiological Action. — When ammonia comes in contact with the 
tissues of the body it acts as a most powerful irritant, causing a red- 
dening of the parts, followed, if the exposure be long enough, by 
local death and sloughing. If it be inhaled as a gas, it may produce 
rapid death by spasm or oedema of the glottis, and if a strong solution 
of it is swallowed, the same accident may occur. After more moderate 
inhalations severe bronchitis or pulmonary oedema may develop. 

Nervous System. — If ammonia be injected into the blood of 
animals, violent convulsions at once ensue which are largely tetanic 
in type and depend upon a spinal action of the drug, since they are 
not stopped by division of the spinal cord, as they would be if the con- 
vulsive movements had their origin in the brain. The drug in moder- 
ate amounts acts as a spinal excitant, increasing reflex action and all 
the evidences of spinal activity. If applied directly to a nerve, either 
motor or sensory, it paralyzes it, but if the drug be in very weak solu- 
tion, it seems to increase its functional activity. 

Circulation. — Upon the circulation ammonia acts as a powerful 
but fleeting stimulant, increasing the pulse-rate, pulse-force, and arterial 
pressure. The cause of the increased pulse-rate depends upon stimula- 
tion of the accelerator nerves of the heart and of the heart itself, while 
the increase in force is due to the same cause, for Ringer and Sainsbury 
found the strength of the ventricles much increased. The rise of arte- 
rial pressure is due to the increased amount of blood pumped into the 
arteries by the stimulated heart, and probably by a stimulant action on 
the vaso-motor centre, although it is stated by some authorities that this 
is not so. As the drug acts as a stimulant on the respiratory centre, 
which is very near the vasomotor centre, it probably increases the 
functional activity of both. If by means of intravenous injection 
the ammonia reaches the heart in large amount in concentrated 
form, this organ ceases to beat at once, owing to paralysis of its- 
muscular walls. 

The Blood. — In moderate amounts the drug has no effect on the- 
blood, but when injected in poisonous quantities it causes the blood to 
fail to take up the oxygen, according to Feltz and Ritter. 

Respiration. — The injection of ammonia in moderate quantities 
into the blood causes an acceleration of the rate of respiration due to 
a stimulation of the respiratory centre, the respiratory movements 



AMMONIA. 65 

becoming not only more full, but more rapid. If the drug is inhaled 
in small amounts or swallowed, the same action is seen in a less degree, 
the changes both in breathing and circulation being partly due under 
such circumstances to a reflex irritation transmitted along the sensory 
nerves. 

Elimination. — Ammonia when taken into the body is so extremely 
fleeting in its action that the question as to its escape from the system 
is of interest. If large amounts are taken, it is partly given off by 
the breath, but more of it is burnt up in the system, and, according to 
Bence Jones, eliminated as nitric acid by reason of its being oxidized 
in the body. Some think that it is in part excreted as urea. 

Therapeutics. — Ammonia is employed for four distinct purposes in 
medicine — namely, as a circulatory and respiratory stimulant, as a 
counter-irritant, and as an antacid. 

The indications for the use of ammonia in the first class of cases 
are all forms of sudden cardiac failure where there is no time or 
opportunity to use the more stable and slowly-acting drugs. These 
emergencies occur in snake-poisoning, in syncope from fright or other 
shock or indigestion, in sudden cardiac failure during the course of 
fevers and in pneumonia, and in all cases where rapid cardiac stim- 
ulation is needed. It is claimed, without great justification, that ammo- 
nia will aid in preventing heart-clot or thrombosis in cases of severe 
hemorrhage and in pneumonia. In the most pressing cases it should 
be injected directly into the vein of the leg, so as to act more quickly. 
If put into the subcutaneous tissues, it is almost certain to make a 
slough, and if injected into a vein of the arm, it may reach the heart 
in too concentrated form and cause cardiac depression. Ringer has 
found that the drug has the extraordinary power of causing a heart 
stopped or depressed by chloroform to return to its beating. 

In prolonged diseases the employment of ammonia is not particularly 
advisable, owing to its fugacious action, although it is largely used, for 
the frequent administration necessarily required is apt to produce gastric 
disorder. Some persons claim that ammonia is useful as a sedative in 
drunkenness, but this is doubtful. 

In gastric acidity due to fermentation, with the development of 
abnormal acids, ammonia is the most active remedy we can employ, but 
is not to be given if acute irritation of the stomach exists. 

Locally applied, strong ammonia-water may be used to produce a 
blister by placing a few drops on the skin under an inverted watch- 
glass. Ammonia-water may also be applied, often with great relief, 
to the spot stung by insects. The waters of ammonia are used exter- 
nally in stimulating liniments, and hypodermically when the drug is 
so given. The stronger water ought not to be employed for the latter 
purpose. The aromatic spirit is generally used internally in the dose 
of \ drachm to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0), well diluted. This is also the 
dose of the ordinary spirit. 

Administration. — Ammonia is never employed in medicine as pure 
ammonia, but in the form of the stronger water {Aqua Ammonia? For- 
tior, U. S. ; Liquor Ammonia? Fortis, B. P.), containing 28 per cent, 
by weight of the gas, and the weaker water {Aqua A?nmonice, U. S. ; 



6Q DRUGS. 

Liquor Ammonia?, B. P.), which should contain about 10 per cent, 
by weight of the gas. The spirit of ammonia (Spiritus Ammonice, 

II. S.) is given in the dose of 30 to 60 minims (2.0-4.0) in water, 
and the aromatic spirit of ammonia (Spiritus Ammonias Aromaticus, 

U. S. and B. P.) in the dose of 25 to 60 minims (1.5-4.0) in water. 
The latter preparation is composed of carbonate of ammonium, the 
oils of nutmeg, lemon, and lavender, with alcohol and ammonia-water. 
Spiritus Ammonice Fcetidus (B. P.) contains asafoetida and is used in 
place of the aromatic spirit. Ammonia liniment (Linimentum Am- 
monice, U. S. and B. P.) is used over tender joints and muscles. 

AMMONIAC. 

Ammoniac (Ammoniacum, JJ. S. and B. P.) is a resinous gum 
obtained from Dorema Ammoniacum, and is used very little in medi- 
cine at the present time. Internally and externally it produces some 
irritation when brought in contact with the tissues, and may be used 
internally in the dose of 10 to 30 grains (0.65-2.0) in pills in cases 
of chronic bronchitis devoid of any active inflammatory process. It 
is official in the form of the plaster of ammoniac and mercury (Em- 
plastrum Ammoniaci cum Hydrargyro, U. S. and B. P.), which is 
used as a stimulant over enlarged glands. Finally, there is the emul- 
sion of ammoniac (Emulsum Ammoniaci, U. S. and B. P.), used in 
chronic bronchitis in the dose of a tabiespoonful (16.0). 



AMMONIUM (NH 4 ). 

The following salts of ammonium are official, and are used for 
various purposes : 

Acetate of Ammonium. 

Acetate of Ammonium is used in medicine in the form of the 
spirit of Mindererus (Liquor Ammonii Acetatis, U. S. and B. P.), 
dose 1 to 2 fluidrachms (4.0-8.0), for the purpose of acting as an 
antacid in gastric indigestion, and also as a mild diaphoretic which is 
inferior to sweet spirit of nitre. 

Benzoate of Ammonium. 

Benzoate of Ammonium {Ammonii Benzoas, TJ. S. and B. P.) is 
employed chiefly for its diuretic influences, which depend entirely 
upon the benzoic acid present in the compound. It should be kept 
in well-stoppered bottles. As benzoic acid is eliminated as hippuric 
acid and ammonia as nitric acid, this drug may be employed in cases 
where the physician desires to make the urine decidedly acid : as, for 
example, in patients suffering from catarrh of the bladder, when the 
urine is loaded with phosphates, which are dissolved by this acidulation. 
The dose is 10 to 30 grains (0.6-2.0),, which should be dissolved in 
water or, better, administered in cachets or capsules. 



AMMONIUM. 67 



Bromide of Ammonium. 



Bromide of Ammonium (Ammonii Bromidu?n, U. S. and B. P.) is 
really a crystalline salt, but is generally found in commerce as a white 
granular powder, which, when exposed to the atmosphere, becomes 
slightly yellowish. It is readily dissolved in water. 

Physiological Action. — Applied to the mucous membrane of the 
mouth, the bromide of ammonium produces a salty taste, is markedly 
pungent, and dissolves readily in the oral secretions. If large amounts 
are swallowed, it causes burning pain in the belly and evidences of 
gastro-enteritis. 

Nervous System. — The action of this drug upon this part of the 
body is its most important effect. Given to the lower animals, it pro- 
duces in frogs total loss of reflex activity, preceded, it is said, in some 
cases by tetanic convulsions, although no such motor disturbances may 
take place. In a series of studies undertaken by the writer to deter- 
mine the exact effect of the drug it was found that the spinal cord was 
depressed, both on its motor and sensory sides, while the nerves and 
muscles escaped. These results are in accord with those of other 
investigators, who also found that the nerves are unaffected. On the 
cerebral cortex it acts as a very distinct sedative. 

Circulation. — Upon the circulation bromide of ammonium acts 
as a stimulant in small doses, but as a cardiac paralyzant if a large 
amount comes in contact with the heart. In medicinal dose it is 
distinctly stimulant to the circulation, but not sufficiently so to render 
it valuable as a circulatory stimulant, to the exclusion of other more 
powerful preparations. 

Therapeutics.— The bromide of ammonium may be used in nearly 
every instance where bromide of potassium may be employed, and 
possesses the distinct advantage of being less depressant to the gen- 
eral system than the latter drug. It is, however, more apt to disorder 
the stomach even if given in moderate doses. In epilepsy it would 
seem to be of as much value as the potassium salt, and may be com- 
bined with it in some cases with success. (See article on Epilepsy, 
Part IV.) According to DaCosta, the drug is of very distinct value 
in rheumatism in the dose of 60 to 80 grains (4.0-5.3) a day, well 
diluted with water, although its manner of action in this disease is 
not known. The usual dose is 10 to 30 grains (0.65-2.0). It is 
incompatible with spirit of nitrous ether. 



Carbonate of Ammonium. 

Carbonate of Ammonium {Ammonii Carbonas, U. S. and B. P.) 
undoubtedly has an action exactly like that of the liquid preparations 
of ammonia, and is used either alone or with the chloride in the 
treatment of bronchitis, particularly when this disease occurs in babies 
and young children. It is also largely employed by surgeons in the 
treatment of children after a surgical operation to overcome the 
respiratory and circulatory depression produced by the anaesthetic. 



68 DRUGS. 

The dose is 2 to 10 grains (0.1-0.65) in syrup of acacia and water. 
It is a rapidly-acting cardiac and respiratory stimulant. 

R. Ammonii carbonat gr. xlviij (3.0). 

Syrup, acacise . fjfj (32.0). 

Aquse dest q. s. ad fjfiij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every two hours for a child of three or four years. 

Chloride of Ammonium. 

The Chloride or Muriate of Ammonium {Ammonii Chloridum, U. S. 
and B. P.) has an entirely different action and therapeutic use from 
the rest of this group. It possesses almost no influence over the heart 
and respiration, but does exercise a very stimulant effect on mucous 
membranes, increasing the secretion of mucus. The consideration of 
its use in diseases of the lungs can be found in the articles on Pneu- 
monia and Bronchitis. Chloride-of-ammonium fumes can be obtained 
from a few grains of the drug heated in an iron spoon over a gas-jet 
or by means of a set of three wash-bottles. In one of these is placed 
stronger water of ammonia, in the other muriatic acid. Each of these 
is connected with a third bottle by means of glass tubing, this bottle 
being partly filled with water, through which the fumes in passing 
become purified and form the fumes of chloride of ammonium. The 
drug may also be used in a spray from an atomizer. It has been 
employed in intermittent fever, but has gone out of use, and has also 
been used in neuralgias of the ovarian type by Goodell and others. 
In the treatment of chronic torpor of the liver and subacute hepatitis, 
and even in cirrhosis and hepatic abscess, it has been thought of value. 
Many clinicians have found it useful in the treatment of the gastric 
and intestinal catarrhs of children of a very subacute type, and it is 
the routine treatment for all such cases which come under observation 
at the hospitals and elsewhere where the author has charge. The 
dose is 2 to 15 grains (0.1-1.0), preferably given w T ith liquorice and 
w T ater to mask the taste. 

R. Ammonii chloridi . ^ij (8.0). 

Extract glycyrrhiz. fl Hj (32.0). 

Aquse dest q. s. ad f 3-iij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) t. d. after meals for a child of five to ten years. 

The chloride of ammonium may, however, be given in compressed 
pills, provided a large draught of water or milk is taken simulta- 
neously to protect the stomach. (See article on Bronchitis for other 
prescriptions.) 

Gillespie asserts that 10 grains (0.65) of chloride of ammonium 
given half an hour before meals gives extraordinary relief in painful 
dyspepsia due to hyperacidity of the stomach. 

Iodide of Ammonium. 

Iodide of Ammonium (Ammonii Iodidum, U. S.) should be kept 
in dark, well-stoppered bottles, and if deeply colored should not be 
dispensed. It may be employed in the dose of 2 to 5 grains (0.1-0.3) 
in all cases where the iodide of potassium is indicated, and seems to 



AMYL NITBITE. 69 

possess alterative influences equal to those of that salt. It has been 
recommended as a local application in cases of enlarged tonsils in the 
form of a solution of 30 grains (2.0) of the salt to the ounce (32.0) 
of glycerin, particularly if struma is the cause of the enlargement. 
The application is to be made once a day with a swab or camel's- 
hair brush. It is necessary that this solution be not exposed to the 
air or it will undergo decomposition. 



Valerianate of Ammonium. 

Valerianate of Ammonium (Ammonii Valerianas, IT. S.) is the 
salt of ammonium commonly used in the nervous unrest of pregnant 
or hysterical women, or at the menopause in the peculiar nervous dis- 
orders apt to occur at that period. In poisonous doses it paralyzes 
the spinal cord in the lower animals. It is usually given in the form 
of the elixir of valerianate of ammonium, the dose of which is a tea- 
spoonful to a dessertspoonful, or it is combined with the bromides, 
under which circumstances it is much more efficacious. The dose of 
the salt itself is 10 to 15 grains (0.65-1.0). 

The sulphate of ammonium is never used in medicine. The phos- 
phate of ammonium is employed in rheumatism in the dose of 10 to 
20 grains (0.65-1.3). It is no longer official. 

The B. P. preparations besides those already given are : Sulphide 
of Ammonium, Oxalate of Ammonium, Liquor Ammonii Citratis, dose 
2 to 6 fluidrachms (8.0-24.0). 

AMYL NITRITE. 

Amyl Nitrite (Amyl Nitris, U. S. and B. P.) is a very volatile, 
somewhat oily liquid possessing a peculiar penetrating pear-like odor. 
It is made by the action of nitric and nitrous acids upon amylic alco- 
hol, and is not to be confounded with nitrate of amyl, which has a 
different physiological action and is never used medicinally. 

Nitrite of amyl should be protected from light, heat, and fire. 

Physiological Action. — When swallowed or inhaled the drug pro- 
duces staggering, fulness in the head, roaring in the ears, duskiness 
of the face, and finally utter muscular relaxation, so that the animal 
or man falls to the ground. The heart beats very rapidly and forci- 
bly, and the respiration becomes gasping. 

Nervous System. — Nitrite of amyl acts as the most rapid of all 
the nervous depressants and sedatives known, except prussic acid. 
Experiments show that its dominant action is on the motor side of 
the spinal cord. The motor cortex of the brain and the motor nerves 
are only affected by large amounts. Upon the nervous apparatus of 
sensation nitrite of amyl has no effect in medicinal amounts, and can 
never be used to relieve pain unless it be due to spasm or to angina 
pectoris. The muscles are depressed by toxic amounts. 

Circulation. — When nitrite of amyl is used the pulse becomes 



70 DRUGS. 

exceedingly rapid, while the arterial tension progressively falls. The 
increase in pulse-rate is due to depression of the centric inhibitory 
apparatus of the heart and to the sudden relaxation of the blood- 
vessels, by reason of which, the resistance being taken away, the 
heart beats faster. The fall of arterial pressure is due to depres- 
sion of the vasomotor centres and the muscular coats of the blood- 
vessels. In very small amounts the drug stimulates the heart-muscle 
(Reichert), but its dominant action is that of a depressant. 

The Blood. — In medicinal dose this drug produces a chocolate 
color of the arterial blood, due to the change of oxyhemoglobin into 
methsemoglobin. 

Urine and Elimination. — The urine sometimes contains sugar 
after the use of the nitrite of amyl, and there is increased diuresis. 
The drug is eliminated very rapidly from the body by the lungs and 
kidneys. 

Temperature. — If the nitrite of amyl be employed for any 
length of time, a most remarkable fall in bodily temperature ensues, 
which is probably due to diminished oxidation, but possibly to some 
effect on the heat-centres governing heat-production and dissipation. 
The vascular dilatation also greatly tends to aid in the fall of bodily 
heat produced by the drug. 

Therapeutics. — Nitrite of amyl is used to relax general or local 
muscular spasms, for the relaxation of the spasm of epilepsy and for 
aborting an on-coming fit, for the prevention and subjugation of strych- 
nine convulsions and tetanus, and for the relief of angina pectoris, 
provided the attack is accompanied by high arterial tension. It may 
be used in puerperal eclampsia, but it is a dangerous remedy, because 
of its relaxation of the uterus and the consequent danger of post- 
partum hemorrhage. In dysmenorrhoea with uterine spasm it often 
gives great relief. Nitrite of amyl has been used in cases of sea-sick- 
ness as a prophylactic and cure with considerable success. In cardiac 
failure from frigiit or anaesthetics amyl nitrite is often of great value 
in single whiffs. If it does not act at once under these circumstancs, 
it is worse than useless to push it. It has also been found of value 
in whooping cough, laryngismus stridulus, asthma, spasmodic croup, 
and infantile convulsions. In migraine with local vasomotor spasm 
and true hemianopsia it is very useful. In strychnine poisoning and 
tetanus it must be used between the spasms or else given hypodermic- 
ally, as the respiratory cramp prevents its inhalation. 

Administration. — The drug may be given by placing three to five 
drops on a handkerchief and inhaling the fumes, or it may be dropped 
on sugar and taken by the mouth in the same quantity. 

It is important to remember the fact that the effects of the drug 
are more severe for a moment after its use than during its inhalation. 
The physician should warn the patient that the effect of the drug 
is sudden and alarming, and in nervous cases should direct that the 
inhalations be made gently, as a very fall inhalation may produce 
unpleasant sensations of cardiac failure. 

The best way for patients to use the drug is to have it in pearls 
of glass, each holding 3 minims (0.15). One or more of these may 



A NTHRA R OBIS — A N TIMON Y. 71 

be crushed in the handkerchief and the fumes inhaled. Some of the 
pearls made by careless manufacturers are of such thick, strong glass 
that they are difficult to break, and if broken are apt to cut the fin- 
gers. These are, of course, to be avoided. 



ANTHRAROBIN. 

Anthrarobin, which was originally discovered by Liebermann, 
seems to possess equal value with its relative chrysarobin, and to be 
capable of acting as efficaciously as this substance in the treatment 
of skin diseases. It is a yellowish powder, tolerably stable in a dry 
atmosphere, not soluble in acids or water, but readily soluble in dilute 
alkaline solution or alcohol, at first making a solution of a brown 
color, which, as oxygen is taken up, passes to a green and finally to 
a violet. 

Therapeutically, anthrarobin has been employed by Rosenthal and 
by Behrend, and more recently Kobner has recorded his experience 
with it, employing it with good results in a 10 to 20 per cent, solu- 
tion in the various forms of tonsurans as a wash. Rosenthal has used 
it in psoriasis and pityriasis versicolor and herpes, and Behrend asserts 
that it is often better in its effects upon the skin than chrysarobin, as 
it produces less inflammation and only discolors the skin slightly. It 
also possesses the additional value of making so slight a stain on the 
linen that it can be removed by washing. 

According to most authorities, it is best to keep the drug in alco- 
holic solution, and, if the bottle is well corked, such a mixture 
remains good for a week. 

ANTIMONY. 

Antimony itself is rarely used in medicine, owing to its insolubil- 
ity, but is generally employed as the tartrate of antimony and potas- 
sium, or Tartar Emetic (Antimonii et Potassii Tartras, U. S. ; Anti- 
monium Tartar atum, B. P.), or in the form of the sulphide (Anti- 
monii Sulphidum, U. S.) ; purified sulphide {Antimonii Sidphidum 
Purificatum, U. S. ; Antimonium Nigrum Purificatum, B. P.) ; and 
sulphurated antimony (Antimonium Sulphuratum, U. S. and B. P.), 
sometimes called Kermes Mineral. The last three drugs are very 
rarely employed, and are unreliable preparations, although some prac- 
titioners use kermes mineral as an alterative circulatory depressant 
and sedative expectorant in the dose of \ grain (0.01) every hour or 
two. As an emetic the dose of Kermes Mineral is 1 to 4 grains (0.05- 
0.2). 

The oxide of antimony (Antimonii Oxidum, U. S.) forms part of 
the Pulvis Antimonialis. 

Tartar Emetic. 

Tartar Emetic (Antimonii et Potassii Tartras, TJ. S. ; Antimonium 
Tartaratum, B. P.) is made by boiling the oxide of antimony with 



72 DRUGS. 

bitartrate of potassium and water. Although it is really crystalline, 
it is generally sold as a fine powder, owing to these crystals being 
easily pulverized. It is insoluble in absolute alcohol, but is soluble 
in ordinary water, and still more so in boiling water. In dilute alco- 
hol it is partly soluble. 

Owing to its chemical constitution tartar emetic should never be 
given with either acids or alkalies, and all drugs containing tannic 
acid are also incompatible with it, owing to the fact that an insoluble 
tannate is rapidly formed, which is absorbed very slowly if at all. 
So complete is the insolubility of the compound so formed that tan- 
nic acid is the best antidote to the drug that we possess. 

Physiological Action. — Tartar emetic, when applied to mucous 
membranes, produces a burning sensation, and upon the skin it may 
readily cause a large amount of irritation if the part be delicate. If 
kept in contact with a mucous membrane, very distinct inflammatory 
changes occur, and if it be applied to the skin for any length of time, 
redness, followed by acne of a pustular character, appears, which 
finally ends in ulceration and sloughing if the use of the drug is per- 
sisted in. Under these circumstances the vitality of the parts seems 
interfered with, and, as a result, healing takes place very slowly indeed. 

Nervous System. — Antimony is a depressant to the sensory side 
of the spinal cord and a paralyzant to all the spinal centres, motor 
and sensory, in poisonous dose. 

It is stated that when an animal is under its influence sensation to 
heat and acids is lost before the ordinary sense of touch is destroyed. 
The convulsions which sometimes ensue after poisonous doses in the 
lower animals are due to anaemia of the brain brought on by the cir- 
culatory depression. Ringer and Murrell have proved antimony to 
be a motor-nerve and muscle poison. 

Circulation. — The chief influence of antimony is exerted upon 
the circulation. In small doses it lowers the pulse-rate by a direct 
depression of the heart-muscle, and simultaneously decreases arterial 
tension by an action upon the peripheral portions of the vasomotor 
system in the walls of the blood-vessels, but the vasomotor influences 
may be in part centric, and this question must be considered as sub 
judice. The fall of arterial pressure is also due to failure of heart- 
force. With the lowering of the pulse-rate there is nearly always a 
corresponding decrease in cardiac power. 

When poisonous doses are employed, death ensues after great cir- 
culatory and respiratory depression, as will be seen below. The heart 
is found after death relaxed and flabby and utterly dead to all stimuli, 
although in one of the lower animals, such as the frog, if the dose has 
not been very excessive and digitalis is freely employed, the heart may 
be made to beat again. In men, it is hardly necessary to state, the dig- 
italis must be used early to render much service. The drug in poison- 
ous doses is thought to depress the peripheral ends of the vagus nerves. 

Respiration. — The drug has little or no effect upon respiration 
except when given in lethal doses. Under these circumstances death 
is produced in three ways, all of them acting together. Primarily, 
the respiratory centre in the medulla is depressed, and the governing 



ANTIMONY. 73 

nerves of breathing, the pneuniogastrics, are also rendered inactive ; 
secondarily, the cardiac failure readily causes pulmonary congestion ; 
and, thirdly, the drug causes such an outpouring of liquid mucus into 
the bronchial tubes that the patient is drowned in his own secretions, 
which he is too weak to expel. 

Stomach and Intestines. — Antimony in toxic doses is a power- 
ful irritant to these portions of the body. In full medicinal amounts 
it acts as a slow but powerful emetic, producing much nausea. The 
vomiting is due to an action on the vomiting centre in the medulla 
and to a direct action on the stomach itself. The drug is, therefore, 
a centric and peripheral emetic. 

Very full doses produce watery purging, attended with some grip- 
ing and tenesmus. 

Elimination. — Antimony escapes from the body in all the secre- 
tions, but largely by the bowels. The latter method of elimination 
seems chiefly to follow poisonous doses, and purging is an effort at 
elimination. 

Poisoning. — When toxic doses of tartar emetic are taken, the pulse 
at first becomes slightly weaker and slower, the skin becomes moist and 
relaxed, a general sense of relaxation comes on, and simultaneously a 
sensation of severe nausea and gastric distress appears. 

Following this condition violent vomiting asserts itself. The 
ejected mass consists of the contents of the stomach — mucus, bile, and 
watery fluids, and perhaps blood. Purging appears almost as early 
as the vomiting, and consists first of the normal contents of the intes- 
tines, then mucus, then bile, and, very rarely, blood. These signs 
may rapidly pass away and the characteristic peculiar " rice-water " 
stools l of antimonial poisoning appear. The general condition of 
the patient is now most serious. The face is pinched, livid, and cov- 
ered with a cold sweat. The pulse is rapid and shuttle-like — to and 
fro — or lost at the wrist ; the arterial tension is almost nil. The res- 
pirations are faint and fluttering, and so shallow as hardly to be seen 
or heard. Cramps in the calves of the legs attack the patient, due 
to the abstraction of water from the tissues by the violent purging, 
and the temperature falls lower and lower as death approaches. The 
general condition is such that all the signs point to Asiatic cholera, 
and antimonial poisoning cannot be separated from this disease during 
an epidemic without a history of the case or a chemical analysis of 
the secretions, which ought always to be preserved. 2 

The treatment of antimonial poisoning consists in the internal ad- 
ministration of large amounts of tannic acid, in the use of the stomach- 
pump, and in the maintenance of an absolutely prone position. The 
patient should vomit into towels and not raise the head from the 
ground ; the head, indeed, should generally be placed loAver than the 

1 A " rice-water " stool is one which, on standing in a glass, separates into two lay- 
ers, the lower white and flocculent, the upper watery and almost clear. 

2 This is a good opportunity to state that the secretions and excretions of a person 
dying of any poison should be placed in a chemically-clean jar capable of being sealed 
tight. The same rule of cleanliness applies to the jars holding organs at the post- 
mortem. The jars should be ready, and no intermediate vessel used. They should 
be sealed at once, and kept so until claimed by the authorities. 



74 DRUGS. 

heels. External heat, alcohol, and digitalis should be used thor- 
oughly, and opium should be employed hypodermically to allay pain 
and irritation, unless the respirations are too feeble. If the opium is 
greatly needed because of pain, and yet seems contraindicated because 
of depression, it should be accompanied by strychnine to stimulate the 
respiratory centre and overcome any depression produced by the opium. 

Fatty degeneration of all organs may occur after acute antimonial 
poisoning. 

Therapeutics. — Tartar emetic is employed for at least five separate 
purposes, the most usual of which is as a circulatory quieter and seda- 
tive. The indications for antimony as a circulatory depressant are not 
so generally recognized at present as they were at one time, on account 
of the introduction of other drugs. Suffice it to state that all states of 
sthenic inflammation with a bounding pulse, high fever, and symptoms 
showing the patient to be possessed of robust constitution permit of its 
use, while ail asthenic conditions most emphatically contraindicate 
its employment. In the treatment of colds, to break forming diseases, 
and to allay inflammation it is given in moderate dose. It is useful 
in sthenic bronchitis as an expectorant. Under these circumstances 
it may be given in emetic dose ; or, if emesis is not desirable, minute 
amounts given hourly are of value, such as ^g- of a grain (0.001) 
every hour, or a teaspoonful of a solution of 1 grain (0.05) to \ a 
pint (250 cc.) every hour may be used. This is a particularly useful 
method in children, as the solution is tasteless and it does not pro- 
duce nausea and vomiting. 

In the acute catarrh of children, which affects the stomach and 
entire alimentary canal and is associated with little fever, the use of 
the drug is extremely valuable, and often aborts an attack when given 
in the same dose as just described. 

As an emetic antimony is slow but forcible. It ought not to be 
used in cases of poisoning by other drugs, owing to its slowness. 

Before the introduction of anaesthetics emetic doses were employed 
to relax the muscles in reducing dislocations and fractures. 

Tartar emetic is harmful if irritation of the stomach is present or 
if kidney changes are rapidly progressing. If one good-sized emetic 
dose is not sufficient to produce vomiting, it should not be repeated, 
but some other emetic or the stomach-pump be used, lest antimonial 
poisoning complicate the case. The emetic dose must be large enough 
to be effective, or none at all should be given. If this rule is dis- 
obeyed, systemic changes come on with undesirable severity in those 
cases where emesis fails to occur because of small doses. 

As a counter-irritant antimony is employed in the form of an oint- 
ment whenever a very slowly acting and prolonged counter-irritation 
is to be maintained, as on the back of the neck in epilepsy or similar 
chronic states, and in old enlargements of the joints. 

Antimony acts well as a diaphoretic, but its use is undesirable, 
owing to its disagreeable effects, such as nausea and intestinal dis- 
turbance, and because other, more pleasant, drugs act equally well. 

Administration. — The dose of tartar emetic when there is an 
excited circulation is -fo to -^ of a grain (0.003-0.006) every three 



ANTIPYRIN. 75 

hours until an effect is obtained. As an emetic the dose is J to 1 
grain (0.03-0.06). The wine of antimony ( Vinum Antimonii, U. S. ; 
Vinum Antimoniale, B. P.) contains only 2 grains of tartar emetic to 
each ounce, and may be used in the dose of J to 1 teaspoonful (2.0-4.0), 
or, as an emetic, in the dose of 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls (15.0-30.0). The 
compound pill of antimony (Pilulce Antimonn Composite, U. S., or 
Plummer's pill) is used as an alterative, and contains sulphurated anti- 
mony \ a grain (0.03), calomel \ a grain (0.03), guaiac 1 grain (0.06), 
and tragacanth ; the dose is one to three pills. 

The ointment of antimony ( Unguentum Antimonii Tartar ati) is 
used externally as a counter-irritant spread on a rag or piece of lint. 
Antimonial powder (Pulvis Antimonialis, U. S. and B. P.), or James's 
powder, contains oxide of antimony and phosphate of calcium, and is 
given occasionally as an antipyretic in the treatment of rheumatism 
and fever in the dose of 3 to 10 grains (0.15-0.65) ; it is best given 
in a pill. 

The compound syrup of squill (Si/rupus Scillce Compositus, TJ. S.), 
otherwise knoAvn as " Coxe's hive syrup," contains three-fourths of 
a grain (0.045) of tartar emetic to the ounce. The dose is 20 to 30 
drops (1.3-2.0) for an adult as a sedative, or from this amount to 1 
drachm to a child as an emetic. 



ANTIPYRIN. 

Antipyrin is a derivative of coal-tar, its chemical name being 
phenyldimethylpyrazolon. It is also called Phenazonum (B. P.). 
It was discovered by Ludwig Knorr in 1884, and introduced into 
medicine by Filehne. Antipyrin is a white powder of a somewhat 
bitter taste, and is very soluble in water, less so in ether, alcohol, 
and chloroform. 

When antipyrin is given to a man in full medicinal amount, it 
causes a sensation of buzzing and tightness of the head not unlike that 
produced by quinine. The bodily temperature, if normal, is depressed 
a fraction of a degree, but no other symptoms are manifested. If the 
dose be quite large, some blueness of the lips and finger-nails appears, 
chilly sensations are experienced, and finally a profuse sweat breaks 
out over the entire body, which is more severe if fever has previously 
existed. Large doses sometimes cause nausea and vomiting. 

Physiological Action. — Nervous System. — When a large poisonous 
dose of antipyrin is given to one of the lower animals, relaxation, utter 
loss of reflex action, and total inability to move come on at once, and 
death ensues. Somewhat smaller doses produce exceedingly severe 
tetanic and epileptiform convulsions, but consciousness seems to be 
preserved. It has been proved that the chief cause of the convul- 
sion is an action of the drug on the brain. 1 Very large toxic doses, 
therefore, decrease reflex action, and smaller ones increase it, though 
medicinal amounts certainly lessen reflex activity to a notable degree. 

1 See author's Boylston Prize Essay of Harvard University on Antipyretics, Phil- 
adelphia, 1891. 



76 DRUGS. 

The cause of this failure of reflexes is depression of the sensory 
nerves and the receptive centres of the spinal cord. Medicinal 
amounts must, therefore, be regarded as very distinct nervous seda- 
tives, acting much more actively on the nerves of sensation than on 
those of motion. Injected beneath the skin or applied to a mucous 
membrane, antipyrin is a powerful local anaesthetic, the anaesthesia 
lasting often for several days. 

Circulation. — The studies of a very large number of pharma- 
cologists prove most conclusively that antipyrin has no effect on the 
circulation of the lower animals in moderate doses unless these be so 
frequently repeated that cumulative effects ensue. Many reliable 
clinical observers have asserted that the drug depresses the circula- 
tion in man in some cases, and antipyrin is certainly not a cardiac 
stimulant. The writer is confident, however, that antipyrin is not so 
distinctly a cardiac depressant as some think. Large, poisonous doses 
lower blood-pressure, unless convulsions are present, when the pressure 
is raised. The action of the drug on the circulation is nevertheless a 
very unimportant part of its power, and in most cases is not to be 
considered in the treatment of disease unless the circulation is feeble. 
In many of the cases where vascular depression and collapse have 
followed its use it has been employed in excessive amounts, or the 
fall in bodily temperature has caused the untoward symptoms. (See 
Fever and its Treatment.) 

Blood. — No spectroscopic changes in the blood follow the use of 
medicinal doses of antipyrin in the ordinary individual, but in poi- 
sonous amounts it produces methaenioglobin. If the doses be toxic 
or idiosyncrasy exists, cyanosis may come on. That the blood is not 
destroyed by small amounts is proved by the absence of haematin in 
the urine of persons taking the drug. The corpuscles suffer no 
changes except in very pronounced poisoning, when they are said in 
become crenated and shrivelled. 

Respiration. — When antipyrin is given in lethal doses, death 
results from failure of the respiratory centre. Ordinary doses have 
no effect on this function, but large ones make the breathing more 
rapid. 

Temperature. — In normal men and animals antipyrin in medi- 
cinal dose may be considered as without effect so far as bodily tempera- 
ture is concerned. In fevered animals it has been found to lower 
temperature by decreasing heat-production and increasing heat-dissi- 
pation. That it does not do this by an action on the blood seems 
proved by the fact that the blood is not affected by medicinal amounts. 
The sweating does not cause the fall, since it takes place when no 
sweating occurs. It may, therefore, be considered that the drug 
directly affects the nervous heat-mechanism of the body. 

Kidneys, Tissue-waste, and Urine. — A large number of studies 
made upon man and the lower animals by competent investigators 
have brought about very considerable advances in our knowledge of 
the influence of antipyrin upon tissue-waste. It is useless to burden 
this volume with a discussion of their methods and results, which may 
be found in the author's Essay on Antipyretics. Suffice it to say that, 



ANTIPYRIN. 77 

while all observers are not agreed as to the effects produced, the deduc- 
tions apparently to be drawn are that the drug diminishes the quan- 
tity of the urine excreted, and also decreases the elimination of the 
results of nitrogenous tissue-metamorphosis — or, in other words, is a 
conservator of the tissues of the body. 

Elimination. — The elimination of antipyrin goes on very rapidly 
indeed, and begins almost at once after its ingestion. Maragliano and 
Reihlen state that it appears in the urine in three hours after it is 
taken, so that at the fourth hour elimination is at its height, although 
it continues to be eliminated for twenty-four or perhaps thirty-six 
hours. According to Pavlinow, part of the antipyrin ingested is 
eliminated by the salivary glands. 

Poisoning. — The treatment of poisoning by antipyrin consists in 
the administration of stimulants, the maintenance of bodily heat, the 
use of atropine to restore the tone of the vascular system, and, if 
cyanosis is alarming, the employment of oxygen inhalations. 

Antiseptic Power. — Antipyrin exerts a very distinct antiseptic 
action in small amounts, delays all forms of fermentation, and destroys 
germs when it is present in large quantity. 

Therapeutics. — Antipyrin is employed in medicine for two great 
purposes — namely, for the reduction of fever and the relief of pain — 
but its employment as an antipyretic is now entirely surpassed by its 
use as an analgesic. 

As an antipyretic, antipyrin should be given in a few full doses 
rather than frequent small ones, as a general rule, since if the fever 
is of any severity the latter method of administering it will have no 
effect, and the constant dosing will produce a gradual saturation of the 
system without causing a fall of temperature. On the other hand, too 
large doses may depress the temperature to a point below normal and 
induce collapse. In the article on Fevers (Part IV.) the conditions 
are indicated in which the drug is best employed, these being the 
sthenic fevers as a rule, or instances where excessive outbursts of fever 
necessitate prompt reduction of temperature. In excessively high tem- 
perature in pneumonia it may prove of great value, and in scarlet fever 
and smallpox antipyrin is of service in some instances, although in 
pneumonia, as a rule, the condition of the patient indicates the use of 
cold to the chest as a local measure for the reduction of congestion or 
cold sponging to relieve fever. (See Pneumonia.) The use of the 
cold applications is always to be preferred to antipyrin in the reduc- 
tion of fever, since they are safer, more reliable, and do not strain the 
kidneys, reduce the blood, or depress the heart in feeble patients. (See 
Cold and Fever.) When cold water cannot be used, then antipyrin 
may be employed. In phthisis antipyrin generally increases the sweat- 
ing, produces oppression, and either fails to act as an antipyretic or 
produces collapse by exercising too great an effect. In sunstroke it 
frequently fails to influence the temperature, and ought not to be 
used. 

Be the fever what it may, provided it be associated with any dis- 
eased process, antipyrin is absolutely useless so far as any influence 
over the course of the disease itself is concerned. It is a remedy to 



78 DRUGS. 

be used in the treatment of the symptom, not for the removal of the 
cause of the fever. 

As an analgesic antipyrin is the peer of opium. Although the 
latter drug will relieve all forms of pain if it be pushed, it possesses 
many disadvantages not found in antipyrin. In deep-seated pains due 
to disease of the organs of the body, in inflammations and similar dis- 
turbances, antipyrin is useless. In neuralgic affections of all kinds it 
finds its sphere, particularly if the disorder be rheumatic, gouty, or due 
to nervous depression from nervous exhaustion or disease. Under the 
latter circumstances it is best combined with caffeine and a little bromide 
of potassium. (See Neuralgia.) In rheumatism it will give relief in a 
fairly large number of cases, not only relieving the pain and fever if 
they be present, but also actually modifying the disease. It seems, 
however, to increase sweating in acute articular rheumatism. In gout 
it is stated to have a specific curative effect upon the disease over and 
above the relief of the pain, but this is doubtful. Its use in dysmenor- 
rhoea has been recommended, but its beneficial influence in such cases 
is doubtful. At one time it was thought that its use would relieve 
the pains of labor entirely, but this has, unfortunately, proved untrue. 
It may, however, be tried, when the suffering is very severe, in the 
dose of 15 grains (1.0). In the severe lancinating or darting pains 
of locomotor ataxia, and in the laryngeal and gastric crises compli- 
cating this disease, antipyrin is an invaluable and reliable remedy. 
Curiously enough, it seems to subdue acute attacks of pain in posterior 
sclerosis, but fails to control the slighter pains and muscular twitchings 
sometimes seen in this disease and in myelitis.. 

Some clinicians have used antipyrin with asserted great success in 
diabetes mellitus. In such instances the disease often depends on a 
gouty diathesis, and can be well relieved by salicylates. Antipyrin 
may be used hypodermically in the region of a hypersensitive nerve as 
a local anaesthetic. The anaesthesia produced by it lasts for several 
days, but the pain immediately after the injection is severe. 

Antipyrin is a very useful remedy in epilepsy. (See Epilepsy.) 

In tvhooping cough antipyrin has more frequently given relief in the 
writer's experience than any other remedy. It should be given to a 
child of five years in the dose of 2 grains (0.1) every four or five hours, 
the patient being watched for cyanosis and the drug stopped as soon as 
this symptom appears. Antipyrin generally decreases the frequency 
rather than the severity of the attacks of cough. 

In malarial diseases antipyrin certainly exercises no antiperiodic 
influence, although it controls the febrile paroxysms to a great extent. 
Yet, while this is the opinion of the majority of those who have used 
it, it cannot be said that every observer has reached similar conclu- 
sions. Potter reports cases where the results obtained from its use were 
most satisfactory, particularly in the intermittent form of malarial poison- 
ing. One cannot help thinking that frequently where antipyrin has 
been reported as acting as an antiperiodic it has simply lowered the 
fever, and so seemed to affect the disease. 

In acute coryza the temporary relief produced by applying cocaine 
to the engorged Schneiderian membrane may be prolonged indefinitely 



ANTIPYRIN. 79 

by the use of a spray of antipyrin in the strength of 4 per cent. This 
produces a smarting sensation, which speedily passes away. The same 
treatment is of value in inflammations of the larynx and pharynx. 
Should cocaine solutions not precede the antipyrin, the primary irri- 
tant effects persist unless the strength of the solution of antipyrin is 
reduced to 1 or 2 per cent. It is always better to precede its use by 
cocaine. 

Locally applied, antipyrin possesses very distinct hcemostatic prop- 
erties, and for this purpose may be used in a 4 per cent, solution, either 
in liquid or in a spray. Under these circumstances it seems to act not 
by producing clots, which are disadvantageous from the standpoint of 
antisepsis, but by constringing the bleeding vessels. This haemostatic 
property is very materially increased if a solution of tannic acid is 
added to it, when it forms a glutinous precipitate which controls the 
hemorrhage. The precipitate is best applied by means of a swab. 

Antipyrin may be given with cocaine in suppository to check bleed- 
ing from hemorrhoids and relieve rectal pain. The cocaine must be 
used to prevent the antipyrin from causing pain when the suppository 
is first introduced. 

Untoward Effects. — Aside from the results of poisonous doses, a cer- 
tain number of cases taking this drug present slight cyanosis or duski- 
ness of the hands and of the face about the nose and lips ; the fingers 
may be cold and clammy, and the feet are often very cold ; sweating is 
a very common symptom of the untoward influence of antipyrin, and 
pricking or tingling of the skin is not uncommonly seen. By far the 
largest number of these cases, however, suffer from disorders associ- 
ated with the skin, and erythematous patches may be seen every- 
where, more particularly on the hands and feet and about the face, 
arms, and chest. Occasionally pemphigus-like spots appear, and 
often large bullae have been noted as present. Elsewhere are pub- 
lished the statistics, collected from medical literature, of 121 cases 
of untoward effects exercised by -antipyrin. x An analysis of these 
shoAvs that females were much more frequently affected than males, 
and that the most susceptible age was decidedly that of full adult life 
— namely, from thirty to forty years in both sexes. The dose caus- 
ing these effects was most commonly a moderate one — from 10 to 15 
grains (0.65-1.0), or even from 4 to 10 grains (0.2-0.65). This fact 
holds good with regard to both sexes. The time of onset of the 
symptoms varied somewhat, according to whether the drug was given 
in one excessive dose or in frequently-repeated medicinal doses. In 
many instances the appearance of the symptoms was sudden rather 
than gradual. As a rule, the duration of the symptoms did not 
exceed one to three hours, three days being the longest time men- 
tioned. It is interesting to note, however, that of all these cases only 
six proved fatal, and in these there was ample cause for death aside 
from any effect of the drug. We can rest assured, therefore, in ordi- 
nary cases of disease that patients exhibiting untoward effects of anti- 
pyrin are not in any acute danger, although the symptoms may be 
temporarily most alarming. Typhoid fever seems, according to the 

1 See author's Boylston Prize Essay on Antipyretics, Philadelphia, 1891. 



80 DRUGS. 

statistics collected by the writer, to be the disease in which this unex- 
pected influence manifests itself most frequently, but this may be due 
to the fact that it is so common a malady and is so frequently treated 
by means of antipyretics. Brunton is responsible for the statement 
that antipyrin is particularly prone to produce collapse in menstru- 
ating women. Falck has collected a large number of cases of antipy- 
rinism, and quotes Pusinelli as having seen vomiting often follow the 
use of this drug. 

Antipyrin very distinctly increases susceptibility of patients to tak- 
ing cold, and ought not to be employed by those who are forced to go 
out of doors in cold weather. 

Administration. — Owing to the solubility of antipyrin, it is most 
readily given in a little water in a wineglass or spoon. If its slight 
taste is disliked, it may be dissolved in any one of the aromatic waters 
or in syrup of bitter orange-peel or some similar vehicle. Most per- 
sons prefer to take it with water. The amount which may be given at 
a dose is 5 to 20 grains (0.3-1.3), but 3 to 5 grains (0.3) is the best 
dose in most cases, at least until it is seen how well it is borne. 

Incompatibles. — When added to sweet spirit of nitre, antipyrin in 
the course of a few moments produces a blue, changing to a dark- 
green, color, owing to the formation of iso-nitroso-antipyrin, which 
is not poisonous, but when in the form of a dry powder is readily 
oxidized on exposure to slight heat. If this color is not formed, the 
spirit of nitre lacks its nitrous ether and is worthless, so that we have 
not only another incompatibility to remember, but a new means of 
testing the therapeutic value of all samples of sweet spirit of nitre 
which may be dispensed by druggists. Antipyrin is also incompatible 
with calomel and carbolic acid. With salicylate of sodium it forms a 
pasty mass, with chloral an oily liquid. Beta-naphtol and tannic 
acid are also incompatible with it. 



ANTITOXIN. 
(See Part III.) 

APIOL. 

Apiol itself is a camphoraceous body, derived from common parsley or 
Petroselinum. As its melting-point is very low, it cannot be kept in 
solid form, and is always dispensed in 75 per cent, solution. So far as 
is known to the author, no careful study of its physiological action has 
ever been made, but two French observers, Joret and Homolle, state 
that in overdose it causes ringing in the ears, intoxication, and severe 
frontal headache. 

Therapeutics. — Originally introduced to combat malarial fevers, 
because of a fancied resemblance in its toxic action to quinine, apiol 
has at last found its true level as a remedy in amenorrhoea, given in 
the dose of 2 to 8 minims (0.1-0.5) three times a day for a week 



APOMORPHINE. 81 

before the proper date for menstruation. It should be given, if pos- 
sible, in capsules, owing to its bad taste. It is said not to possess 
any abortive influences, although it is often taken with this object in 
view. 

Apiol is imported from France in capsules containing a little less 
than 3 minims (0.15), and is also put up in soft elastic capsules in this 
country. 



APOMORPHINE. 

Apomorphine is an artificial alkaloid obtained by the action of 
hydrochloric acid upon morphine in a sealed tube to which is applied 
a high heat. It is a whitish or gray powder, made up of minute crys- 
tals, which rapidly undergo decomposition when exposed to the air. 
The drug should be kept in dark bottles well stoppered. A very 
important point to remember is that solutions rapidly decompose, and, 
if employed, may produce poisonous symptoms. The drug ought to be 
freshly dissolved each time it is used. If the salt imparts an emerald- 
green color to 100 parts of w r ater when shaken a few times, it should be 
rejected, unless it is found that the water contains small amounts of 
ammonia, which is supposed to be active in causing such a change. 

According to Boyer and Guinard, there are two kinds of apomor- 
phine sold. Each has a physiological effect different from the other. 
The crystalline form, which is the one always to be employed, causes, in 
overdose, irritation, spasms, trismus, vertigo, and hyperesthesia ; while 
the amorphous (never to be used) causes collapse, hypothermia, general 
weakness, feebleness of the heart and respiration, and anaesthesia. 

Physiological Action. — One of the best studies of this drug is that 
of Reichert, who found that in poisonous doses it produces convulsions, 
and finally paralysis, both of which are chiefly spinal in origin. 

Nervous System. — On the nervous centres in the brain apomor- 
phine acts as a stimulant, but the convulsions produced by poisonous 
doses are probably spinal. The motor and sensory nerves are paralyzed 
by poisonous doses, and even the muscles become poisoned and incap- 
able of contraction. Medicinal doses have no effect. 

Circulation. — Apomorphine increases the rapidity and force of 
the pulse and raises arterial pressure, when given in moderate 
amounts, by stimulation of the accelerator nerves and the vasomotor 
centre. In large doses it acts as a circulatory depressant. 

Respiration. — After ordinary amounts no changes in respiration 
occur, but after poisonous doses the breathing becomes rapid and 
irregular. 

Vomiting. — Vomiting is produced by a direct action of the drug 
upon the vomiting centre in the medulla, and not by an action on the 
stomach. Apomorphine is, therefore, a typical centric emetic. 

Therapeutics. — Apomorphine is useful in nearly all cases where an 
emetic may be employed. In poisoning from other drugs, particu- 
larly depressants and narcotics, we have little knowledge of its safety, 
but, unless the stupor or circulatory change is very profound, the 
drug may be used with care. In subacute and chronic catarrh of the 



82 DEUGS. 

stomach and air-passages it may be useful in getting rid of the mucus 
by emesis, and it is a useful remedy in acute bronchitis when it is 
necessary to quiet irritation or when the secretion which has been 
poured out is very scanty. 

Untoward Effects. — Apomorphine rarely causes disagreeable effects, 
but there are cases on record in which it has produced serious symp- 
toms, even when given in ordinary doses. These symptoms have con- 
sisted in depression and collapse. One-fifteenth of a grain has caused 
death in a woman who had bronchitis, but was otherwise healthy. 
Probably in these cases the amorphous form already named was 
used. 

Administration. — The drug when used as an emetic should always 
be given hypodermically and the solution be freshly prepared. The 
emetic dose is about -^ of a grain (0.006), but as much as ^ (0.01) 
may be used in strong patients. The expectorant dose is -^ to -^ 
of a grain (0.0015-0.003) by the mouth. No nausea is usually felt. 
The drug nearly always acts badly in children, and it is better not 
to use it in this class of patients. The salt used is Apomorphinas 
Hydrochloras, TJ. S. and B. P. An injection (Jnjectio Apomorphinas 
Hy-po dermic a) — 1 grain (0.05) dissolved in 100 minims (6.5) of cam- 
phor-water — is official in the B. P. 



ARISTOL. 
(See Thymol Iodide.) 

i 

ARNICA. 

Arnica is a medicine derived from Arnica montana, a native plant 
of the Western United States and Europe. It holds a very high 
position in domestic medicine as a local and internal remedy in sprains 
and bruises and in the treatment of passive hemorrhages, amenor- 
rhea, and similar states. Two parts of the plant are official — the 
arnica-flowers (Arnica? P lores, TJ. S.) and the root (Arnicas Radix, 
TJ. S., Arnicas Rhizoma, B. P.). 

Physiological Action. — When arnica is applied to a delicate skin, 
it produces burning and irritation, and even extensive skin lesions. 
According to the studies of the author, it slows the pulse, raises the 
blood-pressure slightly, and stimulates the vagus nerves. Toxic doses 
produce a rapid pulse from paralysis of these nerves. 

Administration. — Arnica is rarely given internally. If it is so 
used, the dose of the tincture (Tinctura Arnicas Radicis, TJ. S.) is 
15 to 30 drops (1.0-2.0), and the same amount of the tincture of the 
flowers (Tinctura Arnicas Plorum, TJ. iS.) may be employed. The 
solid (Extr actum Arnicas Radicis, TJ. S.) and the fluid extract of the 
root (Extractum Arnicas Radicis Fluidum) are also official. The dose 
of these preparations is 3 to 5 grains (0.15-0.3) and 5 to 10 minims 



ARSENIC. 83 

(0.3-0.65) respectively. The plaster (Emplastrum Arnicce, U. S.) is 
very useful for external applications. 

The tincture of arnica is the preparation usually applied to sprains 
and bruises, and the alcohol contained in this preparation accomplishes 
a large part of the good achieved. 

The only British preparation is the tincture (Tinetura Arnicce), 
which is given in the dose of 30 minims to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0). 

ARSENIC. 

Arsenic (Arsenicum) itself is never employed in medicine, but it 
is used in the form of arsenous acid or the arsenates of sodium, 
potassium, or copper. 

Arsenous acid (Acidum Arsenosum, U. S. ; Acidum Arseniosum, 
B. P.) is derived from arsenic-bearing ores by roasting them in a 
reverberatory furnace, when it rises in the form of a vapor which 
adheres to the walls of the furnace, requiring a second subli- 
mation, owing to the first deposit being quite impure. It is soluble 
in water, is without odor, and when heated gives off the smell of 
garlic. 

Physiological Action. — -The changes produced in man by poisonous 
doses will be found considered under the heading of Poisoning, and 
the writer will now confine himself to a study of the effects of medici- 
nal amounts. 

Applied to the normal skin, arsenous acid produces no change of 
any moment whatever, but if the surface be broken or a wound or 
sore exist, its action is very powerful, and it destroys the tissues to a 
considerable extent. For this reason it has been employed as a caustic 
by "quacks" and to some extent by regular physicians, the latter 
using it to remove warts, condylomata, and similar growths, while the 
former have employed it chiefly as a " cancer cure," asserting that it 
would take the disease "out by the roots. 5 ' 

Absorption. — Arsenic is slowly absorbed. 

Nervous System. — When small amounts of arsenic are given to 
animals, particularly those of the lower types as represented by the 
frog, reflex action is lost long before, or more rarely at the same time, 
that voluntary movement is put aside, and, finally, all sensation to 
pain produced by heat and pinching totally ceases. It is therefore 
quite evident that the sensory nervous apparatus is affected, and 
experiments have proved that the sensory tract of the spinal cord is 
at fault. Ultimately, however, the motor system also fails and com- 
plete motor palsy ensues. Arsenic in poisonous amount acts as a 
depressant poison to all protoplasm with which it may come in con- 
tact (Ringer and Murrell). In medicinal amounts the drug acts as a 
nervous excitant and as a stimulant to the trophic nervous apparatus. 

Circulation. — In moderate amounts arsenic has little or no in- 
fluence upon the circulation. Large doses cause marked decrease in 
the force and frequency of the pulse, accompanied by a decided fall in 
arterial pressure, and in these amounts it is to be regarded as a distinct 
cardiac depressant which depresses all the heart's component parts, 



84 DRUGS. 

such as the ganglia, muscle, and nerves. The fall of the arterial pres- 
sure is due to vasomotor depression with relaxation of the general 
blood-vessels, more especially those of the abdominal cavity. Accord- 
ing to Lesser, small doses cause it to act as a cardiac stimulant, 
increasing the pulse-rate. Arsenic is absorbed by the blood-vessels. 

Respiration. — In small amounts arsenic very distinctly stimulates 
the respiratory centre, and Lesser asserts that small doses stimulate 
the peripheral ends of the vagi in the lungs, but that in toxic quan- 
tities arsenic acts as. a powerful respiratory depressant. 

Elimination. — Arsenic escapes from the body chiefly by the kid- 
neys, skin, and bowels, but usually does not appear for from fourteen to 
sixty hours after its ingestion in medicinal amount. In poisoning the 
purging which is produced carries off much of the drug, but after me- 
dicinal amounts some traces of it may be found in the saliva and in the 
milk of nursing women. The writer has seen colic produced in infants 
taking milk at the breasts of women who were receiving large doses of 
Fowler's solution. 

Tissue-waste. — According to Chittenden and Cummins, arsenic 
in medicinal amount distinctly decreases tissue-changes. Large doses, 
however, greatly increase nitrogenous metamorphosis. 

Therapeutics. — Arsenic is used in chorea, in which it is almost a 
specific, acting in an unknown manner. Small doses should be given 
at first, and later on the dose should be increased rapidly, as patients 
soon get accustomed to the drug. Cases are on record, however, in 
which the too rapid increase of the drug in medicinal doses has 
developed arsenical neuritis. As a tonic combined with iron it is 
invaluable in malarial ancemia and cachexia. In atony of the mucous 
membrane of the stomach and intestines it is exceedingly useful, and 
in ordinary ancemia and debility, combined with a simple bitter tonic, 
it is invaluable. Arsenic offers the best chance of saving cases of per- 
nicious ancemia. In leucocythcemia and pseudo-leukaemia arsenic is 
again the remedy, and it must be constantly given up to the point of 
intolerance to be of value. In the latter disease good results have fol- 
lowed its use when intraglandular and intrasplenic injections of 4 drops 
(0.2) of Fowler's solution were used, and any case of severe anaemia 
where the stomach is disordered may be treated by giving three times 
the ordinary dose by the rectum in starch-water or by its use hypoderm- 
ically in the proportion of 4 parts of water and 1 of Fowler's solution. 
In malaria it acts as a prophylactic, as a cure, and as an aid to conva- 
lescence. When the attacks of intermittent fever are far apart, arsenic 
is useful as an antiperiodic, quinine being withheld for use during the 
attack itself. Arsenic is of value, too, for the improvement of depraved 
mucous membranes of the respiratory tract, particularly in those per- 
sons who have not true tuberculosis, but phthisical tendencies ; that 
is, individuals who continually have colds in the head, chest, or 
elsewhere. 

No drug is so universally abused as is arsenic in the treatment of 
skin disease: it should never be employed in "wet" skin diseases; 
that is, those associated with much proliferation of new cells and the 



ARSENIC. 85 

exudation of serum and other liquids. Its field of usefulness is in 
the dry, scaly skin affections. 

Where the skin is affected in its lower layers arsenic is useless, and 
should be used only where the epiderm is diseased (Duhring). 

In psoriasis arsenic at first makes the skin more red and seemingly 
w r orse, but this passes off and the disease gets well. This is important 
to remember, as otherwise the drug may be stopped just when doing 
good. Pemphigus, lichen, and lepra all yield to its influence in most 
instances. 

In the treatment of diabetes and pruritus vulvce-the drug is said to 
be of value when given internally. In gouty diabetes the use of the 
carbonate of lithium and the arsenate of sodium is often of great 
service. 

In asthma, particularly where the mucous membranes are at 
fault, arsenic is one of the best remedies that we have, either given 
internally or smoked in arsenic cigarettes, which are to be made as 
follows : l 

R. — Belladonna? foliorum gr. xcvj. 

Hyoscyam. foliorum gr. xlv. 

Stramonii foliorum gr. xlv. 

Extract, opii gr. iv. 

Tabaci gr. lxxx. 

Aquae Oj.— M. 

Ft. sol. et adde. 

Potassii nitratis gr. clx. 

Potassii arsenitis gr. eccxx. — M. 

Bibulous paper is to be wetted with this compound, and after drying is to be rolled up 
and smoked as a cigarette. 

A more simple procedure is to wet bibulous paper in a solu- 
tion of arsenite of potassium of the strength of 15 grains to the 
ounce. 

In chronic rheumatism arsenic is very valuable in certain cases, but 
often fails to be of service. In coryza, in cancrum oris, severe sore 
throat, and chronic nasal catarrh it is to be employed internally, and 
in some cases of hay fever undoubtedly affords relief. The use of 
arsenic in all stages of phthisis often gives the most surprising results. 
In gastric cancer and ulcer, given in small amounts frequently repeated, 
arsenic will often do good by relieving the pain and checking the 
vomiting. It may be tried in the vomiting of pregnancy with some 
chance of success, and is often of value in the vomiting of hand-fed 
babies who are suffering from chronic gastric catarrh. It is also useful 
in the morning vomiting of drunkards. In atonic dyspepsia associated 
with chronic diarrhoea and with evidences of dysentery arsenic is of 
service, and in small amounts it is very valuable in frequently repeated 
doses (yJ-^ of a grain (0.0006) every hour) in all forms of serous 
diarrhoea. 

For gastric atony or torpidity the following prescription is use- 
ful, but if irritation of the stomach is present it should not be 
employed : 

1 Philadelphia Hospital Pharmacopoeia. 



86 DBUGS. 

R. — Liq. potassii arsenitis f^ss (2.0). 

Tr. nucis vomicae fgj (4.0). 

Aqua? q. s. adf^iij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) t. d. in water after meals. 

In old persons whose feet become swollen and hot after prolonged 
standing, and who have shortness of breath on exertion, arsenic does 
good, particularly if the cause be cardiac feebleness, when it increases 
the efficacy of digitalis or strychnine so greatly as to be generally indi- 
cated when these drugs are given. 

Locally applied to warts and other growths of the skin for several 
days in the form of Liquor Arsenicalis (B. P.) or Liquor Acidi Ar- 
senosi (U. S.) or of Fowler's solution, it causes the growth to drop off 
or to become very much loosened. Where the growth is very hard and 
horny, its surface should be softened by the application of liquor po- 
tassa before the arsenical liquor is applied. The same treatment may be 
used for corns, and salicylic acid can be employed in a similar manner, 
but is not so efficient. Where large growths with wide surfaces are to 
be attacked the physician must use arsenic most boldly or not at all. 
The danger of absorption is only escaped when the drug is used so 
generously as to destroy the tissues before they can carry on any 
absorption of the poison. Marsden recommended the use of 1 ounce 
each of arsenous acid and powdered gum acacia to 5 drachms of water 
as an application to epitheliomatous growths. 

Administration. — Children generally bear more arsenic than adults, 
proportionately, and Ringer states that boys bear less than girls. The 
drug should generally be administered after meals, as it is apt to irritate 
the stomach if given when this viscus is empty. Whenever a patient 
is given arsenic, he should be cautioned to watch for any puffiness 
about the eyes, particularly in the morning on arising, and for slight 
laxity of the bowels and griping. These are signs that the drug 
should be stopped for a day or more. The swelling under the eyes 
may spread if the use of the drug is persisted in, and finally amount 
to general anasarca. This is due at first to a cellulitis, and afterward 
to a true effusion. (See Untoward Effects.) 

The official preparations are : arsenous acid (Acidum Arsenosum, 
U. S., Acidum Arseniosum, B. P.), the dose of which is -^ to -^V 
of a grain (0.0015-0.003); the solution of the arsenite of potassium 
(Liquor Potassii Arsenitis, U. S. ; Liquor Arsenicalis, B. P.) or Fow- 
ler's solution, the dose of which at first is from 1 to 5 drops (0.05-0.3) 
in water ; the solution of arsenate of sodium (Liquor Sodii Arsenatis, 
U. S. and B. P.), or Pearson's solution, the dose of which is 1 to 5 
drops (0.05-0.3), and the solution of arsenous acid (Liquor Acidi 
Arsenosi, U. S.), the dose of which is 1 to 5 drops (0.05-0.3). This* 
is more irritating to the stomach than the other preparations. The 
iodide of arsenic enters into Donovan's solution (Liquor Arseni et 
Hydrargyri Lodidi, U. S. and B. P.), the dose of which is 1 to 3 
drops (0.05-0.15), well diluted. Iodide of arsenic (Arseni Iodidum, 
U. S. and B. P.) is given in -^ grain (0.0015) doses, and arsenate of 
sodium (Sodii Arsenas, U. S. and B. P.) in the dose of -^ to -^ of a 
grain (0.003-0.006). 



ARSENIC. 87 

Untoward Effects. — If arsenic is taken in full dose by a sus- 
ceptible person, it may cause a marked dermatitis, with a sensation of 
severe burning in the skin. Pustulations may occur, and Falck asserts 
that an erysipelatous state may arise. Almost any form of skin lesion 
may follow its use internally or externally, but nearly all show irrita- 
tion of the true skin. Even a scarlatiniform eruption followed by des- 
quamations may ensue. In other cases the mucous membranes become 
inflamed and coryza and disorders may develop. (See Administration.) 

Acute Poisoning. — Arsenic is a gastro-intestinal irritant, producing, 
when taken in poisonous dose, violent vomiting and purging, with 
great pain in the oesophagus, stomach, and entire belly. The passages 
finally become watery and resemble "rice-water" stools, but are to be 
separated from those of cholera and antimonial poisoning by the pres- 
ence of blood and, if necessary, by chemical analysis. The mucous 
membrane is stripped off the bowel and appears in shreds in the pas- 
sages. Very commonly about the third day, if the patient survives so 
long, an intermission in the attack appears, which will be followed by 
a return of all the symptoms, so that the physician must not give a 
favorable prognosis. In this symptom (remission) the course of arsen- 
ical poisoning resembles phosphorus-poisoning and yellow fever. Death 
generally occurs about the fourth or sixth day, and on or about the 
third day a peculiar skin eruption sometimes appears which may be of 
any character. In rare cases sudden pain ? collapse, and death may 
take place after the ingestion of the poison. Widespread multiple 
neuritis may be brought on. A typical change always present in acute 
poisoning when the patient lives for any length of time is fatty degen- 
eration of all the tissues. 

Treatment of Acute Poisoning. — In addition to washing out 
the stomach by the stomach-pump, applying external heat and stim- 
ulants, the proper antidotes should be at once employed, and the only 
ones of any value are the freshly-precipitated hydrated sesquioxide of 
iron and magnesia. (See below.) The first is to be prepared by the 
precipitation of iron from one of its fluid preparations by the use of an 
alkali. Ammonia added to the tincture of the chloride of iron is effi- 
cacious, but the precipitate has to be repeatedly washed to rid it of an 
excess of this irritant. Magnesia is a better precipitant, because it not 
only precipitates the iron, but is an antidote itself. Monsel's solution 
and the so-called dialyzed iron may be employed in place of the tinc- 
ture, but Monsel's salt is too irritating, and dialyzed iron is so readily 
precipitated that it needs no alkali, but may be given pure. Magnesia 
is a useful antidote when used alone. 

Under the name Ferri Oxidum Hydratum cum Magnesia the U. S. 
P. recognizes an antidote for arsenic ; this is often called the " anti- 
datum arsenici." The U. S. P. directs that this antidote should be 
kept on hand for immediate use in the following manner : Mix 13 \ 
fluidrachms (50.0) of the official solution of the tersulphate of iron 
{Liquor Ferri Tersulphatis) Avith 4J ounces (100.0) of water, and keep 
the mixture in a well-stoppered bottle. Rub 150 grains (10.0) of 
magnesia with a little water to a smooth and thin mixture ; transfer 
it to a bottle capable of holding 32 ounces (1000.0), and fill the bottle 



88 DRUGS. 

with water. When the antidote is to be used, add the magnesia solu- 
tion slowly to the iron solution and shake together until a homoge- 
neous mass results. (See Iron, Hydrated, Sesquioxide of.) 

After the use of the antidote emetics should be used, opium should 
be administered to allay irritation and pain, and large draughts of 
water be given to flush the kidneys and dilute the poison. In the 
later stages the danger from arsenical poisoning arises from the changes 
produced in vital organs. 

Chronic poisoning by arsenic shows itself in great irritation of the air- 
passages, in the development of nephritis, in pigmentation of the skin, 
and in nervous symptoms due to inflammations of the nervous tissues 
in different parts of the system, such as patches of anaesthesia and 
localized loss of motor power. These anaesthetic areas are generally 
confined to the extremities, and extend only to the first or the second 
joint above. Sometimes the multiple neuritis produced by arsenic 
produces symptoms which resemble those of locomotor ataxia, to 
a very considerable extent. In other cases the action on the skin 
is the more marked, and various acute inflammatory conditions are 
produced. Arsenic often produces asthma in those exposed to it by 
reason of the irritation it causes in the bronchial tubes. Chronic 
poisoning is to be treated by withdrawal from the exposure and the 
use of iodide of potassium to aid in the elimination of the arsenic. 
The other symptoms are to be treated by the application of electricity, 
tonics, out-of-door life, and such measures as will improve the general 
condition of the patient. The prolonged use of arsenic, according to 
de Schweinitz, may produce vitreous opacities. 

ASAFCETIDA. 

Asafoetida, TJ. S., Asafetida, B. P., is a gum obtained by making 
an incision into the root of the Ferula fcetida. It occurs in irregular 
masses of a dark-yellow or reddish color, which become still more 
red if exposed to the light and air. Asafoetida in tears is a term 
applied to the drug when it appears in the shape of drops or pearls, 
and is a form seldom seen. Its odor is penetrating and strong, and 
resembles that of garlic. When taken internally it causes a sensa- 
tion of warmth and acts as a stimulant and carminative in the ali- 
mentary canal. 

Therapeutics. — Asafoetida is used in medicine as a carminative 
which will particularly affect the lower bowel, and is useful in the 
intestinal indigestion of old persons when associated with flatulence, 
and in the flatulent colic of children. In the form of rectal injections 
it is of value for the relief of the tympanites of children and in that of 
adults during typhoid fever. It is also used as a stimulating expec- 
torant in the later stages of bronchitis. In the nervous irritability of 
children it is often of service. 

Administration. — Asafoetida is given in pills of asafoetida (Pilula? 
Asafoetidce, TJ, S.), of which two or three may be taken, each one 
containing 3 grains (0.15) ; the emulsion or milk of asafoetida (Emul- 
>sum Asafoetida?, U. S.), the dose of which is J to 1 ounce (16.0-32.0) ; 



ASPID1UM. 89 

and the tincture (Tinctura Asafoetidce, U. S. and B. P), \ to 1 fluid- 
drachm (2.0-4.0). The suppositories contain what is equal to 40 
drops (3.0) of the tincture; and the plaster of asafoetida {Emplastrum 
Asafoetidce) is used where a faint counter-irritant and antispasmodic 
is needed. When intestinal indigestion and flatulence occurs in old 
people the following pill is of service : 

Be. — Ex. nucis vomicae gr. v (0.30). 

Ex. kolse gr. iij (0.15). 

Asafoetidse gr. xl (2.6).— M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One night and morning. 

The B. P. preparation not official in the U. S. P. is Pilula Got- 
ham Composita, composed of asafoetida, galbanum, and myrrh ; dose 
5 to 15 grains (0.35-1.0). 



ASPIDIUM. 

Aspidium, U. S., Filix-mas, B. P., or Male Fern, the rhizome of 
Dryopteris Filix-mas is employed in medicine as a tseniacide or remedy 
against the tape-worm, and is a very efficient and valuable drug under 
such circumstances, being, perhaps, the most reliable of all the vermi- 
fuges except pelletierin. When employed the directions and precau- 
tions given in the article on Worms must be strictly followed (Part 

Iy -)- 

Male fern taken in overdose is capable of producing poisoning, and 
according to Quivill causes when taken in overdose irritation of the 
gastro-intestinal mucous membrane and diarrhoea. If absorbed it acts 
on the central nervous system and causes paralysis, collapse, and death. 
The form and method by which it is eliminated are unknown. It may 
in overdose cause albuminuria and glycosuria. To go beyond 1J- 
drachms of the oleoresin (6.0) at a dose is dangerous. 

Administration. — Male fern is rarely, if ever, used at present in 
its crude form, being employed most commonly in this country in the 
form of the oleoresin (Oleoresina Aspidii, U. S.); dose \ to 1 fluid- 
drachm in capsules, or as follows : 

R. — Oleoresin. aspidii 1 -_ w , /0 A \ 

Tinct. vanillie } aa ^ xlv & )' 

Pulv. acacias ^ss (2.0). 

Aq. destillat f£j (32.0).— M. 

S. — Take entire amount after fasting, and follow in two hours by a full dose of 
sulphate of magnesium. 

The dose of the liquid extract (Extr actum Filicis Liquidum) of the 
B. P. is 15 minims to 1 fluidrachm (1.0-4.0). 

Katamaya and Okamoto, two Japanese investigators, and Poulssen, 
all state that castor and other oils should not be used after filix-mas is 
given, as oils increase the absorption of the active principle, and so pre- 
dispose to the development of poisoning. 



90 BR UGS. 

AZEDARACH. 

Azedarach is the bark of the Melia Azedarach, or Pride of China, 
as it is sometimes called. It is found in Syria, Persia, the north of 
India, and in the Southern United States. 

The berries have but little toxic power, and children may eat ot 
them largely without ill effect, but the bark itself is poisonous when 
taken in overdose, and produces symptoms resembling those of poison- 
ing by spigelia or belladonna. It is employed as a remedy against the 
round-worm, and should be given in decoction made by boiling 2 
ounces of the drug in 1\ pints (750 cc.) of water until there only 
remains a pint (500) of liquid. Of this from 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls 
(16.0-32.0) are to be given a child, and repeated every two hours 
until the bowels are opened. It has also been used as a fluid extract 
prepared by the ordinary means with alcohol, to which some white 
sugar should be added. The dose of this extract is a teaspoonful, and 
is not to be repeated. The decoction is the best form in which to use 
the drug. 

BARIUM CHLORIDE. 

One of the most recent and one of the best evidences of the value 
of the study of the action of drugs upon the lower animals is given 
us by this substance. It will be remembered that Brunton and Ringer 
of London, Robert and Bary of Dorpat, and Bartholow and the 
writer in America have at various times published, during the last 
few years, studies concerning the effect of barium on the circulatory 
apparatus of the frog, dog, and man, and all of them are in accord 
in the statement that it slows the heart very greatly, steadies its 
rhythm, and at the same time increases the volume of blood thrown 
out of the ventricle. They have also found that barium increases 
blood-pressure, and Robert has, by a series of careful experiments, 
concluded that it brings about this change by an action on the mus- 
cular coats of the blood-vessels. 

If large doses are used in the lower animals, the heart suffers sys- 
tolic arrest from over-stimulation, and the strongest irritation of the 
vagus nerves fails to relax the systolic contraction. Still more inter- 
esting is the statement that this failure of the vagi to inhibit the 
heart is not the result of paralysis of these nerves, but is simply due 
to the excess of cardiac contractile power. The slowing of the pulse 
is not due to inhibitory influence, but depends solely upon the stimu- 
lation of the heart-muscle, although it would seem probable that the 
vasomotor stimulation, by increasing the arterial resistance, may be 
at least a factor in the reduction of the pulse-rate. At one time, in 
the dog, after large doses, there is a period of increase of pulse-rate 
which is asserted to be due to stimulation of the accelerator nerves. 

In most works on chemistry barium is stated to be an irritant 
poison, but to produce such evidences of its presence the dose given 
must be extremely large, and many times greater than any amount 
useful for medicinal purposes. 



BELLADONNA. 91 

Therapeutics. — Barium chloride may be used in all forms of car- 
diac disease in which failure of the heart-muscle is present. In the 
treatment of varicose veins it is said to be of value, both when given 
internally and applied locally over the distended vessels. 

A point worthy of remark is the character of the pulse-wave pro- 
duced. While its volume is increased, it does not give that sensation 
■ of tenseness to the finger that does the pulse produced by digitalis, and 
the pulse-wave seems to be very considerably prolonged — a fact that the 
sphygmograph also records. 

Administration. — The solution of barium chloride to be used inter- 
nally should have the strength of 5 grains to the ounce (0.3 : 32.0) 
of water, and of this 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls (4.0-8.0) is to be given three 
times a day. 

BELLADONNA. 

Belladonna is botanically known as Atropa Belladonna, and is 
official in the form of the root (Belladonna? Radix, U. S. and B. P.) 
and leaves (Belladonna? Folia, U. S. and B. P.). It belongs to a 
very large class of plants which all have a similar physiological action. 
Belladonna contains an active principle in the form of an alkaloid 
known as atropine (Atropina, U. S. and B. P.), which is insoluble in 
water. The sulphate of atropine (Atropince Sulphas, U. S. and B. 
P.) is soluble. 

Physiological Effects. — In man, full medicinal doses produce flush- 
ing of the face, redness and dryness of the fauces, dilated pupils, 
sometimes an erythematous rash over the skin, rarely diplopia and 
delirium. If the dose be still larger, the delirium becomes very 
marked and is wild and talkative. The pulse is rapid and wiry. The 
rash which appears resembles that of scarlet fever, but lacks the punc- 
tations. The skin may desquamate after the lapse of several days if 
the rash is severe. 

In children belladonna is usually borne very well indeed, and 
opium very badly. When belladonna asserts itself in children and 
in susceptible adults the respiration is quickened, the eyes become 
bright and the cheeks red, but lines of pallor reach from the malar 
bones to the corners of the mouth, giving the face a curious ex- 
pression. 

Absorption. — This drug is very rapidly absorbed. 

Nervous System. — Belladonna when given in medicinal amount 
approaching the toxic dose acts as a powerful excitant of the brain, 
producing talkative delirium. Locally applied, it depresses the periph- 
eral sensory nerves. 

When very large doses are given to animals, paralysis of the spinal 
cord comes on, followed by tetanic spasms, and finally by recovery. 
The primary loss of power is due to paralysis of the entire cord, 
and the second state, of convulsions, to the escape of the motor and 
sensory pathways from the paralysis before the inhibitory centres 
recover. As a result, any peripheral irritation causes violent explo- 



92 DRUGS. 

sions of motor power. 1 Even in large medicinal dose belladonna may 
be considered as a depressant to the motor nerves and as a quieter to 
sensory nerve-filaments. On voluntary muscles the drug has no effect, 
but upon unstriped muscles it acts as a depressant and antispasmodic. 
It distinctly lessens reflex action. 

Circulation. — Belladonna quickens the pulse by depression of the 
peripheral vagi and by stimulating the cardiac muscle and the accele- 
rator nerves. It produces a rise of arterial pressure by stimulating the 
vasomotor centre and by the increased heart-action which it causes. In 
poisonous doses it causes a fall of arterial pressure due to centric vaso- 
motor palsy, and depression of the muscular coats of the blood-vessels, 
but not to cardiac depression, as has been generally taught, for Reichert 
has proved that the drug is not a heart-depressant unless the dose is 
simply overwhelming. Sometimes when belladonna is given the pulse 
becomes slow, but in these cases the slowing is due to temporary stim- 
ulation of the peripheral vagi or to momentary depression of the cardiac 
motor ganglia. 

Respiration. — Atropine is a stimulant to the respiratory centre 
in ordinary amounts, but recent careful studies show that its high 
reputation as a respiratory stimulant is not based either on clinical 
or experimental evidence. In many cases it fails to increase the 
respiration at all, and it is certainly inferior to coffee and strychnine 
in the treatment of opium poisoning. In large doses it is a depressant 
and paralyzant to respiration, and produces death from respiratory 
failure due to paralysis of the motor nerves supplying the respiratory 
muscles, and probably by depressing the respiratory centres. 

Abdominal Contents. — Belladonna increases peristalsis by de- 
pressing the peripheral ends of the inhibitory fibres of the splanchnic 
nerves, and by diminishing any tendency to spasm on the part of the 
muscular coats of the intestine. 

Action on Secretion. — The drug decreases all the secretions of 
the body except the urine, which is sometimes increased in amount 
under its use. The decrease of secretion is due to paralysis of the 
peripheral nerve-filaments supplying the secretory cells of the 
glands. 

Bodily Heat. — When belladonna is used in large amounts there 
is nearly always a rise of temperature, which in children may amount 
to one or two degrees. In advanced poisoning the temperature rap- 
idly falls. 

Elimination. — Atropine is eliminated by the kidneys and bowels 
w r ith extraordinary rapidity, and this is one of the reasons why death 
from the drug is so rare. J. Harley asserts that it is entirely eliminated 
in two hours, and Meuriot states that not a trace of it can be found in 
twenty-four hours, and that it is partly destroyed in the liver. In a 
suspected case of poisoning the urine of the patient may be dropped in 

1 If a homely simile, found useful by the writer in teaching, may be used, the 
inhibitory centres may be represented by a schoolmaster and the motor and sensory 
centres by two boys. The escape of chloroform in the room paralyzes them all, but, 
finally, the boys recover before their master and go off as truants (convulsions) ; at 
last the master (inhibitory centres) recovers, and order, or health, is restored. 



BELLADONNA. 93 

the eye of an animal, and, if atropine or belladonna has been taken, 
mydriasis will result. 

Eye. — On the eye belladonna produces dilatation of the pupil by 
stimulating the sympathetic nerve-fibres of the iris and paralyzing 
the ocular motor fibres peripherally, but the dominant action of the 
drug is undoubtedly exercised upon the muscular fibres of the iris 
(Jessup). Littauer has recently asserted that dilatation is not due to 
sympathetic stimulation, but Jessup's conclusions are generally accepted 
as correct, although the teaching as to the influence of atropine on the 
eye has changed several times in the last few years. Belladonna gen- 
erally increases intra-ocular tension. 

Treatment of Poisoning. — Poisoning by belladonna is to be 
treated by the application of external heat if the patient goes into 
collapse, and the use of strychnine if respiration fails. Opium may 
be employed in carefully graded doses as the physiological antagonist, 
but large doses are of doubtful service, particularly if the respirations 
are not in a satisfactory state. 

Therapeutics. — Belladonna is used to allay excessive secretion, to act 
as an antispasmodic, and to influence the circulatory apparatus when 
local inflammations are beginning, particularly in secretory glands. 
In cardiac palpitation small doses of belladonna internally, or its exter- 
nal use over the prcecordium in the form of a belladonna plaster or 
ointment, is very useful. It is also our most useful vasomotor stimulant 
in collapse. Belladonna is of value in neuralgias and in the pains due 
to irritated peripheral nerves. 

To check secretion in night-sweats it is one of the best remedies we 
have, and it is useful in excessive idiopathic ptyalism, as seen in chil- 
dren, or in that due to mercurialization. In bromidrosis of the feet 
and other localized sweatings it is useful, and may be employed locally 
or taken internally for their cure. It is the best drug we have for 
checking the secretion of milk in an inflamed breast, and under these 
circumstances it is best to smear it over the gland in an ointment. (See 
next page.) Belladonna may be used in serous diarrhoea, as it checks 
the disorder by stimulation of the splanchnic vasomotor filaments of the 
intestinal blood-vessels, which being inactive permit a transudation of 
liquid into the bowel. 

Trousseau recommended as a local remedy 1 to 2 grains (0.05— 
0.10) of the extract of belladonna with 6 to 8 grains (0.30-0.40) of 
tannic acid in leucorrhoea dependent upon disease of the uterine cer- 
vix. This should be placed on a pledget of cotton and applied to 
the affected part daily, being allowed to remain all day. Ringer 
states that if pain is also present in these cases the following injec- 
tion is of value : 

R. — Sodii bicarbonatis .^j (4.0). 

• Tr. belladonna? f^ij (8.0). 

Aquae dest q. s. ad Oj (500 cc). — M. 

This is to be injected into the vagina, the woman first being placed on 
her back with her buttocks raised, so that the drug may bathe the 
uterine cervix for some minutes. 



94 DRUGS. 

As an antispasmodic, atropine is to be used in torticollis, injected 
directly into the muscle itself, so as to act on its motor nerve-fibres, 
and it may be given in spas?n of the intestine with cramps and griping, 
while in cramps in the legs and body, either as a local application by 
means of liniments or when employed internally, it is of service. 
In asthma of the spasmodic type belladonna is a sovereign remedy, 
particularly if it be combined with morphine. It may be used both 
as a prophylactic and as a cure during the attack. Belladonna-leaves 
may be smoked by asthmatics, by rolling them into a cigarette or put- 
ting them into a pipe. 

This drug is used in whooping cough at all ages and in all stages, 
but it must be given in large amounts in this disease to do any good. 

In spasm of the sphincter ani, whether it be due to fissure or 
other cause, belladonna in the form of an ointment or suppository 
is of value. In spasm of the urethra and bladder the drug may be 
used internally and externally, and in the former state the ointment 
should be smeared along the under surface of the penis every night. 
This treatment is also useful in chordee. In the col c resulting from 
the passage of hepatic and renal calculi belladonna in full dose will 
very often give relief. Where urinary incontinence depends upon 
spasm of the bladder belladonna should be used. (See Urinary Incon- 
tinence.) In dysmenorrhea in nervous women, with spasm of the 
cervix uteri, it is of very great value applied as an ointment or in a 
vaginal suppository, or when given by the mouth. For the nervous 
cough of children and adults belladonna is one of the best remedies 
we have. In constipation it does good by depressing the inhibitory 
nerves of the intestine. It is also of value in laryngismus stridulus 
and in hiccough. In spasms from peripheral irritations belladonna is 
of value. In iritis atropine is used to dilate the pupil and prevent 
adhesions. The solution to be dropped into the eye should contain 1 
to 4 grains (0.05-0.20) of atropine sulphate to the ounce (32.0) of 
water. Atropine sulphate is also used for the purpose of producing 
mydriasis, before ophthalmoscopic examination, in solutions of the 
strength just given. It increases intra-ocular tension and is contra- 
indicated in glaucoma. When employed to act on the circulation it 
is to be used in shock and collapse from injury or in the course of 
severe disease. (See Shock.) During the progress of a case of 
pneumonia,, typhoid fever, or other severe disease belladonna should 
be kept in the house, and administered freely if collapse or vasomotor 
relaxation suddenly asserts itself. Particularly is this true in the 
case of pneumonia. The vascular system after the crisis of this disease 
will often be found much relaxed, and heart stimulants do not seem to do 
much good. The administration of atropine or belladonna will dry the 
leaking skin, and by increasing the vasomotor tone produce great im- 
provement. In mastitis, or inflammation of the breast, even- where pus 
is beginning to be formed, belladonna, if pushed, will give surprisingly 
good results if given internally and applied locally. In sore throat, 
when the pharynx is hot and dry and has a sensation of rawness, while 
the local capillaries appear injected and red, belladonna is often of the 
greatest service if given in full dose, aborting the "cold." In exoph- 



BELLADONNA. 95 

thalmic goitre belladonna is thought to act by stimulating the sym- 
pathetic nerves, and certainly gives relief in some cases, particularly 
if combined with strophanthus or digitalis. For the relief of local 
nerve-pains it is of value, and probably acts by quieting the irritated 
nerve. It should be applied in these cases in the form of an ointment 
or plaster, and if the ointment is used it should be well rubbed into 
the part affected. 

In headaclte occurring in young persons, often due to over-work, 
with pain in the eyeballs and forehead and a sensation as if the orbits 
were too small for the eyeballs, belladonna is of service. In intercostal 
neuralgia or pleurodynia belladonna plasters may be applied to the 
spot where the pain is felt, with relief. 

Use of Atropine in Poisoning. — Atropine acts as an antidote in 
cases where poisonous mushrooms have been eaten, and is a physio- 
logical antidote to opium, Calabar bean or physostigma, and jaborandi. 
In opium poisoning it acts as an antidote in all parts of the body 
except the eye, and in jaborandi poisoning the same facts hold true. 
In opium poisoning the drug should not be given after the respira- 
tions rise to ten from three or four per minute, as too much of the 
drug may be given and atropine poisoning may come on and compli- 
cate the case. The condition of the pupil is not a guide as to the 
effect of atropine in opium poisoning, because opium acts centrically 
and atropine acts peripherally on the nerves governing the iris. 
Atropine should be used in aconite, antimony, and hydrocyanic-acid 
poisoning for its influence on the vasomotor system, the respiratory 
centre, and the heart, and for the purpose of maintaining the bodily 
heat, the dissipation of which it retards by preventing vasomotor 
palsy and consequent dilatation of the peripheral blood-vessels. It 
should be borne in mind that atropine is not the very best single 
antagonist to opium, and that in opium poisoning it always should be 
largely aided by caffeine and strychnine. 

Administration. — The dose of the sulphate of atropine (Atropines 
Sulphas, U. S. and B. P.), is ^h to to (0.0004-0.0015) of a grain. 
The alcoholic extract (Extr actum Belladonnas Foliorum Alcoliolicum, 
U. S. and B. P.) is given in ^ to \ grain (0.01-0.015) doses, and the 
tincture (Tinctur a Belladonnas Foliorum, U. S. and B. P.) in the dose 
of 5 to 15 minims (0.3-1.0). Both these preparations are derived 
from the leaves. The fluid extract (Extr actum Belladonna? Radicis 
Fluidum, U. S.) is given in 1- to 2-minim (0.05-0.10) doses, while 
the extract (Extr actum Belladonna?- Liquidum) of the B. P. is 
given in \- to 1-minim (0.015-0.05) doses. These preparations are 
derived from the root. Belladonna liniment (Linimentum Bella- 
donnas, U. S. and B. P.), belladonna plaster (Emplastrum Bella- 
donna?, U. S. and B. P.), and the ointment ( Unguentum Belladonna?, 
U. S. and B. P.) are for external application. Suppositoria Bella- 
donnas, B. P., are used by the rectum. The preparations of the 
B. P. not official in the U. S. P. are Liquor Atrophias Sulphatis, 
given in the dose of 1 to 6 minims (0.05-0.32) ; Lamellas Atropinas, 
each of which contains 5 ^ 00 of a grain of atropine ; and Unguentum 



96 DRUGS. 

Atropince. Succus Belladonna?, B. P., is given in 5- to 15-minim 
(0.3-1.0) doses. 

Recent experiments show that belladonna decreases gastric secre- 
tion very considerably in some persons. It is better, therefore, not^ 
to administer it just before or immediately after a meal. 



BENZOIN AND BENZOIC ACID. 

Benzoin (Benzoinum, U. S. and B. P.) is a resinous balsam derived 
from the Styrax Benzoin, which is a native of Sumatra, Borneo, and 
Java. Benzoic acid is obtained by the sublimation of gum benzoin, 
or is prepared artificially, chiefly from toluol. The last preparation 
is not to be recommended, as it often disorders the stomach and leaves 
a disagreeable taste in the mouth. It is benzoic acid which is gen- 
erally used in medicine. 

Physiological Action. — Locally applied in concentrated form, ben- 
zoic acid is an irritant, and taken internally in excessive amount it 
causes a sensation of warmth and burning. It is eliminated as hip- 
puric acid, and increases the acidity of the urine. On the lower forms 
of life it acts as an antiseptic and germicide. In persons having an 
idiosyncrasy to benzoic acid it is not uncommon for urticaria to follow 
the use of the drug. Sometimes a papular or erythematous eruption 
appears. 

Therapeutics. — Benzoic acid is useful in the treatment of chronic 
cystitis with alkaline urine which is loaded with phosphates, and, 
combined with cannabis indica, acts well in the later stages of gonor- 
rhoea. Senator states that in the dose of 2 or 3 drachms (8.0-12.0) 
a day it is a specific in acute rheumatism, and thinks it equal to sali- 
cylic acid. When these doses are to be used, the benzoate of sodium 
should be employed, owing to its solubility. In acute laryngitis 
accompanied by great hoarseness the inhalation of steam laden with 
compound tincture of benzoin is of the greatest service. A table- 
spoonful (16.0) of this tincture should be placed in a pitcher of boil- 
ing water, the face held over the liquid, and a towel thrown over the 
head of the patient to retain the steam. The drug cannot be used in 
an atomizer, as it clogs the "tips." Taken internally, benzoic acid 
is useful in chronic bronchitis. 

Administration. — The dose of benzoic acid (Acidum Benzoicum, 
U. S. and B. P.) is usually 10 to 40 grains (0.6-2.6), but a drachm 
may be given in capsule. The gum itself is never used as such. 
The tincture (Tinctura Benzoini, U. S.) is given in 30-minim to 1- 
drachm (2.0-4.0) doses, and the compound tincture {Tinctura Ben- 
zoini Composita, U. S. and B. P.) is composed of benzoin, aloes, sto- 
rax, balsam of Tolu, and alcohol, the dose of it being 1 to 2 fluid- 
drachms (4.0-8.0). The preparations official in the B. P., but not 
in the U. S. P., are the troches (Trochisci Acidi Benzoici) and 
Unguentum Cetacei. 

Adeps Benzoinatus (TJ. S. and B. P.), or benzoated lard, is sim- 
ply a non-rancid basis for many ointments, notably that of zinc. 



BISMUTH. 97 

BISMUTH. 

Bismuth is official as the subcarbonate (Bismuthi Subcarbonas, 
JJ. S), the subnitrate (Bismuthi Subnitras, U. 8. and B. P.), the 
citrate (Bismuthi Citras, U. S.), and the bismuth and ammonium 
citrate (Bismuthi et Ammonii Citras, U. S.). The first and second are 
identical in their dose (5 to 20 grains — 0.3-1.3) and action, and may- 
be employed interchangeably. The third and fourth are more 
astringent and more irritating than the other two, and must be given 
in a smaller dose, which is 2 to 4 grains (0.1-0.2). 

Many years ago this drug was supposed to be capable of producing 
gastro-enteritis when given in large doses, but this was due to a con- 
tamination by arsenic. Bismuth may produce chronic poisoning after 
prolonged use on wounds or when internally administered in excessive 
doses for some time. Ordinary doses are innocuous. As much as 4 
to 5 drachms a day may be given for a short time without harm. The 
changes which ensue are the formation of black sloughs in the mouth 
and gastro-intestinal tract, desquamative nephritis, and albuminuria. 
The preparations of the B. P. not official in the U. S. P. are the 
Liquor Bismuthi et Ammonii Citratis, dose j- to 1 flui drachm (2.0- 
4.0), and the troches (Trochisci Bismuthi), 2 grains (0.1) in each. 
Bismuthi Carbonas, B. P., is the same as the subcarbonate of the 
U. S. P. 

Physiological Action. — Bismuth in the form of the subnitrate 
and subcarbonate is devoid of any effect upon the general system, 
and locally applied externally, or when given internally, exercises a 
mild astringent and protective influence upon mucous membranes. 

Therapeutics. — Bismuth is used as an astringent in large doses to 
cover the surface of inflamed mucous membranes and so to allay irri- 
tation. It is useful in irritative vomiting for this reason, and in diar- 
rhoea of a similar type in which the stools are serous. If the passages 
are mucous, castor oil should precede bismuth in order to rid the ali- 
mentary canal of the mucous secretion already poured out. It is very 
useful when combined w T ith carbolic acid in serous diarrhoea, given in 
capsules containing 5 grains (0.3) of bismuth subnitrate and 1 drop 
(0.05) of carbolic acid. It is also to be used as a slow and feeble 
antacid. The Bismuthi et Ammonii Citras is very astringent, and 
should be used in chronic serous diarrhoeas in the dose of 5 grains (0.3) 
every two or three hours. The other preparations of bismuth are 
insoluble, and they should not be given in water, but this preparation 
is soluble and may be given in solution. Bismuth is of service in 
dyspepsia w T hen lactic and butyric acid fermentation is present with 
excessive belching, and may be employed in gastralgia and gastric 
ulcer and gastritis as a sedative and astringent. Bismuth and am- 
monium citrate should never be employed if acute inflammation exists. 

When the salts of bismuth are used for any length of time, they 
cause the odor of garlic to appear in the breath, w r hich is due to the 
presence of an exceedingly slight trace of tellurium in the bismuth. 
The stools are apt to become black under the influence of bismuth, and 
the tongue, if furred, may also be black about the centre when bismuth 
is used. 



98 DRUGS. 

Where there is chapping of the hands or cheeks from exposure to 
cold or wet the following prescription is useful : 

R. — Bismuth i subnitratis ^iij (12.0). 

Zinci oleatis ^iij (12.0). 

Lycopodii ^ij (8.0). — M. 

•S. — Apply to the parts t. d. 



BISMUTH BBNZOATB. 

This is a preparation which has been highly recommended in Ger- 
many, and to some extent in this country, within the last few years, 
in the treatment of chancroid. Under its influence the sore heals up 
with great rapidity and leaves a comparatively small cicatrix. It may 
also be used in the treatment of all specific sores and for the dressing 
of indolent or sloughing ulcers. Benzoate of bismuth, when properly 
applied, should be preceded by a careful washing of the diseased sur- 
face with a very weak bichloride-of-mercury solution, after which the 
bismuth is to be sprinkled over the wound and the entire surface cov- 
ered with cotton, which should be held in place by an adhesive strip. 
The only disadvantage in this dressing lies in the fact that it has to 
be changed once or twice in every twenty-four hours. Immediately 
after it is applied it may produce some tingling or burning, but this 
is never very severe- 



BISMUTH SALICYLATE. 

Salicylate of Bismuth (Bismuthi Salicylas, B. P.) is a white, 
soft powder, insoluble in water, alcohol, ether, and chloroform, but 
soluble in acids. It is largely used by some practitioners, particu- 
larly on the European continent, as an intestinal antiseptic in cases 
where, in the presence of g astro-intestinal catarrh, fermentation or 
putrefaction is thought to be present in the bowel. It is to be given 
in powder, or, better still, in capsules, in the dose of 3 to 15 grains 
(0.25-1.0). 



BISMUTH SUBGALLATE. 

Dermatol, or the subgallate of bismuth, was first used by Heinz 
and Liebrecht. It is a fine yellow powder which is unaffected by 
long exposure to light and air, is entirely odorless, and is supposed to 
contain b5 per cent, of oxide of bismuth. Its external uses are iden- 
tical with the uses of iodoform, and it probably acts in much the 
same manner as does the latter drug — namely, by so drying the 
wound that it becomes an unfavorable soil for the growth of germs. 
As dermatol is an astringent, it cannot be employed in the treatment 
of indolent ulcers, which need stimulation rather than an astringent 
influence, and it would seem probable on theoretical grounds that it 
is not to be compared to iodoform in the treatment of cases in which 
tubercular processes are going on. 



BORAX AND BORIC ACID. 99 

There is no doubt that dermatol is less poisonous than iodoform, 
but it must be capable of producing some untoward effects if used 
profusely for any length of time, since poisoning follows the pro- 
longed employment of bismuth preparations, as has been determined 
by Balzer, Dalche, and Villejean, for the symptoms of which see the 
article on Bismuth. 

Dermatol may be tried in cases of skin disease in which there is 
much secretion, as in weeping eczemas and similar states, either in 
the form of a dusting-powder or in an ointment with vaseline or lano- 
lin in the proportion of J to 1 drachm to the ounce (2.0-4.0 : 36.0). 
Sometimes its efficiency can be much increased by the addition of an 
equal part of oxide of zinc to the prescription just given. 

Dermatol has been used in cases of purulent otitis media and many 
states requiring similar effects with marked success. 

Internally, it has been highly recommended in cases of fermenta- 
tive dyspepsia in the dose of 5 to 10 grains (0.3-0.65), but its real 
value in this condition is as yet undetermined. 

BITARTRATE OF POTASSIUM. 

Potassii Bitartras, U. S., Potassii Tartras Acidus, B. P., is some- 
times called "cream of tartar" or acid tartrate of potassium. It is a 
white gritty powder which may occur in rhombic crystals. Owing to 
its stability, it has been thought that it escaped from the body without 
oxidation, and so to differ from the other potassium salts formed from 
vegetable acids. This is probably incorrect. 

Therapeutics. — The bitartrate of potassium is the most diuretic of 
the potassium salts, and is used in chronic nephritis with gin or com- 
pound infusion of juniper, when it is very useful in removing dropsy. 
1 ounce' (32.0) of the' salt is added to a pint (500 cc.) of the infu- 
sion of juniper-berries, and the entire quantity taken in divided doses 
in twenty-four hours. In acute renal disease the drug should be used 
without the juniper. In large doses — J an ounce (16.0) — it acts as a 
watery purge, but is rarely so used. Where the urine is thick and 
alkaline bitartrate of potassium is a useful remedy to neutralize it and 
make it clear and normal in appearance. 



BORAX AND BORIC ACID. 

Borax (B. P.), or Sodii Boras, U. S., may be made by the ac- 
tion of boracic or boric acid upon soda, but the drug as it appears 
in commerce in America is derived entirely from natural deposits 
found on the shores of lakes in California and Nevada. The natural 
product is, of course, very impure, and has to be purified before it is 
marketable. Borax is soluble in twelve times its weight of water. 
Both borax and boric acid have been supposed to act as efficient 
germicides in strong solutions, but this has been proved incorrect. 
They are antiseptics, however, even when in weak solutions. In the 
form of a lotion boric acid has been used as a remedy for erysipelas 



100 DRUGS. 

with a good deal of success, and it may be similarly employed in 
burns and scalds. Borax may also be used as a wash in diphtheria 
and in aphthous stomatitis, eancrum oris, and gangrenous stomatitis. 
In the treatment of pruritus ani and vulva?, and in bromidrosis and 
foetid sweating it is of great value when used as a wash. Strong 
solutions, locally applied, are useful in tinea tonsurans and tinea 
eircinata. 

The following makes a very useful application for the skin of the 
face and hands to prevent chapping: 

R.— Acid, boric 5j (4.0). 

Cerae albae ^j (4.0). 

Paraffini gij (8.0). 

01. amygdalae dulc f^ij (8.0). — M. 

S. — To be thoroughly mixed and applied night and morning. 

Boric acid may be given internally in cystitis to render the urine 
acid, and is useful in the removal of freckles when applied as a wash to 
the skin. In persons having an idiosyncrasy to boric acid a bullous 
eruption of the skin may follow its use. 

Borax should not be used with glycerin, as an acid reaction is apt 
to occur. 

A very useful wash for oral and nasal mucous membranes is 
" Dobell's solution," which is composed of — 

R.— Sodii boratis \ ^ aa*i(4 0) 

Sodii bicarbonatis f ' • oJ \ • J- 

Acid, carbolici gr. xxx (2.0). 

Glycerini f Sj (32.0). 

Aqua? purse Oij (1 litre). — M. 

Boric acid (Acidum Boricum, XI. S. and B. P.) is one of the most 
commonly used substances in eye-washes, either alone or with cocaine. 
When used with cocaine or other drugs it is employed to prevent the 
destruction of the alkaloid or glucoside, as the case may be, by the 
growth of mould. The following formula may be employed : 

R. — Cocain. hydrochlor gr. iv vel viij (0.2-0.5). 

Acid, boric. . gr. x vel xx (0.65-1.3). 

Aquae destillat i'^ij (64.0).— M. _ 

S. — To be used by dropping into the eye in conjunctivitis and similar states. 

Borax has been used very largely in the treatment of epilepsy, 
with asserted success in some cases. Its employment is purely empir- 
ical. The dose used is from 8 to 15 grains (0.5-1.0), gradually 
increased until it produces some disturbance in the alimentary canal. 
As the taste is very disagreeable to most persons, the drug should be 
used with liquorice, strong coffee, or syrup of bitter orange : 

R .—Sodii boratis . . . ." £ss (16.0). 

Glycerin fgj (32.0). 

Ext. glvcyrrhiz. fl f .^j (64.0). 

Aquae *. . . q. s. ad f £vj (128.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) in water after each meal. 

If larger doses than 15 to 30 grains (1.0-2.0) a day are used after 



BOROGLYCERIN— BROMIDES. 101 

the convulsions are decreased in number, there are two difficulties : 1st, 
that the good effect is rapidly lost ; and, 2d, that untoward symptoms, 
such as nausea and diarrhoea, with emaciation and the formation of a 
scarlatinal, eczematous, or papular eruption, appear. A peculiarity 
of the last two eruptions is that they are distributed around the joints. 
Borated lint is made by dipping lint into a boiling saturated solu- 
tion of boric acid or borax. It makes a simple, inexpensive anti- 
septic surgical dressing, and contains nearly one-half its weight of 
the drug. Grlycerinum Acidum Boricum, B. P., and Mel Boracis, 
B. P., are not official in the U. S. P., but are used as local applica- 
tions for chapped hands and small sores. 



BOROGLYCERIN. 

B or o glycerin is a liquid made by mixing 62 parts of boric acid with 
92 parts of glycerin in a tarred porcelain capsule at a temperature of 
not more than 302° F. The acid is added to the glycerin gradually, 
with constant stirring. When the mixture has been reduced to the 
weight of 100 parts, it is poured on a flat surface wet slightly with 
petroleum, and on hardening is cut into blocks, which should be placed 
at once in a well-stoppered bottle. When used for medicinal purposes 
the glycerite of boroglycerin (Grlyceritum Boroglycerini, U. S.) should 
be employed, which may be made by adding 1 ounce (32.) of the boro- 
glycerin in solid form to 1 ounce (32.) of glycerin and heating in a 
dish while stirring. It is soluble in water. Locally the glycerite of 
boroglycerin is used as an antiseptic and as a vehicle for carbolic 
acid, chrysarobin, and the vegetable alkaloids in the treatment of 
skin diseases, and in diseases of the eye, such as purulent ophthalmia. 



BROMIDES. 

Bromides of Potassium, Sodium, Lithium, Calcium, Gold, Nickel and 
Ammonium, and Hydrobromic Acid. 

Bromide of Potassium. 

Bromide of Potassium (Potassii Bromidum, U. S. and B. P.) is 
the most commonly used and important member of the group above 
named, and will, therefore, be spoken of before the others. 

It is prepared by precipitating freshly-made bromide of iron with 
pure carbonate of potassium, or by a process more readily carried out 
and recommended by the B. P. It occurs in colorless transparent 
crystals, which are stable in dry air, but absorb moisture in a damp 
atmosphere. It is very soluble in water, but less so in alcohol. This 
bromide has a salty taste, and is distinctly irritant to mucous mem- 
branes if locally applied in concentrated form. A certain portion of 
its depressant influence, particularly when it is given for long periods 



102 BEUGS. 

of time, depends upon the potassium as much as upon the bromine, and 
for this reason the sodium salt is preferable. 

Physiological Action. — Bromide of potassium has an action upon 
the animal economy which is clearly defined and closely followed by 
all the other bromide salts, so that what is said in this place concern- 
ing its effects may be taken as representing the whole class of bromides, 
except in the instances where slight differences exist, which will be 
pointed out under the various names of the respective salts. 

Bromide of potassium when taken internally produces drowsiness, 
stupidity, sleep, and a decrease of all the reflexes. (See Effects of Pro- 
longed Use.) 

Nervous System. — The bromide of potassium acts as a distinct 
depressant to the motor and intellectual portions of the cortex cerebri. 
It slows the development of thought and decreases the excitability 
and power of the motor cells of the brain (Albertoni). Upon the 
spinal cord it acts as a marked sedative, affecting chiefly the sensory 
tracts, and causing thereby loss of reflex action and a decrease in 
the ability of the animal to recognize pain. It also depresses to a 
less extent the motor pathways in the cord. Motion is maintained 
after sensations to pain and reflexes are lost. The drug depresses 
the peripheral parts of the sensory nerves, and in very large doses 
the motor nerves and muscles are similarly involved. 

Circulation. — If the drug be injected in ordinary dose into the 
jugular vein, it causes at once a fall of arterial pressure and pulse- 
rate. These changes are due to a direct action of the bromine and 
the potassium upon the heart. When given to man in therapeutic 
doses by the mouth, its circulatory effect is so slight as not to be 
worthy of consideration unless the dose is large and repeated. 

Respiration. — Bromide of potassium is a depressant to the respi- 
ratory centre in toxic dose. In medicinal dose it does not affect the 
breathing, except when the amounts given are large and the drug per- 
sistently administered, when the breathing becomes slower. 

Digestion. — The bromides may disorder the stomach by irritating 
its mucous membrane or by so decreasing reflex action that the proper 
secretion of gastric juice and digestion does not take place with sufficient 
rapidity. For similar reasons they may cause constipation. The hydro- 
chloric acid of the gastric juices sets free the bromine. 

Temperature. — No effect upon this function is noted unless the 
dose be enormous : when such a dose is given the bodily heat is pro- 
gressively diminished, the fall of temperature being probably due to the 
circulatory and nervous depression produced, associated with the general 
failure in vital power. 

Elimination. — The drug escapes unchanged very slowly with all 
the secretions, and is found in the sweat, urine, tears, semen, milk, and 
faeces. 

Tissue-waste is decreased when the animal economy is under the 
influence of one of the bromides. 

Therapeutics. — From what has been already said, it is evident that 
bromide of potassium is a remedy to be devoted almost entirely to the 
treatment of diseases of the nervous system, and its uses are, therefore, 



BROMIDES. 103 

as various as the manifestations of perversion of nervous action can 
be various. In a word, it may be said that bromide of potassium is to 
be used wherever over-excitement of nervous protoplasm is present, but 
never where nervous symptoms are due to depression. 

In epilepsy, which, to the best of our knowledge, is due to explosive 
impulses arising in the cerebral cortex, it is one of the best drugs we 
have, and in all forms of minor spasm, due to heightened reflex activity, 
it is of service. Care should be used in giving this drug in this disease, 
that maniacal excitement does not supplant the attacks of epilepsy. (See 
Epilepsy, Part IV.) In spasmodic contractions, in the treatment of 
hysterical females, in nervous startings and alarm at sudden noises in 
adults and children, and in the nervous symptoms accompanying preg- 
nancy and the menopause the bromides will be found of great value. 
The following prescription was recommended very highly by Goodell, 
and will be found of service in these states : 

R. — Ammonii bromidi ^ij (8.0). 

Potassii bromidi sjiv (16.0). 

Spts. ammon. aroraat. f^vj (24.0). 

Aquae camphora? . q. s. ad ffvj (192.0). — M. 

S. — A dessertspoonful (8.0) to a tablespoonful (16.0) every four hours. 

In headaches due to uterine trouble the pain is often felt at the top 
of the skull or at the back of the neck near the occiput. The cause 
of this trouble will sometimes be found to be in the cervix uteri, and 
relief under these circumstances can only be obtained when the uterus 
is treated and the bromides administered. 

In convulsions in children and adults, combined with chloral, bro- 
mides are most efficient, and are sometimes of service in incontinence 
of urine due to vesical spasm. In seminal emissions due to a morbid 
excitability of the centres in the spinal cord bromide of potassium is 
one of the best remedies we have, and in satyriasis and nymphomania 
it is of great service. 

In cases where undue irritability of the pharynx and larynx prevents 
examination of these parts, one or two full doses will render an exami- 
nation easy of performance by decreasing the local reflex activity. 
This is a useful point to be remembered in relation to the treatment 
of pharyngeal and laryngeal disease. 

In cases of acute laryngitis full doses of the bromides (60 to 120 
grains [4.0-8.0] a day) are very useful. 

The bromides are found to be of service in the laryngeal crises of 
locomotor ataxia, the explanation of this fact being as follows: The 
adductor centre of the larynx is situated in the brain, and the abduc- 
tor centre in the spinal cord. The first closes the larynx, the second 
opens it, and in health they maintain a patulous tube by their oppo- 
sition. In disease the spinal centre (the abductor or opener) fails, 
and the adductor in the brain being unopposed, produces closure of 
the tube with disastrous results. The bromide, by quieting reflex 
action, as well as depressing the adductor centre in the cerebral cor- 
tex, prevents this accident. 

In whooping cough with much mucous exudation the drug is rarely 
of benefit, and had better not be used. In laryngismus stridulus or 



104 DRUGS. 

any form of spasm depending upon local irritation the local trouble 
must, of course, be removed if possible. In teething the drug may be 
used to decrease reflex irritation and prevent convulsions, and it will 
decrease the night-screaming of children — which is often due to bad 
dreams — to a very extraordinary degree, even if the dose be quite 
small. As a soporific for the insane and in the insomnia of the over- 
worked and that of nervous women the bromide of potassium is of 
great service. It may also be employed with good results in chronic 
alcoholism and morphiomania. In migraine and neuralgia due to eye- 
strain or other nerve-strain, combined with caffeine the bromide is 
almost a specific. The caffeine seems to stimulate the depressed nerve 
up to the normal level, and the bromide to deaden the perception of 
the pain. The following is a most valuable remedy in migraine, and 
even in sick headache. It ought not to be used in bilious headache, 
which will often be made worse by it : 

R. — Antipyrini gf. xxv (1.65). 

Caffeinse citratae gr. x (0.65). 

Potassii bromidi gr. xxv (1.65). — M. 

Ft. in chart No. v. 
S. — One powder as needed. 

In the treatment of dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia, particularly 
in young subjects, the bromides are also of service. (See Dr. Groodell's 
prescription just given.) When the flow is too great at such a period, 
the drug should be begun a week before the expected epoch, and kept 
up in the dose of 5 to 10 grains (0.3-0.65) night and morning. In 
cases where the epochs follow one another too closely the drug should 
be used continuously. After an apparent cure ensues the bromide 
should be used for a few periods to avoid a relapse. For seasickness 
the bromides are the best prophylactics we possess, and should be 
used in the dose of 5 to 10 grains (0.3-0.65) three times a day for 
several days before the patient sails in order to quiet the vomiting 
centre. After sea-sickness begins they should not be given in ordi- 
nary solution, but in an effervescing draught made as follows : 

R.— Acid, citric. 3jj (8.0). 

Aquffi dest f Jiv (128.0).— M. 

Ft. sol. 

R. — Potassii bromidi ^j (4.0). 

Potassii bicarbonatis gj (4.0). 

Aqua? dest f Jiv (128.0).— M. 

Ft. sol. 
S. — A tablespoonful (16.0) of each of these solutions should be added to one another 
and taken during effervescence. 

This prescription will also be found of value in the persistent vom- 
iting of pregnancy and in that following prolonged etherization or 
other states. If the vomiting is excessive, the dose ought to be 
reduced to 2 teaspoonfuls (8.0) of each solution, and be given every 
half-hour until half of each mixture is taken or the patient is relieved. 



BROMIDES. 105 

In cases where this will not act rectal injections of the following will 
be found of value : 

R. — Potassii bromidi gr. xxx (2.0). 

Tinct. opii deodorat gtt. xxx (2.0). 

Aquseamyli : ..... f^vj (192.0).— M. 

S. — To be injected gently into the empty rectum and retained as long as possible. 

This method is the most reliable plan that can be followed. 

Bromide of potassium may be used to prevent the symptoms of 
cincho?iism after the use of quinine and salicylic acid, and it is said to 
prevent the nausea and depression so apt to follow the use of opium. 

Administration. — The dose of bromide of potassium is from 5 to 
120 grains (0.3-8.0) a day. It should be given at long intervals, as 
it is slowly absorbed and very slowly eliminated. The best way to 
order it is in a watery solution with a little syrup. 

Use of Bromides in Poisoning. — Bromides are useful in all convul- 
sive attacks consequent upon the ingestion of poisons, and they may 
be used to allay any nervous symptoms which are of an excited nature, 
to prevent excessive vomiting, to produce sleep, and to quiet delirium. 

Poisoning. — Acute poisoning by the bromides is rare, but if half 
to one ounce is taken they produce a warmth in the epigastrium, 
general feebleness, frontal headache, stupidity, aphasia, and amnesia. 
The pulse-rate falls from 15 to 20 beats ; the pulse is irregular and 
compressible. Recovery takes place, as a rule, unless pulmonary 
oedema sets in. 

Effects of Prolonged Use, or Bromism. — After the drug has been 
used for some time acne appears about the face and extends over the 
entire body ; the breath becomes foetid, the patient dull, expressionless, 
and heavy, remaining buried in sleep during nearly every hour of the 
day. During this time he can be aroused, but at once falls to sleep 
again. The walk becomes weak and feeble, the movements slow and 
painfully prolonged. Taste is lost and hearing is benumbed, while the 
intellectual faculties of the brain are almost blank. Loss of sexual 
power is an early symptom. In other cases evidences of mental aberra- 
tion develop, the patient becoming irritable, morose, and even homi- 
cidal. Sometimes, however, we find melancholia and hallucinations, 
and rarely exalted ideas. In still others a dangerous suffocative bron- 
chitis develops, the patient may become profoundly cachectic, or the con- 
dition may resemble typhoid fever. The acne may be put aside by the 
use of arsenic, and where bromides are used to any extent in women this 
drug should always be given simultaneously to prevent the eruption. 
As Fowler's solution is compatible with the bromide in solution, so it 
is the best form of arsenic to employ. As the acne is due to a torpid 
state of the skin-glands, it is also well in these cases to order the patient 
to wash with warm water and castile soap every night, and afterward to 
dry the face by a good rubbing with a rough towel. Fere has recently 
asserted that the maintenance of intestinal antisepsis by the use of 
naphtol or salol will prevent the development of acne and digestive 
disorder when the bromides are given. 

Contraindications. — The bromides are contraindicated wherever 



106 DRUGS. 

there is general asthenia and feebleness of the nervous system, as, for 
example, in post-typhoidal and post-puerperal insanity. In senile 
softening of the brain they are also harmful. When the mucous 
membrane of the gastro-intestinal tract is irritated, they do harm. 

Bromide of Ammonium. 

(See Ammonium Bromide.) 

Bromide of Calcium. 

Calcium Bromide {Calcii Bromidum, U. S.) was introduced into 
medicine as a nervous sedative and hypnotic, and was thought at one 
time to be an efficient substitute for the bromide of potassium. Its 
action on the nervous system is virtually identical with that of the 
potassium salt, and it has been found to be far less irritant and 
depressant than the latter. For some unknown reason it has never 
won the confidence of the profession, but it may be given with very 
good results in the dose of from 30 to 90 grains (2.0-6.0) a day, or 
even more in cases which are not readily affected by bromides. It is 
employed especially in hysteria and epilepsy and in all the conditions 
in which the other bromide salts are indicated. It is sometimes of 
value combined with the potassium salt, since under such circumstances 
better results are gained than if a single salt is employed. 

Bromide of Gold. 

The Bromide of Gold has been employed in epilepsy by a number 
of clinicians with great success in the dose of from 1 to ^ grain 
(0.015-0.03) three times a day in pills. Physiological studies have 
proved that the drug is a direct sedative to the motor cells in the 
cortex cerebri. 

Bromide of Lithium. 

Bromide of Lithium (Lithii Bromidum, TJ. S.). This salt is much 
weaker than the other salts, and must be given in larger dose. Dr. 
S. Weir Mitchell states that it is of value in epilepsy after the potas- 
sium salt fails. The dose is 30 to 90 grains (2.0-6.0) a day. 

Bromide of Nickel. 

This is a green salt quite irritant to the stomach. The author has 
made an experimental study of the bromide of nickel, and found it> 
practically identical with the bromide of potassium in physiological 
action. It should be given well diluted or in an effervescing draught, 
as it is apt to disorder the stomach if used in concentrated solution. 
The effervescing form of the drug is made by mixing the salt with 
bicarbonate of sodium and tartaric acid, moistening with alcohol, 
passing the moist powder through a sieve, and then drying it in a 
warm closet. 



BROMIDE OB ETHYL— BROMOFORM. 107 



Bromide of Sodium. 

Bromide of Sodium (Soclii Bromidum, U. S. and B. P.). This 
salt is to be used in every instance where bromide of potassium can 
be employed. Its dose is the same, although it is asserted to be a 
little weaker physiologically, grain for grain, than the potassium salt. 
It is far less apt to disorder the stomach, and is not so generally 
depressant as is the bromide of potassium. 

Hydrobromic Acid. 

Hydrobromic Acid is an extremely irritant preparation, but is 
thought to be less apt to cause acne and other untoward effects than 
the other bromides. It is only to be used in the form of the official 
dilute acid (Acidum Hydrobromicum Dilutum, U. S. and B. .P.), and 
to be given in the dose of from 1 drachm to J an ounce (4.0-16.0) 
well diluted with sweetened water. It is highly recommended by 
de Schweinitz and others for headaches due to eye-strain in nervous 
women. 



BROMIDE OP ETHYL. 
(See Ethyl Bromide.) 

BROMIDE OF STRONTIUM. 
(See Strontium.) 

BROMINE. 

Bromine (U. S.) is a dark-red liquid of an excessively pungent 
odor, like that of chlorine, possessing very extraordinary power as a 
caustic when applied to the tissues of the body. It is the most severe 
caustic we possess, and penetrates very deeply. It may be applied in 
hospital gangrene and other large sloughs by means of a glass rod. 
Bromine should be kept in glass-stoppered bottles in a cool place. 

BROMOFORM. 

Bromoform, or Tribromomethane, is a clear, colorless liquid hav- 
ing a peculiar odor and sweet taste. It is readily soluble in alcohol, 
but slightly so in water. Bromoform, which is to be used medicinally, 
should be protected from sunlight and air, and must be free from 
color and from acid. 

Therapeutics. — Although bromoform has been found capable of 
producing anaesthesia when given by inhalation, its employment in 
medicine is practically confined to the treatment of whooping cough, 



108 DRUGS. 

when it is given internally in the dose of 2 to 5 drops (0.1-0.3) three 
times a day for the relief of the spasmodic cough. Bedford has sug- 
gested the following formula for its internal use : 

R— Bromoform. T^xvj (1.0). 

Alcohol f £ij (8.0). 

Glycerin f^xij (48.0). 

Tinct. cardamomi comp. . . . q. s. ad fjij (64.0). — M. 
S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) t. d. in water. 

This prescription should be put up by adding the ingredients in the 
order named. 

Bromoform tends to depress the vasomotor system, but does not 
seem to depress the heart itself. 



BRYONIA, or BRYONY. 

This is a remedy very largely used by irregular physicians, but 
which nevertheless possesses very great power, and often relieves con- 
ditions which are obstinately persistent under other treatment. It is 
the root of Bryonia alba or Bryonia dioica ( IT. $.). The only official 
preparation is the tincture (Tinctura Bryonia?, U. S.). The dose of 
the powdered root as a drastic is 10 to 40 grains (0.6-2.4). 

Physiological Action. — In overdoses bryonia acts as a hydragogue 
cathartic and gastro-intestinal irritant. On serous membranes it 
exercises an irritant influence, and may produce symptoms of menin- 
gitis when given in poisonous doses. In moderate doses bryonia 
may cause some flushing of the face and neck and headache in sus- 
ceptible persons. The drug needs studying from a physiological 
point of view. 

Therapeutics. — Although one of the oldest of remedies, bryonia 
has been given a new impetus by the homoeopaths, who employ it in 
a number of affections. In the treatment of dyspepsia depending 
upon gastric and intestinal atony or the abuse of alcohol or other 
similar causes bryonia often gives relief. Its influence is exerted 
through the irritant effects it produces, for by this means it stimulates 
or spurs the atonic digestive glands to increased activity. For this 
reason it has been found to be particularly useful in children who 
suffer from constipation resulting from insufficient secretion on the 
part of the intestinal glands. When the passages are dry and friable 
and resemble those of a dog in character, bryonia is of great value. 
The drug has been praised as a remedy in the treatment of rheuma- 
tism and in pleurisy, but little is recorded as to its real value in these 
diseases. It is probably always more effective when the febrile stages 
of these affections have passed by. Thus in pleurisy it is useless 
during the acute, forming stage, but prevents the pouring out of effu- 
sions, and if they be already poured out aids in their absorption. 

Administration. — The dose of the tincture of bryonia {Tinctura 
Bryonia?, U. S.) is from 1 to 2 fluidrachms (4.0-8.0) as a laxative, but 
the so-called mother-tincture of the homoeopaths is perhaps the best 
preparation for ordinary use. The proper amount to be used in the 



BUCHU- CACTUS GBANDIFLORUS. 10& 

treatment of a case of dyspepsia is from 5 to 40 drops (0.3-2.4) unless 
the mucous membranes are very torpid, when this quantity may be 
increased. In pleurisy with effusion drastic doses may be needed^ 
but the saline purgatives are safer and more efficacious. 

BUCHU. 

Buchu (Z7. S.) is derived from Barosma betulina, a plant of 
Africa. It contains a volatile oil, which is probably the active prin- 
ciple, and a bitter extractive. It is official, under the name of Buchu 
Folia, in the B. P. 

Therapeutics. — Buchu is used as a diuretic when it is desired to 
affect the mucous membranes of the genito-urinary tract which are 
chronically diseased, and particularly when these parts are below 
their normal tone. It does not increase the urinary flow to any great 
extent, but acts on the genito-urinary passages as a stimulant. It is 
useful in pyelitis, cystitis, and vesical irritation of a chronic type. 
The following prescription is useful: 

Be. — Potassii citratis giv (16.0). 

Spt. chloroformi f ^iij (12.0). 

Tinct. digitalis f£j (4.0). 

Infusi buchu . . q. s. ad f Jfviij (256.0). — M. 

S. — Two tablespoonfuls (32.0) three times a day. 

If the urine is continually highly acid, muddy, laden with salts,, 
and productive of incontinence by reason of the vesical irritation 
which it produces, buchu in the form of the fluid extract, in the dose 
of a teaspoonful (4.0) three times a day, combined with an equal 
amount of sw r eet spirit of nitre, will be of great service. For a child 
the dose of the fluid extract should be about 10 to 30 minims (0.6— 
2.0). If the vesical irritation is acute, buchu is contraindicated. 

Administration. — The fluid extract (Extr actum Buchu Fluidum, 
U. S.) is the only official preparation, and it should be always well 
diluted before it is given, in the dose, to an adult, of 1 drachm (4.0) 
three times a day. The infusion is not official, but is made by add- 
ing 1 ounce (32.0) of the leaves to a pint (500 cc.) of water. The 
dose of this is a tablespoonful (16.0) to two tablespoonfuls (32.0). 
The official B. P. preparations are the infusion (Infusum Buchu), 
dose 1 to 4 fluidounces (32.0-128.0), and the tincture (Tinctura 
Buchu), dose 1 to 2 fluidrachms (4.0-8.0). 



CACTUS GRANDIFLORUS. 

This is a plant of Mexico and the West Indies. There are other 
species possessing medicinal power, but the Cactus grandiflorus is the 
most active. 

The drug is best given in the form of the tincture or the fluid 
extract made from the green plant. 

Physiological Action.— This has been studied by Myers and Boinet 
and Teissier, who have found that the drug causes a distinct increase 
of arterial pressure, but does not slow the pulse, sometimes increasing 



110 DRUGS. 

its rapidity. Myers has also shown that the drug is a stimulant to 
the vasomotor centres and to the motor ganglia of the heart-muscle. 
Cactus grandiflorus also acts as a stimulant rather than a depressant 
to the spinal cord. 

Therapeutics. — Cactus grandiflorus bids fair to prove itself a good 
substitute for digitalis in certain diseases of the circulatory apparatus, 
such as cardiac palpitation and weakness. It has also been found 
very serviceable as a remedy in cardiac failure the result of valvular 
disease, but in all such cases seems to act best when added to some 
more powerful drug, such as digitalis, as it takes the part of an 
adjuvant. Cactus also acts well in some cases of angina pectoris. 

Administration. — The dose of the tincture of cactus is 2 to 8 minims 
(0.1-0.4) and of the fluid extract 2 to 4 minims (0.1-0.2). 

Untoward Effects. — It is claimed that these do not occur, and that 
the drug never produces a cumulative effect. 

CAPPBA. 

Caffeine (Caffeina, TJ. S. and B. P.) is an alkaloid derived from 
the berries of Caffea Arabica, which also contain, upon roasting, an 
empyreumatic oil, caffeol or caffeone. Caffeine is usually employed 
in medicine as caffeine and the citrated caffeine (Caffeina Citrata, 
TJ. S.\ which is soluble in 75 parts of water. 1 Citrated caffeine is 
not regarded by chemists as a chemical compound ; therefore citrate of 
caffeine is an incorrect term. It is soluble in 3 parts of water. If 
more water is added, it is partly precipitated, but when 25 parts are 
added it is redissolved. In the TJ. S. P. and B. P. another official 
preparation of caffeine, the Caffeina Citrata Effervescens, has been 
introduced as an agreeable preparation in cases of headache if com- 
bined with one of the bromides and antipyrin. The dose is from 
1 to 4 drachms. 

Physiological Action. — Nervous System. — On the nervous system 
caffeine acts as a rapidly-acting stimulant, exerting its chief influence 
on the brain and spinal cord. By its cerebral effect it causes increased 
rapidity of thought, and by its influence on the spinal cord it increases 
reflex activity, and for this reason is said to make people "nervous." 
It is important to remember that it has no effect on brain protoplasm 
except to stimulate it, and that ultimately a brain driven along by 
caffeine breaks down by the concentration of its energy for the time 
being in one effort. 

Circulation. — Caffeine has been supposed to increase the pulse- 
rate and blood-pressure by stimulating the heart-muscle, but from 
recent studies in this country and abroad it would seem probable that 
these changes are indirectly produced and due solely to its stimulating 
action on the nervous system. Clinically, it certainly seems to raise 
the blood-pressure in almost every instance where it is used. 

1 Theine, derived from tea, caffeine, the active principle of coffee, and the alkaloid 
of gnarana from South America, are chemically identical. Much of the caffeine of 
commerce is really theine, although it is claimed that pure theine has a very different 
physiological action. 



CAFFEA. Ill 

Kidneys, Tissue-waste, and Elimination. — Caffeine increases 
diuresis by a direct stimulation of the secretory epithelium of the 
kidney, and therefore increases the amount of solids as well as of the 
liquids in the urine. Upon tissue-waste the drug acts as a depressant, 
and' is therefore a conservator of the tissues. It is burnt up in the 
body. 

Respiration. — Caffeine acts as a powerful stimulant to the respira- 
tory centre. 

The empyreumatic oil, of which there is about one-half to one tea- 
spoonful in each well-made breakfast cup of coffee, has no physiological 
effects. It is probably the cause of the "biliousness " sometimes pro- 
duced by the habitual use of coffee, due to the faulty digestion of this 
oil, which is also apt to disorder the digestion if taken alone. 

Therapeutics. — Caffeine is a valuable cardiac stimulant and tonic 
as well as a renal stimulant. It acts equally well in cardiac and renal 
dropsies for this reason, and is an invaluable remedy in such cases. 
In acute renal inflammation it is contraindicated, because all stim- 
ulants are contraindicated in acute inflammations. In opium poison- 
ing, owing to its stimulant effect on the respiratory centre, it is very 
valuable. Under these circumstances it may be given in the form of 
strong black coffee, which will aid in keeping the patient awake and 
also add heat to the body, which is often very cold. A cup of strong 
black coffee is often useful in the treatment of a paroxysm of asthma. 
In headache due to nerve-strain caffeine combined with antipyrin and 
one of the bromides is of the greatest service. (See Neuralgia.) So 
useful is caffeine in cases of cardiac disease that it has largely sup- 
planted digitalis in the hands of some practitioners. 

Coffee is sometimes used to cover the taste of disagreeable medicine. 
In the form of roasted and ground coffee it is employed as an anti- 
septic and deodorant dressing for wounds where the common antiseptics 
are not obtainable. 

Caffeina, U. S. and B. P., cannot be used hypodermically, owing 
to its decomposition in the presence of water. The following solution 
may, however, be used hypodermically : Salicylate of sodium, 30 parts ; 
caffeine, 40 parts ; and distilled water, 60 parts ; or, in other instances, 
the following preparation, recommended by Huchard, may be employed : 
Benzoate of sodium, 45 grains; caffeine, 30 grains; distilled water, 1J 
drachms. This mixture is to be heated, and 10 drops given at a 
dose. 

Untoward Effects. — -Caffeine often produces so much insomnia when 
given in cardiac disease that it has to be discontinued. If its use is 
persisted in, it may produce a condition of delirium closely resembling 
that of alcoholism. The writer has also seen a marked rise of tem- 
perature follow its use in the dose of 2 grains (0.1) three times a day, 
but this is very unusual. In nervous persons coffee may cause in- 
somnia, tremors, palpitation, tinnitus aurium, gastralgia, and ema- 
ciation. 



112 DRUGS. 



CAJUPUT OIL. 

Oil of Cajuput (Oleum Cajuputi, U. S. and B. P.) is a volatile oil 
distilled from Melaleuca Leucodendron, a tree of the Molucca Islands. 
It is a stimulant, and in large amounts an irritant, to mucous mem- 
branes, but acts as an efficient carminative and parasiticide in mod- 
erate amounts. As a remedy for tinea tonsurans and pediculi it should 
be applied pure to the part affected. Cajuput oil is capable of irri- 
tating the skin. In diarrhoea of a serous type it is of value in the 
dose of 10 to 20 drops (0.65-1.20). (See Diarrhoea.) Spiritus Cajuputi 
is official in the B. P. ; dose -J- to 1 fluidrachm (2.0-4.0). 

CALCIUM. 

Calcium is official in a number of forms, and is to be distinctly 
separated in the mind of the student from calx or lime, which is an 
oxide of calcium. It is never employed as calcium, but as one of its 
salts. These are as follows: Bromide of calcium (Calcii Bromidum, 
U.S.); precipitated carbonate of calcium (Calcii Carbonas Prcecipi- 
tatus, U. S. ; Calcii Carbonas Prcecipitata, B. P.); chloride of cal- 
cium (Calcii Chloridum, U. S. and B. P.); hypophosphite of cal- 
cium (Calcii Hypophosphis, U. S. and B. P.); and as precipitated 
phosphate of calcium (Calcii Phosphas Prazcipitatus, U. S. ; Calcii 
Phosphas Prcecipitata, B. P.). Calcium sulphate is not official. 

All salts of calcium are incompatible with acids. 

The precipitated carbonate of calcium is used in the treatment of 
serous diarrhoea as an antacid, and as a local protective in cases of 
chapped skin or intertrigo, particularly in young children. When 
given internally the dose is from 10 to 30 grains (0.65-2.0), but by 
far the best method for its administration is in the employment of 
chalk mixture (Mistura Cretce, U. S. and B. P.), which contains about 
30 grains of the chalk to each ounce (2.0-32.0) of liquid. The dose 
of this mixture is from a teaspoonful (4.0) for a young child to an 
ounce (32.0) for an adult. In the treatment of cases of diarrhoea 
chalk mixture is best given in combination with tincture of kino or 
the compound tincture of catechu and paregoric, in some such form 
as follows: 

R.— Tr. kino fgj (32.0). 

Tr. catechu comp f^ij (8.0). 

Misturse cretse q. s. ad f§vj (192.0). — M. 

S. — A dessertspoonful (8.0) every three hours till diarrhoea ceases. 

It is to be remembered that the chalk mixture acts very slightly 
as an astringent, and chiefly as an antacid and mechanical agent in 
the alimentary canal. 

Precipitated carbonate of calcium is the slowest antacid which we 
possess, and for this reason is the remedy to be employed in acidity 
of the intestines, as it passes through the stomach to a very great 
extent unchanged. (For the varieties of diarrhoea in which it is to 



CALCIUM. 113 

be used see article on Diarrhoea.) As an external application it is 
used in sweating of the feet and hands, and sometimes as a dry dress- 
ing to ulcers. It may also be used over burns. 

Calcium chloride, when taken internally in any amount, acts as an 
intense gastro-intestinal irritant, and may produce death by this means. 
It is to be distinctly separated from the chlorinate or chloride of lime, 
with which it is sometimes confused, for the latter is nothing more 
than hydrate of lime or slaked lime, containing 25 per cent, of chlo- 
rine, while chloride of calcium is a hard, vitreous, friable substance, 
giving off no odor of chlorine and utterly different in its use, action, 
and appearance. 

Chloride of calcium is used in medicine by some physicians in the 
treatment of scrofulous enlargements of glands in the neck and else- 
where, and is even said to cause calcification and encysting of tuber- 
cular nodules. In cases where deficient bone-formation is evident it 
often does good, but the other salts of lime, such as the lactophos- 
phates, are better. In cases where boils, mature slowly a poultice 
made by adding a solution of chloride of calcium to the mass may 
be used to hasten suppuration. The dose internally is 5 to 30 
grains (0.65-2.0), best given in a solution made by adding water 
in the proportion of 1 drachm (4.0) to each 5 grains (0.3) of the 
drug. 

Another use of calcium chloride which is one always worthy of trial 
is its employment in the treatment of itching. It should be given in 
the dose of 20 grains (1.5) three times a day to an adult, and may be 
prescribed as follows : 

R.— Calcii chloridi gij (8.0). 

Tinct. aurantii florum f^vj (20.0). 

Aquae chloroformi . . . . q. s. ad t ^vj (180.0). — M. 
S. — One to 2 tablespoonsfuls (15.-30.) three times a day. 

Smaller doses may be needed if the stomach is irritable. These 
doses usually produce some thirst, and they should be taken about one 
hour after a meal. 

Small doses of calcium chloride have also been used to increase the 
coagulability of the blood in "bleeders," and to prevent attacks of 
urticaria by an influence on the blood-plasma. It should not be given 
longer than four days, as after this time it decreases the coagulability 
of the blood. When used the dose should be 15 to 30 grains (1.0— 
2.0), followed by 5 grains (0.35) every hour till 5 or 6 doses have 
been taken. Unfortunately, it is apt to disorder the stomach. 

The hypophosphite of calcium and the precipitated phosphate of 
calcium are used for the treatment of scrofulosis or strumous states 
and allied conditions, such as rachitis, generally in the form of the 
Syrupus Hypophospliitum , U. S., and the Syriqjus Calcii Lactophos- 
phatis, U. S. and B. P. 

The large amount of phosphate of calcium in the bones and tissues 
renders it a useful drug when the body is starved of its proper pro- 
portions of salts, and its use has been found, in animals, to cause a 
great increase in bony growth, not only in the earthy, but also in the 

8 



114 DEUGS. 

animal, constituents of the osseous tissues. The hypophosphite has 
a similar effect. 

In rickets and in fractures where the bone is slow in uniting, and 
in some cases of phthisis and scrofula, the lactophosphates and hypo- 
phosphites are of service. It is worthy of note that they are of little 
value in tuberculosis after it is really well developed. They do good 
chiefly in the so-called pre-tubercular or beginning stages of the dis- 
ease. In dental caries, particularly that occurring in nursing women, 
and in the anosmia of this class of patients, they are useful. In gen- 
eral debility and nervous prostration they are often of great value, and 
may be even used with benefit in chronic and atonic diseases of the 
skin and mucous membranes. In cases of hepatic torpor they may be 
employed with advantage. 

The lactophosphates are better than the hypophosphites, as the 
latter are probably changed into phosphates in the stomach as soon 
as they enter that viscus. The onty advantage which they possess over 
phosphorus in certain diseases, particularly those of the bony system, 
is that they afford an easy method of administration, and also that 
they contain calcium. The dose of either of these two drugs is 10 to 
30 grains (0.65-2.0) three times a day, or of the syrups just named 
a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful (4.0-15.0). The difference between 
these salts and phosphorus, both in therapeutical effect and physio- 
logical action, is to be clearly borne in mind. The lactophosphates 
and hypophosphites are simply convenient modes of administering 
calcium, potassium, or other substances, while phosphorus acts as a 
stimulant to bone-growth and not by its deposition in the bone. Phos- 
phoric acid does not act any more like phosphorus than does sulphuric 
acid act like sulphur. 

Sulphate of calcium is not to be confounded with sulphide of cal- 
cium, or, to speak more correctly, calx sulphurata. Very often fail- 
ure attends the use of this remedy, because the calx sulphurata has 
undergone oxidation and is calx sulphate. (See Boils and Calx.) 

Chalk. 

Chalk is a native calcium carbonate chiefly obtained from shells. 

Prepared chalk (Greta Prceparata, U. S. and B. P.) is given in the 
dose of 20 to 60 grains (1.3-4.0). Other preparations are compound 
chalk powder (Pulvis Cretae Compositus, U. S.), composed of prepared 
chalk, acacia, and sugar, and given in the dose of 10 to 60 grains 
(0.65-4.0), and troches of chalk (Trochisci Cretan, U. S.). Prepara- 
tions official in the B. P., but not in the U. S. P., are aromatic pow- 
der of chalk (Pulvis Cretoe Aromaticus), dose 10 to 60 grains (0.65- 
4.0), and Pulvis Cretce Aromaticus cum Opio, dose 10 to 60 grains 
(0.65-4.0). 

CALUMBA. 

Oalumba, Columbo, or Columba, is the root of the Jateorrhiza Pal- 
mata. Its taste is bitter and its odor is slightly aromatic. Two alka- 



CALX. 115 

loids are found in it, berberine and columbine, and a third sub- 
stance known as columbic acid. Calumba is one of the purest bit- 
ters known. 

Therapeutics. — Calumba is one of the best simple tonics that can 
be used, owing to its lack of astringent effect and to its favorable 
action on mucous membranes. 

In cases of g astro-intestinal atony, particularly that following 
fevers and similar states, calumba will be found of service, and it is 
a valuable remedy in the convalescent stages of summer complaint 
and serous diarrhoeas. The following prescription of Dr. George B. 
Wood is very useful in these states when they are associated with 
flatulence, although its bulk is disadvantageous and its taste bitter. 

R— Calumbse pulv ^ss (16.0). 

Zingibers pulv 3ss (16.0). 

Sennse fol gj (4.0). 

Aqua? bullientis Oj (500 cc). — M. 

Ft. in infusum. 
S. — A wineglassful t. d. 

Administration. — The fluid extract (Extr actum Calumba? Fluidum, 
TJ. S.) is given in the dose of 15 to 60 minims (1.0-4.0) ; the tincture 
{Tinctura Calumbce, TJ. S. and B. P.), dose 1 to 4 fluidrachms (4.0- 
16.0). The dose of the infusion [Infusum Calumbce, B. P.) is 1 to 2 
fluidounces (32.0-64.0). 

CALX. 

Calx, or Lime, or Oxide of Calcium, is an alkaline earth which is 
incompatible with acids, ammoniacal and metallic bases, borates, alka- 
line carbonates, and astringent vegetable infusions. It is prepared 
by burning pure white marble, oyster-shells, or the purest calcium 
carbonate. 

Therapeutics. — Lime is used for the purpose of acting as an eschar- 
otic, particularly on old ulcers and on hairy growths. It is never 
given internally except in the form of the hydrate or slaked lime. 
As an escharotic application lime is used in the official caustic Potassa 
cum Calce, TJ. S. When given internally it should always be used 
as Liquor Calcis, TJ. S. and B. P., or lime-water, and under these 
circumstances it acts as an antacid, as an aid to the digestion of milk 
by preventing too rapid and solid coagulation of the casein, and by 
exciting an increased gastric secretion. It is also feebly astringent. 
Given to infants and nursing women, it is probably utilized in the 
body in the formation of bone. It is also of value in diabetes, in the 
uric-acid diathesis, and in the excessive nausea and vomiting very 
often seen in adults and children. Teaspoonful doses of milk and 
lime-water, equal parts, will often be retained when nothing else will 
remain m the stomach. 

The dose of lime-water is a teaspoonful (4.0) to 1 ounce or even 2 
ounces (32.0-64.0). Externally applied, lime-water is of value in 
tinea capitis and similar states, and it is the best application in burns, 



116 DRUGS. 

when it is to be mixed with equal parts of linseed or olive oil, form- 
ing the Linimentum Oalcis, U. S. and B. P., or carron oil. As a 
local application in membranous croup and diphtheria lime-water has 
a high reputation, and is believed to dissolve the membrane. It may 
be used as a spray or by means of a swab. 

Liquor Oalcis, or lime-water, is to be made by adding a piece of 
unslaked lime as large as a walnut to 2 quarts of boiled and filtered 
water in an earthen jar ; after stirring it thoroughly allow it to settle, 
and pour off the clear liquid into a bottle. More water may then be 
added to the lime until it is all used. 

Sulphurated lime (Calx Sulphurata, TJ. S. and B. P.) is useful to 
check inflammation and hasten suppuration ; the dose is -^ of a grain 
(0.006). It is of value in acne pustulosa and all forms of suppura- 
tion in the skin. Where sulphurate of lime is not obtainable and 
successive crops of boils constantly appear, it is often possible to 
relieve the patient by baking egg-shells in an oven, powdering them, 
and then letting the patient eat 1 drachm (4.0) or more of the powder 
each day. 

The preparations of the B. P. that are not official in the TJ. S. 
are the saccharated solution of lime (Liquor Calcis Saccharatus), dose 
15 to 60 minims (1.0-4.0), and slaked lime (Calcii Hydras), used in 
different preparations. 

(For Calx Chlorata see Chlorinated Lime.) 



CAMPHOR. 

Camphor (Camphora, TJ. S. and B. P.) is. derived from the Cin- 
namomum Camphora, which grows chiefly in China and Japan. The 
camphor used in the drug-stores is in reality refined camphor, and is 
so obtained by repeated sublimation. It is a volatile, irritant stear- 
opten, producing a burning taste and possessing a peculiar odor, 
soluble in 1000 parts of cold water and in 1 part of strong alcohol. 
Camphor is so volatile that if allowed to remain exposed to the air 
for any length of time it rapidly loses its bulk and eventually disap- 
pears. It is an exceedingly combustible substance, burning with a 
flame and much smoke. It may be white or pinkish in color. 

Physiological Action.— If taken in large amount, camphor pro- 
duces epileptiform convulsions, preceded by vertigo, roaring in the 
ears, and delirium. The pulse soon becomes rapid, feeble, and run- 
ning, and the skin livid, cold, and covered with sweat. Great heat 
and burning may be felt in the belly, and, if the poisoning be slow, 
evidences of gastro-intestinal and renal inflammation ensue. In small 
doses it acts as a stimulant and adds a sensation of warmth to the 
stomach, while the pulse may become more rapid and stronger under 
its influence. At the same time there is a sedation of the nervous 
system and a general feeling of contentment. In large medicinal 
dose camphor is thought by some to act as a sexual stimulant, and by 
others as a sexual sedative. The stimulant effect is probably only 
produced by doses large enough to produce irritation of the genito- 



CAMPHOR. Ill 

urinary tract. The convulsions following poisonous doses are cere- 
bral in origin. The drug, although largely destroyed in the body, is 
eliminated by the kidneys as campho-glycuric acid, and also escapes by 
the breath and the perspiration. 

Therapeutics. — Internal Use. — Camphor is employed for the 
purpose of acting as a nervous sedative and antispasmodic in the treat- 
ment of nervous women and children, and as a carminative in persons 
who suffer from intestinal flatulence. It is of value in nervous dys- 
menorrhea and headache, and is best combined with one of the new 
analgesics, such as antipyrin and acetanilid given in pill form. As 
it is virtually a volatile oil so far as its physiological action is con- 
cerned, it will be found useful in cholera morbus and all forms of 
serous diarrhoea, but rarely in mucous diarrhoea. (See Diarrhoea.) 
In chordee, combined with bromides and similar depressants to the 
spinal cord, camphor is of great service in some cases, particularly 
late in the disease. In adynamic fevers it has been used as a diffus- 
ible stimulant by Graves and others with great success. Camphor is 
a very useful remedy in cases of sudden nervous depression. It may 
be given by the mouth or, if the emergency is a pressing one, by 
hypodermic injection. Under these circumstances it is best given in 
the form of camphorated oil in the strength of 1 part of camphor to 
9 of sweet oil, which last should be perfectly sterile. The dose of 
this solution is 15 minims (1.0). When used in the nervous depres- 
sion of phthisis, Alexander asserts that its continuous injection 
may result in cumulative action and develop the symptoms of mild 
camphor poisoning. In hiccough it is of great service, and in 
cardiac palpitation due to functional irritability it is found to be 
of value. In capillary bronchitis and catarrh of the air-passages it 
will be found useful in old or atonic cases. In chronic nasal 
catarrh spirits of camphor when inhaled from the neck of a vial 
gives off enough of the drug to start up secretion and tone up the 
parts. It is also of value as a mouth-wash in persons who have 
foetid breath. 

Camphor may be inhaled or taken internally in cases of cold in 
the head with great relief and a decided influence in aborting the 
attack. The following formula may be employed : 

1£. — Camphora? gr. ij (0.12). 

Ext. belladonnas fl. tt\jss (0.09). 

Quininse sulph gr. ij (0.12). — M. 

Ft. tabellse No. x. 
S. — One every hour for four or five doses. 

After the attack is in full force this is useless, but used early it will 
decrease the frontal headache and the sneezing and running at the 
nose. In coryza from unknown causes with much lachrymation and 
incessant sneezing, camphor will be found of benefit. It may be snuffed 
up the nostril in a fine powder, or powdered camphor may be put in boil- 
ing water and the fumes inhaled. The spirit may also be inhaled from a 
handkerchief. 



118 DRUGS. 

External Use. — Externally camphor may be used as a stimulant 
to indolent sores and as a useful addition in small amount to the pre- 
cipitated carbonate of calcium as a dusting-power in intertrigo. In 
the form of a liniment camphor is used over inflamed joints from 
sprains or rheumatism, and in myalgia and neuralgia to relieve the 
pain and stiffness. 

Camphorated alcohol, spirit of camphor, is a useful application for 
abortive purposes when used over boils in their early stages, if repeated 
two or three times a day for a few moments at a time. Following these 
applications, the skin should be dried and camphorated oil applied. 
Ringer and Tilt both recommend that Eau de Cologne, saturated with 
camphor, be rubbed into the head in the droivsiness and headache of 
the menopause, and a lotion of equal parts of aqua ammonia and spirit 
of camphor dabbed on the painful or hypersesthesic spots at the top of 
the head, so commonly felt by nervous women at the change of life or 
during menstruation, will be found to give relief. 

Administration. — Camphor is used internally in the form of the 
camphor-water {Aqua Camphorce, U. S. and B. P.), dose J to 2 fluid- 
ounces (16.-64.) ; the spirit of camphor {Spiritus Camphorce, U. S. 
and B. P.), dose J a fluidrachm (2.0), or in the form of the camphor 
itself, in pill, in the dose of 1 to 3 grains (0.05-0.15) in each pill.* 
The best preparation for internal use is the spirit, or the camphor 
itself may be given. 

For external use we have, official, the camphor liniment (Lini- 
mentum Camphorce, U. S. and B. P.) and the soap liniment, or Lini- 
mentum Saponis, U. S. and B. P., which is the mildest of the two. 
Ceratum Oamphora? is also official. A compound tincture of camphor 
(Tinctura Camphorce Composita), composed of opium, benzoic acid, 
camphor, and oil of anise, is official in the B. P., dose 15 minims 
to 1 fluidrachm (1.0-4.0). Linimentum Camphorce Ammoniatum, 
B. P., is composed of camphor, rectified spirit, and stronger 
ammonia. 



CAMPHOR MONOBROMATB. 

Monobromated Camphor {Camphor a monobromata, U. S.) is made 
by heating together in a sealed tube camphor and bromine. It occurs 
in colorless crystals or scales, and has a mild taste resembling camphor. 
It is almost entirely insoluble in water, but is freely soluble in alcohol, 
ether, and chloroform. 

Physiological Action. — Monobromated camphor possesses powers 
partaking of the bromides and of camphor. In the frog it causes loss 
of reflex action, motor palsy and death by respiratory failure, and in 
warm-blooded animals violent convulsions, Cheyne-Stokes respirations, 
muscular tremblings, and weakness- The pulse is at first more rapid 
than normal, then slow and weak, death coming in coma or during 
the convulsions. 

Therapeutics. — Monobromated camphor will generally be found most 
useful for pain when combined with other drugs, particularly in lum- 



CAMPHORIC ACID— CANNABIS INDICA 119 

bago, or the pain due to nervous disturbances. If used in hysterical 
females, it will often produce sleep, and is of value to those who are 
addicted to the alcohol-habit, as it acts as a hypnotic and warms 
the stomach. Like camphor itself, it is a gastric irritant, and 
should not be employed where gastritis exists. It has been used in 
spermatorrhoea with great success, and in delirium tremens has been 
found of benefit in cases where the gastric mucous membrane is 
depressed and the nervous twitchings are troublesome. In whoop- 
ing-cough it may be tried, and it has even been used in chorea, epi- 
lepsy, and petit mat. In the nervous depression and pains of epi- 
demic influenza monobromated camphor has been largely used. (See 
Acetanilid.) 

Administration. — It should never be used hypodermically, as it is 
too irritating, but administered in the dose of 5 grains (0.35) three 
times a day in pill, or in an emulsion made by dissolving it in six 
times its weight of expressed oil of almonds and then forming an 
emulsion with gum arabic and water in the usual manner. 



CAMPHORIC ACID. 

Camphoric Acid is made by the oxidation of camphor through the 
influence of acids, and has been used in the night-siveats of phthisis 
with great success. In a large number of cases suffering from night- 
sweats the author has found this drug to act very favorably indeed 
where other remedies failed. 

It may be resorted to in the dose of from 20 to .30 grains (1.3-2.0), 
taken an hour or two before the sweat is expected. In very obstinate 
cases as much as 60 grains (4.0) should be given, but under these cir- 
cumstances it should be used in two separate doses of 30 grains (2.0) 
each, two hours apart, in order to avoid irritating the stomach. It is 
best given in capsule, as it is insoluble in water. In other instances 
camphoric acid may be given in the following formula : 

R. — Acid, camphoric £iv (16.0). 

Alcohol . . ; fgij (64.0). 

Mucilag. acacise f^iij (96.0). 

Syr. aurantii corticis q. s. ad f^vj (128.0). — M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) to a tablespoonful (16.0) one hour before sweat is expected.. 

It is worthy of note that camphoric acid is possessed of little power 
in cases of bromidrosis in the writer's experience. 



CANNABIS INDICA. 

Indian Hemp [Cannabis Indica, U. S. and B. P.) is the flowering 
tops of the female plant of Cannabis sativa. It is to be distinctly 
separated from the so-called American, American-Indian, or Canada 
hemp, or Apocynum Cannabinum, which is an intense irritant and 
drastic. 



120 DRUGS. 

Physiological Action. — Given in full dose to man, this drug causes 
exhilaration and attacks of incessant laughter arising from the slightest 
cause, the person seeming convulsed with merriment ; in other cases 
the sensations are disagreeable, and even death may seem imminent to 
the deranged mind. Sometimes the sensation of very full breathing 
comes on, and the patient thinks he is about to burst with the inflation 
of his lungs. After this deep sleep appears, lasting for many hours, 
even as much as fourteen or fifteen, without any intervals of wake- 
fulness. If the dose be very large, the respirations are slowed very 
considerably, but no death from the use of cannabis indica by man is 
on record, and enormous amounts have been given to the lower ani- 
mals without causing a lethal effect. 1 Applied to mucous membrane, 
it acts as a very severe irritant, and then as a local anaesthetic, but 
the primary effect is so powerful as to prevent its local application to 
mucous membranes for the relief of pain. 

One of the most constant and pressing symptoms in poisoning in 
man is the marked sensation of prolongation of time, so that minutes 
seem like hours, and, in addition to this, a peculiar separation of the 
mental powers occurs, during which both hemispheres of the brain 
seem to think differently on the same subject. 

Therapeutics. — Cannabis indica is one of the best additions to 
cough mixtures that we possess, as it quiets the tickling in the throat, 
and yet does not constipate or depress the system as does morphine. 
In advanced phthisis it is justifiable to keep the patient constantly in a 
state of quiet comfort by its use. For the relief of pain, particularly that 
depending on nerve-disturbance, hemp is very valuable. Before the intro- 
duction of antipyrin and its congeners tincture of gelsemium and the 
tincture or extract of cannabis indica were our best remedies in the treat- 
ment of migraine. The gelsemium under such circumstances should be 
given in full dose, 20 drops (1.3) of the tincture, and be followed by 
10 to 20 drops (0.65-1.3) of the fluid extract of cannabis indica, it 
being known that the sample about to be used is active. After this 
dose of gelsemium the patient should be carefully watched, lest he 
suffer from an excessive influence of the drug, as such an amount 
may produce great depression in susceptible persons. In true migraine 
with hemianopsia this treatment is often most effectual in aborting 
the attack. The prevention of further attacks is to be attained by 
the use of smaller amounts of the cannabis indica during the inter- 
vals, the gelsemium only being used at the onset of the symptoms. In 
paralysis agitans cannabis indica may be used to quiet the tremors, 
and in spasm of the bladder, due to cystitis or nervousness, it often 
gives great relief. In sexual impotence, not dependent upon organic 
disease, it is said to be of value combined with strychnine or nux 
vomica and ergot. When a patient suffers from sleeplessness which 
is due in part to pain and in part to nervousness, the following pre- 
scription may be given : 

1 The author has injected as much as 5 drachms of a fluid extract, active in the 
dose of 10 minims to man, into the jugular vein of a small dog without producing 
death for many hours. 



CANNABIS INDICA. 121 

Sodiibrcniidi} ™ ^ (4,0) " 

Ext. belladonna fl f^j (4.0). 

Ext. cannabis indicse fl f^j (4.0). 

Syr. lactucarii f^iij (90.0). 

Aquae destillat q. s. ad f^vj (190.0).— M. 

S. — Tablespoonful (16.0), in water, at a dose at night, to be repeated once. Shake 
well before using. 

In headaches at the menopause cannabis inclica is useful, and if the 
headaches are associated with constipation and anaemia, iron and aloes 
should be given simultaneously. Where headaches are due to retinal 
asthenopia a very useful prescription, according to de Schweinitz, is 
as follows : 

R. — Tr. nucis vomicae f^ij (8.0). 

Tr. cannabis indicse f^ij (8.0). — M. 

S. — 15 drops (1.0), in water, twice or thrice a day. 

The following prescription has been found to be very efficient in the 
hands of the author in treating gastralgia and similar forms of pain : 

R.— Tr.capsici f^ij (8.0). 

Tr. cannabis ind. f5ss (16.0). 

Tr. opii deodorati 13J (32.0). 

Spt. chloroformi . . ffj (32.0). 

Spt. lavandul. comp q. s. ad fjiv (128.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every hour until pain is relieved. 

In cases of uterine subinvolution, chronic inflammation, and irrita- 
tion cannabis indica is of great value, and it has been found of service 
in metrorrhagia and nervous and spasmodic dysmenorrhea. Not only 
does it relieve the pain, but it seems . to act favorably upon the mus- 
cular fibres of the uterus. 

In acute and chronic Bright 's disease cannabis indica often allays 
the painful sensations over the renal region, and has been recom- 
mended by some writers in the cases in which bloody urine is present. 
In gonorrhoea it is said to decrease the discharge and prevent chordee, 
and it has supplanted the use of copaiba and cubebs in some practi- 
tioners' hands. It should not be used in the early stages of gonor- 
rhoea, but in the later or subacute stages. There is some foundation 
for the belief that in small doses it acts as a sexual stimulant. 

The advantages possessed by it are that it does not constipate, nor 
does it cause after-depression and nausea. On the contrary, there is 
often an increase rather than a decrease of the appetite under its 
influence. In the Anglo-Saxon race the cannabis-indica habit is 
practically unknown, but in the East Indies when used to excess it 
sometimes causes maniacal insanity, from which the patient nearly 
always recovers after some days, weeks, or months. 

Administration. — The employment of this most valuable remedy is 
handicapped by its frequent lack of power — a fault which is largely 
dependent upon its preparation. The drug as prepared by Parke, 
Davis & Co. has proved efficacious in the author's hands for a number 
of years. The physician should always employ some preparation 
known by him to be active by personal trial before condemning the 
drug as a failure in a given case. 



122 DRUGS. 

The dose of the solid extract {JExtr actum Cannabis Indicw, U. S. 
and B. P.) is from J to J grain (0.015-0.03), that of the fluid extract 
(Extractum Cannabis Indicaz Fluidum, U. S.) from 4 to 20 minims 
(0.3-1.3), and that of the tincture {Tinctura Cannabis Indicaz, U. S. 
and B. P.) from 15 minims to 1 drachm (1.0-4.0). 



CANTHARIS. 

Cantharis (Z7. S. and B. P.), or " Spanish Fly," is really a beetle, 
known as the Cantharis vesicatoria, and as such appears with irides- 
cent coverings or wing-sheaths of a bluish or greenish hue. The 
insects come chiefly from Spain, Italy, and Sicily, and from the south- 
ern parts of Russia. Those from Russia are supposed to be the best. 
According to Leidy, the vesicating substance is in the blood, the eggs, 
and the secretions of the generative apparatus. The blistering sub- 
stance contains cantharidin as an active principle, but cantharidin is 
not medicinally employed. 

Physiological Action. — Locally applied to the skin, cantharides causes 
irritation and finally vesication. The blister produced may be quite large, 
and enough of the drug may be absorbed to cause fever and nervous ex- 
citement. The ingestion of a moderate dose of cantharides produces a 
sensation of warmth in the stomach and slight stimulation of the genito- 
urinary system, particularly the kidneys and urinary tracts. Large 
amounts produce great pain in the lumbar region, burning in the blad- 
der and along the entire urethra, priapism, agonizing vesical tenesmus, 
widespread acute nephritis, bloody urine, which is scanty at first, and 
finally suppressed, with great irritation of the external openings of the 
genito-urinary apparatus. The inflammatory changes which are pro- 
duced may cause sloughing of the penis or of the labia in the female. 

Violent gastro-enteritis is nearly always a pressing condition. A 
diagnostic sign of cantharidal poisoning, when the beetles have been 
swallowed, is the appearance of pieces of the iridescent wing-sheaths 
or coats in the vomit. Thirst is always a prominent symptom of 
poisoning by cantharides. 

Therapeutics. — Cantharides are employed internally and externally. 
When given by the mouth the tincture is used as a uterine stimulant, 
to affect the uterine mucous membrane and relieve amenorrhoea in 
cases where atony and depression are the cause of the suppression. 
Some persons teach that the tincture of cantharides is a valuable 
remedy in small doses in the second stage of acute desquamative 
nephritis, but in the instances where the writer has seen it used it 
has made matters much worse, although it is supposed to decrease the 
quantity of the albumin and blood. In the later stages, where the kid- 
neys are relaxed and torpid or where albuminuria comes on on the 
slightest exertion, cantharides in the dose of 1 drop (0.05) of the tinc- 
ture three times a day are of great service. 

In cases of chronic parenchymatous nephritis, particularly where 
alcoholism is the cause of the disease and the kidneys are inactive, can- 
tharidal tincture is very useful. In pyelitis and in chronic cystitis it is 



CANTHARTS. 123 

of service, and it has been recommended very highly in drop doses in 
irritability of the bladder in women and children. In these cases the 
bladder must not be inflamed, but irritable from depression. The use 
of cantharides is of value in incontinence of urine of a minor degree, 
as that occurring in some elderly or nervous females -when coughing, 
sneezing, or laughing, and will often given relief after many years of 
suffering. In chordee, in the dose of 1 drop (0.05) twice or thrice daily, 
it is sometimes of service. For impotence depending upon sexual excess 
Ringer asserts that the use of 10 to 15 drops (0.65-1.0) of the tincture 
of cantharides, with full doses of the tincture of the chloride of iron 
and nux vomica, will often relieve the patient and enable him to beget 
children. The drug has no true aphrodisiac influence except when 
given in almost toxic dose. In gleet of a very chronic type and in 
prostatorrhoea it is of service. Dermatologists have used cantharides 
internally as a remedy in psoriasis, eczema, lichen, and prurigo, with 
asserted great success. The dose should not be large enough to irritate 
the stomach or kidneys. 

Externally, cantharides are used in the production of blisters for 
the purpose of causing the absorption of effusions or as a counter-irritant 
of some severity in cases of deep-seated inflammations. (See Counter- 
irritation.) Care should be taken that a sufficient amount of the drug is 
not absorbed to cause strangury and renal irritation. In renal con- 
gestions and inflammations the use of cantharides as a counter-irritant 
is often contraindicated because of this danger. Huchard and others 
have reported cases in which, without any previous disease of the 
kidney, a cantharidal blister has produced violent acute nephritis, with 
uraemia therefrom. In the proportion of 1 drop (0.05) of the tincture 
of cantharides to 40 (2.65) of water it is said to be a very good appli- 
cation for burns, but how it acts is not known. 

Administration. — The dose of the tincture {Tinctura Cantharidis, 
U. S. and B. P.) is from 1 to 10 drops (0.05-0.65), and it is the only 
preparation used internally. The cerate [Geratum Cantharidis, U. S.) 
is used, spread upon a rag, to produce a blister, and the cerate of the 
extract, which is no longer official, is used . for the same purposes and 
in the same manner. The cantharidal collodion (Collodium Canthari- 
datum, U. S.) is a method of applying the blister which is most 
cleanly, but there is more danger of absorption of the irritant if it is 
used. The collodion acts as a protective to the part. The papers of 
cantharides {Charta Cantharidis, B. P.) are used as blisters, but are 
weak in action. The liniment of cantharides (Linimentum Canthari- 
dis, Liquor Epispasticus, B. P.) is employed as a counter-irritant. 

"Warming plaster" {Emplastrum Picis Cantharidatum, U. S) is 
a mild counter-irritant to be employed where a blister is thought to 
be too severe. The preparations of the B. P., other than those 
named, are Acetum Cantharidis, Emplastrum Calefaciens, Emplas- 
trum Cantharidis, and Unguentum Cantharidis. 

The unofficial plasters of cantharides made by several firms are 
the best preparations to use for the production of a blister. In order 
to obtain a perfect effect the skin should be washed thoroughly with 
soap and water and dried with a towel, which should be rough enough 



124 DRUGS. 

to produce reddening of the cuticle. After this the skin should be wet 
with vinegar, and while wet the blister is to be applied. 

CAPSICUM. 

Capsicum, TJ. S., Capsici Fructus, B. P., or Cayenne Pepper, is 
the fruit of Capsicum fastigiatum, a native of tropical Africa and 
of Central America. It occurs in long ovoid pods, which, when ripe, 
are scarlet red and possess a very hot, burning taste. The active 
principle is capsicine, which is a dark reddish liquid, or, in other 
words, is a volatile alkaloid. 

Physiological Action. — Locally applied to the skin or mucous 
membranes, capsicum causes great redness, and finally, in the case 
of mucous membranes, vesication. The alkaloid will also produce 
these changes in the skin. When used internally for any length of 
time in excess capsicum will cause a chronic or subacute gastritis 
with pain and discomfort over the liver and stomach. If single large 
doses are used renal irritation and inflammation ensue, with strangury 
and high-colored urine. Taken internally, capsicum is said to act as 
a circulatory stimulant. 

Therapeutics. — In cases of atony of the stomach due to general 
debility, errors in diet, and alcoholism of the chronic type capsicum 
is one of the best remedies we have. When the patient is suffering 
from acute alcoholism the gastric mucous membrane is often too much 
irritated to permit of its use, but after the lapse of some days it may 
be found of benefit for the purpose of increasing the appetite. As a 
remedy for subacute alcoholism it is quite useful, since by its stimu- 
lating effect and hot sensation it often satisfies, at least to some degree, 
the craving for liquor. Under these circumstances it should be used in 
the dose of 5 to 10 drops (0.3-0.65) of the tincture every four or five 
hours, or as the oleoresin in pill in the dose of \ to 1 grain (0.03-0.05). 
The following prescription has been found of great service in these 
cases : 

R.— Tr. capsici f^ijss (10.0). 

Tr. opii deodorat f#j (8.0). 

Spt. sether. nitrosi f^iv (16.0). 

Tr. lavandulse comp. q. s. ad fgiv (128.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every four or five hours. 

In the flatulent colic of old persons and young adults capsicum 
will be found not only to act as a carminative, but also to prevent the 
development of the gas. In low fevers it has been used as a diffusible 
stimulant, but it is of doubtful value. It is rather in the anorexia 
of convalescence that capsicum acts most favorably. In chronic 
nephritis it is of considerable service, and it tends to check albumi- 
nuria, but it is only to be used in the chronic forms and stages of 
renal disease or in the treatment of functional torpidity of the kid- 
ney. The tincture is to be given under these circumstances in the 
dose of 20 drops (1.3) or less, but in some cases which are very 
chronic, as much as 40 drops (2.65) may be used. In sore throat and 
simple toyisillitis the tincture of capsicum and glycerin, half and half, 



CARBOLIC ACID. 125 

are very useful as a local application applied by means of a swab. 
The same preparation may be used as a gargle for relaxed uvula and 
sore throat. 

Capsicum may be used as a gastro-intestinal stimulant to aid in the 
absorption of other drugs. Applied externally, capsicum acts as a 
counter-irritant, producing redness of the skin, but not a blister in the 
ordinary individual. It is one of the best moderate counter-irritants 
which can be used, and it may be employed by saturating blotting- 
paper, time and time again, in the tincture of capsicum, allowing it to 
dry between each dip. This paper should finally be placed when warm 
and wet over the part, and held closely to the skin by a compress. 
Capsicum plaster {Emplastrum Capsici, U. S.) is useful in lumbago 
and rheumatism when placed over the affected muscles, and in headache 
when applied to the nape of the neck. The tincture is sometimes 
painted over chilblains which are unbroken. The following method, 
given by Ringer from Rheims, is very efficacious in this annoying 
affection : 

"Make a strong tincture of capsicum-pods by steeping them for 
several days in a warm place in twice their weight of rectified spirits 
of wine. Dissolve gum arabic in water to about the consistence of 
treacle. Add to this an equal quantity of the tincture, stirring 
together with a small brush or a large camel's-hair pencil until they 
are well incorporated. The mixture will be cloudy and opaque. 
Take sheets of silk or tissue-paper ; give them, with the brush, a coat 
of the mixture ; let them dry, and then give another. Let that dry, 
and if the surface is shining, there is enough of the peppered gum ; 
if not, give a third coat. This paper should be applied in the same 
way as court-plaster to chilblains that are not broken and burns that 
are not blistered, and it will speedily relieve the itching and pain. 
It acts like a charm and effects a rapid cure. The same is true of 
discolored bruises. It likewise allays rheumatic pains in the joints." 
The dose of capsicum is 1 to 2 grains (0.05-0.1) in powder, on 
food or in pill. The dose of the tincture of capsicum (Tinctura Cap- 
sici U. S. and B. P.) is 10 to 30 drops (0.65-2.0), and of the oleo- 
resin (Oleoresina Capsici, U. S.) \ to J grain (0.015-0.03). The 
dose of the fluid extract (Extractum Capsici Fluidum, U. S.) is 1 to 
3 minims (0.05-0.15). The plaster {Emplastrum Capsici) is useful 
for external applications. An ointment ( Unguentum Capsici) is 
official in the B. P. 

CARBOLIC ACID. 

Carbolic Acid (Acidum Carbolicum, TJ. S. and B. P.) is also 
known as Phenol, Phenylic Alcohol, and Phenic Acid. Not only is 
it an acid, but in addition it is an alcohol of the peculiar group 
known as the phenols, which are derived from coal-tar by a process 
of distillation. 

Carbolic acid is sold in several grades, No. 1 being the purest. 
Both Nos. 1 and 2 are crystalline, while Nos. 3, 4, and 5 are impure, 
because of the presence of cresylic acid and other foreign substances! 



126 DRUGS. 

Only No. 1 should be ordered when carbolic acid is to be given by 
the mouth. 

It has a peculiar characteristic odor, and varies in color according 
to its method of preparation and purity. It is soluble in 20 per cent, 
of water, but it is liquefied by the addition of 6 per cent, of water. 
Carbolic acid should be kept in dark amber-colored, well-stoppered 
bottles. 

If the crystals be exposed to the air, they undergo liquefaction, 
and in consequence the purest carbolic acid is usually prescribed in 
drop doses rather than in grains. It is soluble in alcohol, ether, chlo- 
roform, glycerin, and most oils. It unites with alkaline bases to form 
salts, carbolates, but these are very readily decomposed even by the 
feeblest acids, such as carbonic acid. 

Physiological Action. — Locally applied to the skin, carbolic acid 
produces at first a burning sensation, accompanied by a diffuse redden- 
ing of the surface. If the solution be strong, the part at once becomes 
temporarily painful, then bleached and numb, so that tactile sensibility 
is destroyed. Applied to mucous membranes, it causes similar changes, 
but to a more marked degree, and may even act as a moderately severe 
caustic of a superficial type. Owing to the local coagulation of albu- 
min produced by it, it cannot penetrate the tissues very deeply. 

Nervous System. — Carbolic acid acts as a depressant and para- 
lyzant to the peripheral sensory nerves when locally applied. Upon the 
higher centres in the brain the acid produces a condition of depression 
and stupor. 

The convulsions which sometimes occur after toxic doses have been 
taken are spinal in origin, as they occur after section of the spinal cord. 
The motor nerves escape almost untouched, as do also the muscles. 

Circulation. — Upon the circulation in the higher animals the drug 
exercises-a distinct depressant influence, stopping the heart in diastole 
in lethal dose, and paralyzing the vasomotor centre even before the car- 
diac muscle is affected. These changes follow only lethal doses. Small 
medicinal doses have no effect of any moment upon the circulation. 

Respiration. — After large doses the breathing becomes more rapid 
and full. These changes, according to Salkowski and others, are due to 
stimulation of the respiratory centres and the peripheral vagi. Lethal 
doses almost invariably kill by failure of respiration due to depression 
of the respiratory centres. 

Temperature. — Carbolic acid acts as a feeble depressant to nor- 
mal bodily temperature even when given in medicinal dose, and also de- 
creases the bodily heat in fever. It lowers fever by diminishing heat- 
production and increasing heat-dissipation. This antipyretic power is 
hardly sufficient to permit of its use in disease for this purpose. 

Kidneys and Elimination. — When carbolic acid is given in over- 
dose the kidneys may become so irritated that total urinary suppression 
may occur. When taken in large quantity it causes the urine to become 
brownish-black. This discoloration is due to an oxidized educt of car- 
bolic acid which is not yet isolated. Carbolic acid is eliminated in the 
urine as a sulphocarbolate of sodium and potassium and as glyco-uronic 
acid and hydrochinon. Part of it is burnt up in the body. 



CARBOLIC ACID. 127 

It is to be distinctly understood that the dark urine of carbolic- 
acid poisoning is not due to the presence of blood or any of its 
educts. 

Poisoning, Prolonged and Acute. — As the changes produced in the 
tissues of the body by acute and chronic poisoning by carbolic acid are 
identical, they may be considered together. 

Carbolic acid is one of the most deadly and rapidly-acting poisons 
known, although this fact does not seem to be generally recognized. If 
a large lethal dose be swallowed by a man, he may drop dead from its 
effects before he can go more than a few feet from the spot where he stood 
when drinking the drug, or he may live a few hours. In cases where 
death has occurred suddenly from taking this acid the direct cause has 
been failure of respiration. If the patient does not die at once, all the 
evidences of gastro-enteritis come on. Violent vomiting and purging 
may ensue, and burning pain in the entire abdomen is a prominent 
symptom. The skin is wet Avith sweat, the face pinched and anxious. 
Collapse, with a thready, imperceptible pulse and extreme dyspnoea, 
may be present. The mouth and lips may not smell of the drug, but 
the mucous membrane will be seen to be corrugated and stained black 
if impure acid has been taken, or be whitish if the pure drug has been 
used. The eschar on the mucous membrane is a peculiar one, and is 
pathognomonic of the poison, having a white centre surrounded by a 
reddened and inflamed zone, the centre sometimes becoming dark brown 
or black. The post-mortem will show these spots in the oesophagus 
and stomach, and even in the intestines. All the internal organs, as 
the brain, kidneys, liver, and spleen, will be found filled with dark 
grumous blood, and on opening the body the strong odor of the acid 
will be perceived. A peculiar croupous exudate is sometimes found 
in the bronchial tubes, and fatty degeneration of a more or less wide- 
spread type often follows carbolic-acid poisoning. Langerhaus has 
noted that in some of these cases evidences of croupous pneumonia 
exist. A very common symptom is hoarseness of the voice, due to 
an effect on the larynx after the drug is absorbed, and not from its 
local influence. 

A large number of cases are on record in which carbolic-acid poi- 
soning has been produced by its absorption from surgical dressings. 
One of the earliest signs of such an accident is the darkened, smolcy 
hue of the urine and a slight nervous unrest or cerebral disturbance. 
Yery often pain in the lumbar region indicates kidney strain and irri- 
tation. The dressings should be, of course, at once removed. 

Treatment of Poisoning. — The chemical antidote to carbolic acid 
is any soluble sulphate, such as Epsom or Glauber salts, which form 
insoluble sulpho-carbolates. As these salts follow the acid into the 
blood-vessels and tissues to unite with it, the mere fact that hours have 
elapsed since the poison has been taken does not invalidate the pro- 
priety of using these sulphates. The further treatment consists in the 
administration of warm mucilaginous drinks, hot applications to the 
extremities, the hypodermic injection of cardiac and respiratory stimu- 
lants, such as digitalis and strychnine, morphine to relieve pain, and 
the use of counter-irritation over the abdomen. Emetics and the 



128 DRUGS. 

stomach-pump should be used if possible, but the former are generally 
useless because of the state of the stomach. 

Therapeutics. — Internally carbolic acid is little used, but, neverthe- 
less, has a very favorable effect in certain states. In nervous vomiting 
or in that due to gastric irritation the drug does good in j- to 2-drop 
(0.03-0.10) doses by depressing the sensory nerves in the stomach. 

In diarrhoea depending upon fermentation from 2 to 4 drops (0.10— 
0.20) of the acid do great good, particularly if combined with 10 to 20 
grains (0.65-1.3) of bismuth administered in powder or capsule. 

In gangrene and tuberculosis of the lung a spray of the acid in water 
in the strength of 5 to 15 drops (0.3-1.0) to the ounce (32.0) may do 
some good, and at least control the cough and relieve the irritation and 
tickling in the throat. 1 Creosote is, however, generally preferred in 
these conditions at the present time. 

Externally the acid is very largely employed as an antiseptic lotion 
and in solutions in which to place instruments while operating. The 
solutions for this purpose should be in the proportion of 1 of acid to 20 
of water. (See Antiseptics.) 

Carbolic acid is rarely used directly over wounds in dressings at 
present unless the dressing be one of carbolized oil. Other drugs have 
supplanted it. The use of the carbolized spray over wounds has been 
found to do more harm than good, and it ought never to be employed. 

In diphtheria, ulcerated sore throat, and even in ordinary stomatitis, 
carbolic acid will be found of value when used in a spray or mouth- 
wash in the proportion of 1 part to 75 parts of water, and in ordi- 
nary sore throat or that due to sepsis in the strength of 1 part to 100 
of water it will be found, when applied on a swab or by a gargle, to 
relieve the pain and inflammation. In the treatment of burns carbolized 
sweet oil in the proportion of 1 drachm (4.0) of the acid to each 6 
ounces (192.0) makes one of the best dressings that can be used. By 
means of the local anaesthesia produced by the acid, minor operations, 
such as eversion of an ingrowing toe-nail or opening a felon, may be 
performed by soaking the part for ten minutes in a solution of 30 parts 
to 100, and applying the pure acid by means of a brush to the line of 
the incision. Carbolic acid may be used as a lotion in the itching of 
jaundice in the proportion of 10 grains (0.65) of the acid to 2 drachms 
8.0) of glycerin and 2 drachms (8.0) of water, or, better still, 4 drachms 
16.0) of sweet oil. In enlarged glands which have not yet gone on to 
suppuration intraglandular injections of carbolic acid by means of a 
hypodermic needle are of value in a large number of cases, the solution 
used being no weaker or stronger than 2 per cent.; 5 to 10 minims 
(0.3-0.15) of this solution is sufficient for each gland. In the treat- 
ment of buboes 10 minims (0.65) of a solution of 8 grains (0.5) to the 
ounce (32.0) may be injected into the swelling, the skin being first 
benumbed by an ether spray. This is a most successful treatment. 
The same treatment may be applied in chronic synovitis and repeated 
every three days, and boils and carbuncles may also be so treated with 
great success if the measure be used early enough to abort the trouble. 

1 The spray must be a very fine one, or it will not carry the drug far enough down 
into the lungs to do any good. 



CARBON. 129 

In the form of an ointment carbolic acid may be used in the strength 
of 10 minims to the ounce (0.65 : 30.0) of simple cerate, particularly in 
cases of subacute eczema where there is a great amount .of weeping and 
itching. 

As a disinfectant carbolic acid ranks among the poorest : 1 to 2 per 
cent, solutions, however, kill most spores and germs. 

Administration. — Carbolic-acid ointment ( Unguentum Acidi Car- 
bolici, U. S. and B. P.) and the glycerite (Glycerita Acidi Carbolici, 
U. S.) are the only official preparations of carbolic acid in the 
U. S. P. In the B. P. the following preparations are official : Acidum 
Carbolicum Liquefactum, given in the dose of 1 to 2 minims 
(0.05-0.10); Glyceritum Acidi Carbolici and Trochisci Acidi Car- 
bolici. 



CARBON (CHARCOAL). 

Carbo Ligni, U. S. and B. P., or Charcoal, is prepared by the 
exposure of soft wood to a red heat, air being prevented from coming 
in contact with the wood during the process. Charcoal when used 
for medicinal purposes should be a black, brittle, somewhat shiny, 
porous substance, devoid of taste and odor, and completely insoluble 
in water. 

Therapeutics. — Charcoal is used externally as an application to old 
sores or sloughs to act as a deodorant and antiseptic. This it accom- 
plishes by the absorption of any liquids which may be present, 
thereby depriving germs of a nidus, and by its distinct oxidizing 
power. It may be applied in the form of a dry powder or in a poul- 
tice, which is, however, so uncleanly that other antiseptic dressings 
are better. 

The poultice (Oataplasma Carbonis), if used, should be made 
in the following manner: Take of powdered wood-charcoal ^ ounce 
(16.0), bread-crumbs 2 ounces (64.0), linseed meal 1J ounces (48.0), 
and add boiling water 10 fluidounces (320.0). Macerate the bread- 
crumbs and meal for ten minutes over a fire, and then stir in 
the charcoal to the extent of half the amount just named. Spread 
out the poultice and sprinkle the remaining half of the charcoal over 
its surface, and apply to the part affected while hot. 

Internally, charcoal is used in powder in many conditions, and 
acts very well indeed in cases of so-called " sour stomach" from 
which eructations of gas or sour liquids take place. 

The following prescription will also be found useful in the atonic 
or subacute gastric catarrh of persons who are careless in eating and 
who have much belching : 

R. — Oleoresin. capsici ....... gtt. x vel xx (0.65-1.3). 

Pancreatin gr. xx (1.3). 

Pulv. zingiberis gr. xl (2.65). 

Pulv. carbon, ligni gr. xl (2.65). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One or two t. d. 

As ordinary charcoal is not always obtainable, it may be substi- 

9 



130 DRUGS. 

tuted by pieces of very thin toast burnt through and through till they 
resemble charcoal. A few of these pieces will, when eaten, often 
stop all the symptoms mentioned. If the attack is very severe and 
vomiting eventually ensues, the ejecta will commonly be found to be 
odorless and not sour, and the stools will also be almost odorless, though 
black. In fermentative and acid diarrhoeas in children and adults 
this method of treatment is often of value. When charcoal is used 
in any condition associated with irritation of the mucous membranes 
of the gastro-intestinal tract, it should always be very finely pul- 
verized. 

As a filter for impure water, charcoal, in mass or in powder, is one 
of the most satisfactory substances we have. 



CARDAMOM. 

Cardamom (Cardamomum, U. S.) is the fruit of Elettaria Re- 
pens, and is a bitter tonic possessing some aromatic properties, It 
is useful in cases of atony of the stomach and small intestine, par- 
ticularly if combined with a mineral acid or some other bitter tonic, 
such as gentian. Cardamom is official in the B. P. as Cardamomi 
Semina. 

If the intestine is atonic and secretion is deficient, the following 
prescription will be found of value : 

R .—Acid, nitric, dil f £j (4.0). 

Tr. cardamomi comp q. s. ad f^vj (192.0). 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) after each meal. 1 

Administration. — The official preparations of cardamoms are the 
tincture of cardamoms (Tinctura Cardamomi, U. S.), dose 1 to 3 
drachms (4.0-12.0) ; and the compound tincture {Tinctura Cardamomi 
Composita, U. S. and B. P.), which is to be given in the same dose 
as the tincture. This tincture also contains cochineal, cinnamon, 
caraway, and glycerin. Cardamom is also a constituent of the 
official aromatic powder (Pubis Aromaticus, U. S.), 



CASCARA SAGRADA. 

Cascara Sagrada is the bark of the Rhamnus Purshiana, U. S., a 
plant growing in California. It is sometimes called California buck- 
thorn, to distinguish it from ordinary buckthorn or Rhamnus Fran- 
gula, which it closely resembles in many ways, and which may be 
used as a substitute for cascara sagrada in some cases. 

Therapeutics. — Cascara sagrada ought never to be used as a purge, 
but only as a laxative. It is by far the best remedy we have when 
employed simply to empty the bowel of faecal matter in cases of con- 

1 While the rule that an acid is incompatible witli a tincture is not recognized in 
this mixture, the quantities of acid and alcohol are so disproportionate that ether in 
any amount is not developed. 



CASSIA FISTULA— CASTOR OIL. 131 

stipation, since it not only performs this function without intestinal 
disturbance, but simultaneously acts as a tonic to the intestine, and 
so prevents the constipation which usually follows the use of all other 
drugs of its class. 

Cascara sagrada is most commonly employed in this country in the 
form of the fluid extract (Fxtractum Rhamni Purshiana? Fluidum, 
U. S., or Fxtractum Cascara? Sagrada? Liquidum, R. P.), in the dose 
of from 10 to 20 drops (0.65-1.3) at night or morning and night. 
If 20 drops (1.3) fail to act, 30 drops (2.0) may be used, but if larger 
doses are required other drugs should be employed as adjuvants, as 
fluidrachm doses of the fluid extract of cascara may produce irritation 
of the bowel, and enteritis or intestinal catarrh. The objection to 
cascara sagrada is its bitter taste, which may be partially overcome by 
the additional use of the Syrupus Aurantii, in the proportion of 1 part 
of the cascara extract to 2 parts of the syrup of orange-peel. The 
R. P. has a preparation, Syrupus Cascarce Sagrada? Aromaticus, which 
is given in the dose of 1 to 4 drachms (4.0-16.0.). 

Some of the preparations of this drug are now made in an almost 
tasteless form, such as " Cascara Cordial," or the non-bitter aromatic 
fluid extract made by a prominent firm in this country. The solid 
extract (Fxtractum Cascara? Sagrada?) is official in the R. P., and 
given in the dose of 2 to 8 grains (0.1-0.5) in pill. 



CASSIA FISTULA. 

Cassia Fistula, U. S., is the fruit of Cassia Fistula, or Purging 
Cassia, as it is sometimes called, and occurs in long, dark-brown pods 
containing a dark pulp in each segment. This pulp is the useful part 
of the drug, and is official in the R. P. as Cassia? Pulpa. Cassia 
fistula ought never to be used alone, as it is too apt to cause pain 
and griping, but it is officially present in the Confection of Senna 
(Confectio Senna?, U. S. and R. P.), and may be given in the dose of 
\ drachm to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0) as a laxative, or as much as \ ounce 
(16.0) may be used if a purgative effect is desired. 



CASTOR OIL. 

Castor Oil {Oleum Ricini, U. S. and R. P.) is a fixed oil derived 
by expression from the beans of Ricinus Communis, a plant of the 
United States and elsewhere, but originally derived from India. It 
contains an acrid substance, ricinoleic acid. 

Physiological Action. — The manner in which castor oil purges is 
somewhat in doubt, but its activity probably depends upon the pres- 
ence of the acid just named and the fact that it is an oil. 

As is well known, oils — such as olive oil, for example — if given in 
considerable quantity, tend to move the bowels, and the ricinoleic acid, 
which is somewhat acrid, stimulates the small and large gut, and so 
develops peristaltic movement. According to some writers, this acid is 



132 DRUGS. 

not set free until the oil is attacked by the pancreatic juice. That this 
acid possesses purgative properties of itself seems proved by the fact 
that the oil will purge when it is rubbed in by the skin, and that nurs- 
ing mothers on taking the oil eliminate the acid in the milk to such an 
extent that the suckling is purged. According to the studies of 
Rutherford and Vignal, the oil has no effect over biliary secretion 
other than that violent purgation indirectly increases the flow, and 
the researches of Hess have shown that the oil acts more rapidly in 
the small than in the large gut, and only produces peristalsis by 
coming in contact with the mucous membrane. 

Therapeutics. — Castor oil is the blandest and most unirritating 
purge we have, with the exception of the sulphate of magnesium, 
which is depletant and much more rapid in its effects. While the Epsom 
salt will act in one half to one hour if the stomach is empty, castor 
oil will generally act in four hours, or perhaps five. 

Castor oil is used whenever irritant materials, such as bad food, 
putrid flesh, or decaying or green vegetables, have been eaten, even 
if the inflammation set up after them is very active. If hard bodies, 
such as broken cherry-stones, have been swallowed, castor oil is a far 
better purge than sulphate of magnesium, as it is more gentle and 
lubricates the gut, thereby preventing scraping and irritation. Where 
mucus has accumulated in the bowel in children, and must be gotten 
rid of before other treatment is resorted to, castor oil should be used. 
Previous to parturition it has been largely used to relieve the bowels 
of faecal matter, and is said by old practitioners to make the labor 
easier than if any other purge is used. It is also employed in the 
constipation following acute diseases and in that occurring in infants 
and children. 

The disadvantages of castor oil lie in its taste, the fact that it is 
oily, that it tends to produce hemorrhoids if used constantly, and 
finally that its_frequent use, or even a single dose, is generally fol- 
lowed by more obstinate constipation than before, so that the dose 
must be rapidly increased in size to be effective. This is one of the 
reasons why it is useful in irritative diarrhoeas, for having swept out 
the mucus and offending matter it checks the movements of the bowels 
afterward. The purgative effect of castor oil is very much increased 
if a little bicarbonate of sodium is given with it. 

Administration. — Castor oil is very much more agreeable to the 
taste if pure than if poorly prepared. It is also true that too great 
purification renders it less active. 

The methods directed for taking castor oil are as various as the 
tastes of individuals. Its odor may be covered by a drop or two of 
the oil of bitter almonds, but emulsions of the oil are not of any ser- 
vice, save to interfere with its efficiency. Some take the oil in the 
foam of beer or porter, others in syrup of sarsaparilla and soda- 
water, and still others in milk or cream. A good way to take it is 
to eat one or two strong so-called cream peppermint drops, or even 
the crystalline peppermint drops, swallow the oil from a spoon which 
is to be placed well back in the mouth, and immediately eat several 
other peppermints. This plan is improved by using the oil in milk 



CATECHU. 133 

or water, so that the liquid carries the oil down into the oesophagus 
without its touching the mucous membranes. It may also be taken 
in highly seasoned beef-tea. Ringer recommends the following : \ 
ounce (16.0) of oil, fresh syrup of acacia 3 drachms (12.0), and dis- 
tilled water 5 drachms (20.0), flavored with a little oil of lemon or 
peppermint. Wood advises that it be mixed with glycerin, equal 
parts, to which is added a drop or two of oil of gaultheria or oil of 
cinnamon. By far the best way of administering it is in soft capsules 
containing from J to 1 drachm (1.0-4.0). Most persons can swallow 
as much as a teaspoonful in capsule, and several capsules containing 
this quantity, or a smaller amount, may be given at once to complete 
the necessary dose. The capsules should be dipped in water in order 
to render them slippery and so more easily swallowed. 

The dose of castor oil for an infant is 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls (4.0- 
8.0), and for an adult \ ounce to 1 ounce (16.0-32.0). 

Owing to the fact that the oil Avill very frequently produce griping, 
a few drops of laudanum should be added to it, or tincture of bella- 
donna may be used. If these cannot be employed, a drop of the oil 
of cinnamon is equally useful for this purpose. 

CATECHU. 

Catechu (U. S.) is derived as an extract from Acacia Catechu. 
The catechu of the U. S. P. is true catechu ; that of the B. P. is in 
reality an extract of gambier, being derived from the leaves and shoots 
of Uncaria Gambier. Catechu depends for its medicinal use upon the 
astringent properties which it possesses. Beyond this power it has 
no particular value. 

It is of a dark-red color, has a somewhat sweetish taste, and is 
insoluble, like most extracts, in water. 

Therapeutics. — Like all the vegetable astringents, catechu is used as 
a remedy for diarrhoea, particularly that of the serous type or that in 
which the stools are of too fluid a consistency. If large amounts of 
mucus in the passages show a catarrhal state of the bowel, the mucus 
should be displaced by a purge of castor oil or sulphate of magnesium 
before the astringent is used. 

Catechu may or may not be combined with opium in cases of diar- 
rhoea, but the following prescription will be found of service in many 
instances : 

For an adult : 

R. — Tinct. catechu composit f.5ij (64.0). 

Tinct. opii camphoratse f^ij (64.0). 

Misturse cretae f^ij (64.0). — M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every four hours till relieved. To be shaken before using. 

In cases of sore throat where the secretion is excessive and the 
inflammation subacute catechu may be used as a gargle. 

In cases of spongy gums catechu is sometimes useful as a mouth- 
wash. If the powdered catechu is used internally, the dose is 20 to 
30 grains (0.1-2.0). The dose of the Compound tincture of Catechu 
(Ttnctura Catechu Composita, U. S.) is 1 to 2 fluidrachms (4.0-8.0). 



134 DRUGS. 

Its only constituent besides the catechu is cinnamon. The Troches 
of Catechu (Trochisci Catechu, U. S. and B. P.) are to be employed 
in sore throat, and are to be held in the mouth. They are not gen- 
erally used. 

The official preparations of the B.P., besides the ones given, are: 
the tincture (Tinctura Catechu), dose 1 to 2 fluidrachms (4.0-8.0); and 
a compound powder (Pulvis Catechu Compositus), composed of catechu, 
kino, and rhatany, the dose of which is 20 to 40 grains (4.0-8.0). 



CAUSTIC POTASH. 

Caustic Potash (Potassa, U. S. ; Potassa Caustica, B. P.) is a hard, 
white solid, which readily deliquesces ; it possesses great caustic power, 
and is used in medicine for the purpose of burning away groivths or 
exuberant ulcers. A piece of the drug should be placed on the skin by 
means of a pair of forceps, when it will at once soften down and burn 
the tissues until it can reach no farther. The surrounding skin should 
be protected by Avax, suet, or oils, and a piece of adhesive plaster 
with a hole for the growth should first be applied to prevent any 
action on the surrounding healthy tissues. The burn produced by 
caustic potash is very painful, and cauterization through its influence 
should not be practised if it can be avoided. When the caustic has 
acted sufficiently, it is to be washed off with vinegar or other dilute 
acid. Vienna paste (Potassa cum Calce, U. S.) is used for the same 
purpose as is caustic potash. 



CAUSTIC SODA. 

Caustic Soda (Soda, U. S. ; Soda Caustica, B. P.) is milder than 
caustic potash, and its action is more readily controlled. It should 
be used in the same way and for the same purposes as is caustic pot- 
ash, and the surrounding skin ought to be protected by adhesive 
plaster and oil or ointment. 

The soda must be kept in well-stoppered bottles made of hard, 
strong glass. The only official preparation of caustic soda in the 
U. S. P. is Liquor Sodce, or solution of soda. 



CERIUM OXALATE. 

Cerium Oxalate (Cerii Oxalas, U. S. and B. P.) is a white granular 
powder, permanent when exposed to the air, odorless and tasteless, 
and insoluble in water and alcohol, but freely so in hydrochloric acid. 

Therapeutics. — It is often used instead of or combined with bismuth 
in the treatment of the vomiting of pregnancy or that due to uterine 
disorders and displacements, and in some cases of gastric acidity. The 
dose is from 2 to 5 grains (0.10-0.3), given in pill form every four or 
five hours. 



CHENOPODIUM— CHIRETA, 135 



CHBNOPODIUM. 



Chenopodium ( U. S.) is the fruit of the Chenopodium ambrosioides, 
or American wormseed. The seeds contain a volatile oil and have a 
distinct and rather disagreeable aromatic odor. These seeds, rubbed 
up into a powder, form with a syrup an electuary which is a most 
efficient remedy against the ascaris lumbricoides, or round-worm, as it 
occurs in children. The dose of the powdered seeds is from 10 to 30 
grains (0.65-2.0). The better way of using chenopodium is in the 
form of the oil {Oleum Chenopodii, U. S.) in the dose of 10 drops 
(0.65) to a child of five years, either on sugar or in an emulsion made 
of gum acacia. If the patient is old enough, capsules may be used. 
The general dietetic measures adopted for the removal of worms should 
be insisted upon before the drug is given. (See article on Worms.) 



CHIMAPHILA. 

Chimaphila (Z7. S.), or Pipsissewa, is the leaves of Chimaphila 
umbellata, an evergreen found in America, Europe, and Asia. 

Therapeutics. — Pipsissewa is a drug employed in atonic renal con- 
ditions, particularly of the functional type, as a stimulating diuretic, 
which will bring into activity the secreting structure of the kidney 
and the mucous membranes of the genito-urinary tract. It is also a 
tonic to the stomach. For this reason it is often placed in mixtures 
given to dropsical patients if debility and anorexia are present. In 
the treatment of ulcers of the skin due to struma it is said to be of 
service, and it probably has some slight alterative power. The drug 
may be used in the form of a decoction, which is not official, in the 
dose of 1 to 3 fluidounces (32.0-100.0), and as the fluid extract 
(Extr actum Chimaphilce Fluidum, U. S.) in the dose of -J- to 1 drachm 
(2.0-4.0). 

CHIRETA. 

Chireta {Chirata, U. S. and B. P.) is the plant Swertia Chirata, 
which is a native of India. It is a bitter tonic, possessing a very 
distinct influence over the liver, and, unlike many' bitter tonics, is 
devoid of tannic acid. For this reason it may be used with prepara- 
tions of iron. Chireta may be given in all cases of indigestion and 
loss of appetite, particularly where the liver is torpid or if any tend- 
ency to constipation is present, although it is not directly laxative. 
When given in powder the dose is 20 grains (1.3); the dose of the 
fluid extract [Extr actum ChiratoB Fluidum, U. S.) is 30 drops to 1 
drachm (2.0-4.0), while that of the tincture (Tincturo? Chiratce, U. S. 
andi?. P.) is 1 to 4 drachms (4.0-16.0). The unofficial solid extract 
may be given in pill in the dose of 2 to 4 grains (0.1-0.2). The dose 
of the infusion (Infusum Chiratce, B. P.) is a wineglassful (32.0). 



136 DRUGS. 



CHLORAL. 



Although the name Chloral is applied to the substance used in 
medicine, chloral proper is never so employed, hydrate of chloral 
(Chloral Hydras, B. P. ; Chloral, U. S.) being the real preparation. 
Chloral hydrate is a white, crystalline body, but is often sold in irreg- 
ular broken masses, which are generally impure. It should be kept 
in tight bottles in a cool, dark place. 

Physiological Action. — When chloral is applied to a mucous mem- 
brane it causes distinct reddening and burning pain^ and finally acute 
inflammation. It is, therefore, a local irritant. Chloral acts in the 
body as chloral, and is not broken up into formic acid and chloro- 
form, as was taught at one time. 

Nervous System. — In medicinal and toxic dose chloral produces 
sleep by quieting the intellectual centres in the brain, at the same 
time depressing the motor tract of the spinal cord and the motor 
nerves. In medicinal amounts it does not decrease sensation, but in 
toxic doses it does. Very often hyperesthesia of the skin results from 
small doses. Reflex action is decreased by its sedative influence on the 
motor portions of the spinal cord. 

Circulation. — A dose of 10 to 20 grains (0.65-1.3) in the adult 
rarely causes any circulatory changes, but larger amounts produce a 
fall of arterial pressure and a slow, feeble, or sometimes a rapid-run- 
ning pulse, due to a direct depression of the heart-muscle, for chloral 
in overdose is a cardiac paralyzant. 

After death from chloral the blood may be found dark and grumous- 
looking, with the corpuscles broken down, but these changes occur 
only after very large doses. 

Respiration. — In moderate amounts no respiratory eifect is felt, 
but in toxic doses the breathing becomes slower and slower and more 
and more shallow, until it stops in death. When death is caused by 
chloral it is due to respiratory failure, with an almost simultaneous 
arrest of the heart. 

Temperature. — Chloral tends to lower bodily heat, and in large 
doses produces a very marked fall of temperature, which does much 
toward causing death. Brunton has found that rabbits will survive 
very large doses of the drug if external heat is supplied to them. 
The fall of temperature is, at least in part, due to the failure of the 
circulation and vascular dilatation. 

Kidneys, Tissue-waste, and Elimination. — Chloral is elim- 
inated by the kidneys in the form of uro-chloralic acid and, if given 
in excess, as chloral. Large amounts irritate these organs, and may 
produce bloody urine, owing to the nephritis which is set up as the 
drug passes through the renal structures. After chloral is ingested 
the urine of a patient will often give Fehling's test for sugar. 

Poisoning. — When a poisonous dose of chloral is taken by man, the 
person soon falls asleep and then sinks into a deep coma. The respira- 
tions become at first slow and labored, then shallow and feeble. The 
pulse, at first perhaps a little slowed, soon becomes rapid, thready, and 



CHLORAL. 137 

shuttle-like, and is finally lost at the wrist. The face is white and livid, 
the forehead and the hands covered with a cold sweat, and the pupils, 
which are at first contracted, soon become widely dilated. Absolute 
muscular relaxation is present, and it is impossible to arouse the 
patient. 

Treatment of Poisoning. — The physician should apply external 
Jieat and use emetics in the early stages, or, if the case is seen too late 
for emetics to act because of systemic depression, he should use the 
stomach-pump. This latter means of removing the drug from the 
stomach is safer and more reliable, because the production of vomit- 
ing may result in efforts which will strain the heart. Strychnine 
should be given in full dose, ^ to -fa of a grain (0.003-0.006) to 
stimulate respiration, or atropine may be used for the same purpose. 
The heart is to be supported by 10-drop (0.65) doses of tincture of 
digitalis, given hypodermically every twenty minutes until some effect 
is noted; and, as the digitalis is rather slow in its action, it may be 
preceded by ether and ammonia or brandy or whiskey. The patient 
must not raise the head to vomit, and the head should be placed on a 
lower level than the heels to aid in maintaining the circulation of blood 
in the vital centres at the base of the brain. 

In chronic poisoning by chloral or in cases in which the patient has 
come to use the drug as a habit the patient suffers from weakness, men- 
tal and physical, with sudden flushings due to vasomotor disorder, from 
palpitation of the heart, and finally from petechial eruptions, bed-sores, 
ulcerations, and sloughs. 

Therapeutics. — Chloral is the purest hypnotic that we have, and 
may therefore be used where simple nervous insomnia is present, but 
not when sleeplessness is due to pain. Under such circumstances it is 
to be employed in the combination of 10 grains (0.65) of chloral with 
^ of a grain (0.01) of morphine, as a much more powerful hypnotic 
effect is produced by the combined action of the two drugs than by 
the use of either one of them alone. 

The following prescription may be used : 

R.— Chloralis . . . gfij vel iv (8.0-16.0). 

Morphime sulphatis gr. ij (0.1). 

Syr. lactucarii (Aubergier) .... ffij (64.0). 

Aquse q. s. ad fjfiij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0), in water, at 10 and at 11 p. m., if necessary. 

In tetanus and strychnine-poisoning chloral is the best remedy we 
have, as it depresses the motor tract of the spinal cord. In such a 
case it should be given in 20-grain (1.3) doses combined with 60 grains 
(4.0) of bromide of potassium. If the convulsion prevents deglutition 
or is brought on by swallowing, these remedies should be used by the 
rectum dissolved in starch-w 7 ater ; and if the spasm expels them from 
the rectum, the patient should be chloroformed long enough to allow the 
injection to be given and absorbed. The same remedies in small doses 
are to be used in infantile convulsions and in infantile colic in the dose 
of J grain to 1 grain (0.03-0.06) of chloral to 2 grains (0.1) of bromide 
of potassium or sodium in a teaspoonful of peppermint-water and syrup. 
In chorea, paralysis agitans, and delirium tremens chloral is of great 



138 DRUGS. 

service, but must be given cautiously in the latter condition, for fear 
it may depress the heart, which is already diseased by alcoholic excess. 
Cases are on record where chloral has caused sudden death from cardiac 
failure in the persons of alcoholics with fatty heart — an accident the 
liability to which is increased by the fact that owing to the addiction of 
the patient to a narcotic drug it requires large doses to produce sleep. 
In urcemic convulsions chloral has been highly extolled, but if any 
acute renal trouble is present, it must not be used, lest it irritate the 
kidneys. In puerperal convulsions not dependent upon nephritis 20 
to 30 grains (1.3-2.0) of the drug may be given, and repeated in one 
or two hours. 

Hiccoughs, nocturnal epilepsy, and ivhooping cough are all indi- 
cations for its use, but in asthma it rarely does good, and if pushed 
is dangerous to the heart. 

Untoward Effects. — Chloral sometimes causes nausea, purging, and 
vomiting by reason of its irritant action. In susceptible persons doses 
of 10 to 15 grains have produced marked redness of the eyes with 
swelling of the conjunctiva. Sometimes the last-named symptoms are 
only produced when an alcoholic beverage is taken simultaneously. 

Administration. — Chloral is best given in syrup of acacia, simple 
syrup, or water. It should be always well diluted. The syrup of 
chloral (Sgrupus Chloralis, B. P.) is given in the dose of 1 fluidrachm 
(4.0). The following prescription is useful in insomnia : 

R .— Chloralis £j vel £ij (4.0-8.0). 

Potassii bromidi gij (8.0). 

Syr. pruni virginianse f %] (32.0). 

Aqu* q. s. ad f ^iij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8,0) at night. 

Sometimes chloral can be well given in junket by adding it to a 
liquid rennet, ^ind then adding the rennet to the milk. (See Junket, 
Part III.) 

The question as to the safe dose of chloral is one largely governed 
by the susceptibility of the patient, but alarming symptoms have fol- 
lowed a dose of 30 grains, and death after from 30 to 45 grains. 
Thirty grains in twenty-four hours is certainly ample in most cases. 

CHLORAL AMIDE. 
Chloralamide is a compound very recently introduced into medi- 
cine, formed by the addition of formamide to anhydrate of chloral, 
and is a colorless crystalline substance, soluble in 9 parts of water 
and 1J parts of alcohol. Its taste is slightly bitter, but not biting, 
and it keeps well in watery solution without decomposition. Its 
physiological action is closely allied to that of chloral, except that it 
is not quite so depressing to the circulation. Upon the nervous sys- 
tem it acts chiefly upon the brain and spinal cord, and produces sleep 
— a result to be expected, since both chloral and formamide are hyp- 
notics. It is said not to irritate the stomach and kidneys, but it 
probably is only less irritant than chloral. 



CHLORALOSE. 139 

Therapeutics. — Chloralamide may be employed in medicine when- 
ever chloral may be used. It is decidedly a nervous sedative, and in 
the wakefulness of nervous insomnia is very useful. Sleep general] 
ensues about thirty to % forty-five minutes after it is taken. According 
to most of the reports published so far, the drug relieves pain as well 
as produces sleep, and is therefore distinct in its actions from chloral. 
In neuralgia it is very useful, and it has been found of value in the 
pains of tabes dorsalis. The dose is 10 to 30 grains (0.65-2.0), which 
may be repeated in three or four hours, although the sleep generally 
lasts five to eight hours. The following formula may be used for its- 
administration : 

R.— Chloralamide ', gr. xl (2.65). 

Acid, hydrochlorici dil gtt. v (0.3). 

Syrupi f^ij (8.0). 

Aquae dest f ^ij (64.0).— M. 

S. — Take in two doses in a little water. 

Very recently, Charteris has claimed very extraordinary results 
in the treatment of seasickness by the use of equal parts of chloral- 
amide and bromide of potassium. He gives it in the dose of 30 grains 
(2.0) with an equal amount of the bromide. It is necessary for the 
patient to take a cholagogue for two days before starting on his voyage, 
and as soon as he gets on board the ship to take the dose named on an 
empty stomach, and at once to go to bed and to sleep. If this is done, 
Charteris claims that the patient will awake feeling bright and well, 
and remain so for the rest of the voyage. This combination under the 
name of " chlorobrom " has been largely used as a hypnotic in the 
treatment of the insomnia due to melancholia and acute mania. 



CHLORALOSE. 

Chloralose is a compound made from anhydrous chloral and glu- 
cose, is soluble in hot water and alcohol, and was introduced into 
medicine as a safe hypnotic and substitute for chloral. Unfortu- 
nately its taste is acrid, and to some persons nauseous, particularly 
if taken in water. 

Physiological Action. — The physiological action is practically iden- 
tical with that of chloral, but much more mild if the researches of 
Mosso are correct. Its dominant effect is on the brain, and full doses 
depress the spinal cord and heart. Poisonous doses may produce 
hsemoglobinuria. 

Therapeutics. — The indications for the drug are functional insom- 
nia, and the beginning dose is 2 to 7 grains (0.1-0.5), but the smaller 
dose should always be tried first, particularly in women. Sleep fol- 
lows its ingestion in about half an hour. 

The best way to administer the drug is to give it in capsules or 
cachets, and to follow it with a glass of water or milk. 

Untoward Effects. — Sometimes chloralose produces diplopia, muscu- 
lar tremors, or constant passing of the hands over the head and face. 
If a habit is induced by its constant use, it is a noteworthy fact that 



140 DRUGS. 

its power to produce sleep is decreased, while the untoward effects are 
more likely to be marked. In nervous and tuberculous patients it 
sometimes causes tetanic or cataleptic symptoms with disturbed intel- 
lection. 

CHLORATE OP POTASSIUM. 

Chlorate of Potassium (Potassii Chloras, U. S. and B. P.) is a 
salt of potassium differing entirely in its physiological action from all 
the other potassium salts, and, with the exception of the cyanide of 
potassium, is certainly the most poisonous. Not only is it, when 
locally applied, an irritant to mucous membranes, but when it is 
absorbed into the blood it causes changes of a serious character in 
this fluid, and produces acute nephritis if given in overdose. 

Caution should be used in handling this drug, as if it comes in 
forcible contact with organic matter an explosion may occur. 

Physiological Action. — It has been thought by some that chlorate 
of potassium gives up a large amount of oxygen to the body, and that 
for this reason it would be of value in cases of slow asphyxia, such 
as result from pneumonia or phthisis. It has even been recommended 
to persons crossing high mountains where the rarity of the air pro- 
duced disagreeable effects; but nothing is more absurd than the 
belief that it gives up oxygen to the body. Chlorate of potassium 
does give off oxygen when treated with very high heat, but not at 
the temperature of the body. Nearly all of it escapes from the body 
unchanged. 

When overdoses of the chlorate are taken, it produces sickness of 
the stomach, headache, pain in the loins and belly, dyspnoea, cyano- 
sis, heart-failure, and great weakness. The blood is dark and of a 
chocolate color, this change being due to the production of methaemo- 
globin. The blood-corpuscles are crenated and broken down, and the 
liver, kidneys, and spleen are found, after death, softened and filled 
with broken-down and disorganized blood. 

Therapeutics. — Chlorate of potassium is useful in stomatitis and in 
mercurial sore mouth as a mouth-wash, or, given internally, in the 
following mixture : 

R .— Potassii chlorat gr. xlviij (3.0). 

Tr. myrrh f gas (2.0). 

Elixir calisayse q. s. ad f ^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every five hours, or use as a mouth-wash. 

Owing to the fact that the drug is eliminated by the saliva to a 
great extent, the mucous membranes affected by stomatitis are con- 
stantly bathed by a solution of the chlorate when it is taken by the 
stomach. If any irritation of the stomach or kidneys exist the medi- 
cament must be used on a swab and none of it SAvallowed. 

In diphtheria chlorate of potassium is very commonly employed, 
but its use is exceedingly dangerous. Death in many cases of diph- 
theria is due to the renal irritation present, or, in other words, to an 
acute nephritis, and this drug simply increases the inflammatory pro- 



CHLORINATED LIME. 141 

cess. If the chlorate of potassium is employed in diphtheria it 
should be used in solution and applied by means of a swab. (See 
Diphtheria.) 

In anginose sore throat chlorate of potassium is a useful gargle, 
and Wood recommends the use of a solution made by adding 1 ounce 
(32.0) of sumach-berries, J ounce (16.0) of chlorate of potassium, and 
1 pint (500.0) of boiling water to each other, and allowing them to 
simmer for a few hours, when the mixture should be strained, cooled,, 
and used as a gargle. 

The following is equally serviceable : 

R— Potassii chlorat 3J (4.0). 

Ext. rhois glabrae fl '. . f Jss (16.0). 

Aquse dest q. s. ad f Jiij (96.0). — M. 

S. — To be added to an equal quantity of water in a glass and used as a gargle after 
stirring every two hours. 

This prescription makes an abominable-looking pharmaceutical 
preparation, but an exceedingly useful one. 

In acute rectal catarrh with mucous diarrhoea and tenesmus a 
solution of chlorate of potassium in water, 20 grains (1.3) to the 
ounce, injected into the bowel, will often produce a cure after one or 
two injections. Not more than 4 ounces (128.0) should be used, and 
it ought to be retained for twenty minutes. Often it will be well to 
add the saturated watery solution of the chlorate to an equal quantity 
of starch-water, as the latter aids in allaying the local irritation. 
This same method can be used in the treatment of hemorrhoids, and a 
few drops of laudanum, if added to this solution, will be found of great 
service. The troches (Trochisci Potassii Chloratis, U. S. and B. P.) 
are given in the dose of 1 to 6, each lozenge containing 5 grains (0.3). 
They are intended to be dissolved in the mouth to affect the oral 
mucous membrane, but are apt to disorder the stomach by reason of the 
drug being swallowed in the saliva. 



CHLORINATED LIME. 

Chlorinated Lime {Calx Chlorata, U. S. ; Calx Chlorinata, B. P.) 
is the hydrate of lime, containing 35 per cent, of chlorine, provided 
it is of official strength. It is an exceedingly irritant substance 
because of the chlorine which it contains, and is never used inter- 
nally. 

Much of the chlorinated lime sold is useless, containing too little 
or no free chlorine. Good chlorinated lime should be so laden with 
the gas that the face cannot be held near it without the eyes being 
severely irritated. Unless the chlorine is present, the lime is of no 
value, for the employment of chlorinated lime as a disinfectant depends 
upon the action of this gas, the lime being used merely as a vehicle and 
oxidizer, the gas by itself being difficult of application. 

Uses. — As a disinfectant for privies, drains, and sinks chlorinated 
lime is one of the best, if not the best, we possess. A few pounds 
of it may be added every week to the contents of a privy vault with 



142 DRUGS. 

great advantage, and a solution of it may be used in all bed-pans and 
urinals. When the passages of a patient having typhoid fever are to 
be received in a bed-pan, a chlorinated-lime solution should be placed 
in the receptacle beforehand, so that the faecal matter or urine will 
fall at once into a disinfecting fluid. The solution should be of the 
strength of 1 pound to 2 gallons. As it is one of the most powerful 
deodorizers, chlorinated lime should be placed liberally over and about 
decaying animals, and in exhuming corpses sheets wrung out in a solu- 
tion made as directed above will, if wrapped about the body, be found 
of service to destroy the stench. 

Water which has become foetid by stagnation may be rendered 
drinkable by adding 1 to 2 ounces of the chlorinated lime to every 
65 gallons, and standing the solution aside for some hours until pre- 
cipitation and exposure to the air have gone on for some time. 

It should be remembered that chlorine fumes will bleach many dyed 
goods, and therefore they cannot be used on colored fabrics. 

Chlorine gas, in a diluted form, has been used for the treatment of 
aphonia due to cold in cases where the aphonia persists for some 
months. It can be obtained by allowing a few drops of hydrochloric 
&cid to fall upon chloride of lime or chloride of sodium. 

The placing of chlorinated lime in saucers about sinks and closets 
is useless, as the amount of chlorine liberated is very slight as com- 
pared to the volume of air in the room. Where the chlorine is pres- 
ent in a sufficiently concentrated form to kill germs, it will also kill 
the occupant of the chamber. A deodorant effect may be obtained, 
but a bad smell, if it exists, even when overcome by a greater one, 
is not really gotten rid of. The official preparations of the B. P. are 
Liquor Catch Chlorinatm and Vapor Chlori. 

CHLORODYNB. 

Chlorodyne is a preparation used to a very large extent by the 
English for the treatment of serous diarrhoeas or cramps in the stomach. 
Even in England its constitution varies considerably, but the formula 
most commonly used is as follows : 

$. — Morphinse hydrochlor. gr. viij (0.5). 

Aquse dest f gss (2.0). 

Heat together, and as soon as the morphine is dissolved and the liquid cooled, add 

Acid, hydrochlor. dil f£ss (2.0). 

Chloroformi f giss (6.0). 

Tr. cannab. indicse fgj (4.0). 

Acid, hydrocyanic, dil n\,xij (1.0). 

Alcoholis f l$ss (16.0). 

01. menth. piperit ^xij (1.0). 

Oleoresinse capsici .......... TT\j (0.05). — M. 

S. — 5 to 15 drops (0.35-1.0) for an adult, in water, every two hours for three doses. 
More than this quantity is dangerous. 



CHLOROFORM. 

Chloroform was originally discovered by Guthrie (1831) of Sackett's 
Harbor, New York, but first brought into medicinal use (1847) by 



CHLOROFORM. 143 

Simpson of Edinburgh. It is a clear liquid of an exceedingly hot, 
burning, sweetish taste, of a rather agreeable odor, and is very volatile 
in the presence of ordinary air. 

There are two kinds of chloroform — the purified {Chloroformum 
Purificatum, U. S.) and the commercial chloroform (C hloroformum 
Venale). Chloroform should be kept in a dark, cool place. • 

If exposed to the light for any length of time, chloroform develops 
carbonyl chloride, hydrochloric acid, and chlorine, which render it unfit 
for use. If the acid is present it will turn blue litmus red, and if 
chlorine is present it will form a white precipitate with nitrate of silver. 
Such decomposed chloroform may be rectified by shaking the chloro- 
form with slaked lime and filtering till the irritating products are gotten 
rid of. If impure because of improper methods of manufacture, an 
oily odor will be left on the hand after evaporation takes place. We 
find, therefore, that chloroform fit for use should be absolutely trans- 
parent and colorless, neutral to test-paper, non-irritating when inhaled, 
and should evaporate entirely, leaving no residue or smell on a watch- 
glass. It should have a specific gravity of from 1.491 to 1.525, should 
form no precipitate with AgN0 3 , should not become brown when heated 
with caustic potash, and only very faintly brown, if at all, when shaken 
with concentrated H 2 S0 4 . The method of manufacture of Pictet, by 
which the chloroform is purified by crystallization, probably gives us 
the purest article. In this country the chloroform made by Squibb of 
Brooklyn is almost universally employed. 

Chloroform vapor in the presence of gas-flame undergoes certain 
changes Avhich result in the development of noxious and irritating 
fumes, consisting principally of hydrochloric acid and chlorine, which 
produce laryngeal and bronchial irritation. 

Physiological Action. — Locally applied to the skin, chloroform may 
produce some tingling and burning, even if evaporation be not inter- 
fered with. If it be confined under a watch-glass on the skin, it will 
cause a blister and act as a counter-irritant. 

When inhaled, chloroform produces a sensation of warmth in the 
mouth and throat, a feeling of relaxation, and finally unconsciousness. 
The respirations are at first full and deep, but soon become more 
rapid and shallow. The pulse may be somewhat stronger and fuller 
for a short interval, but soon fails in strength and becomes more 
rapid. The irritation produced in the air-passages by its inhalation 
is very slight, and no primary arrest of respiration ensues, as is gen- 
erally seen after ether is first given. The pupils are at first slightly 
dilated, but are contracted during anaesthesia. If the pupils dilate 
during the use of chloroform after the contraction just named, danger 
is imminent and death mag suddenly occur. In some persons the first 
effects of chloroform are violent struggles, and there is danger in try- 
ing to overcome these struggles by pushing the drug very rapidly. 
This struggling is particularly apt to be met with in athletes and 
drunkards. Total muscular relaxation should never be caused by the 
drug. 

Nervous System. — Chloroform first affects the brain, then the 
•sensory part of the spinal cord, then the motor tract of the cord, then 



144 DRUGS. 

the sensory paths of the medulla oblongata, and finally the motor por- 
tion of the medulla, thereby producing death from failure of the vaso- 
motor centre and of the respiratory centre, unless, as rarelv occurs, the 
heart has already succumbed to the drug. On the sensory and motor 
nerves, when locally applied, it acts as an irritant and anaesthetic. Upon 
these nerve-trunks, when taken by inhalation, it has little or no effect. 
Cikculation and Respiration. — The effects of chloroform upon 
these vital functions have been for many years a subject of hot dispute 
between various surgeons and pharmacologists. On the one hand has 
been the school originally led by Syme of Edinburgh, which has asserted 
that death or danger from chloroform lay in failure of the respiration, 
and that this was the function to be watched while chloroform was being 
used ; on the other hand, the so-called London school has asserted that 
death arose from cardiac failure and that the pulse was the thing to be 
watched during the use of chloroform. The number of clinical and 
laboratory researches which have been carried out to determine which 
of these opinions was correct has been very great, both in England and 
in America, but it has only been within the last ten years that the 
greatest and most competent studies have been undertaken, of which 
the best known is the series made through the munificence of His High- 
ness the Nizam of Hyderabad in India, and known as the " Reports of 
the Hyderabad Chloroform Commissions Nos. 1 and 2." The conclu- 
sions of the first commission having been criticised adversely because it 
asserted that the cause of death was respiratory failure, a second com- 
mission was formed, and, under a grant of $5000 from the Nizam, Dr. 
T. Lauder Brunton of London was sent out to direct the second investi- 
gation. Although a teacher of the theory that death from chloroform 
is due to cardiac failure, this gentleman returned to England converted 
to the idea that the cause of most of the fatal accidents under this drug 
is respiratory failure, and the conclusions of Commission No. 2 were 
once more criticised bj numerous clinicians and pharmacologists in 
England and America. About this time H. C. Wood and the author 
published a paper in which they expressed their belief in the powerful 
depressing effects produced by chloroform upon the heart ; and Mac- 
Williams of Glasgow proved by experiment that chloroform without 
doubt causes cardiac dilatation and enfeeblement. Shortly after this 
the author of this article was asked by the government of His High- 
ness the Nizam, through Colonel Edward Lawrie, the Residency Sur- 
geon, to carry out a series of studies l designed if possible to reconcile 
the contradictory results reached by the Hyderabad Commissions and 
other investigators, and simultaneously Gaskell and Shore in Cam- 
bridge University, England, were asked to do likewise. The result 
has been to confirm in every way the results of all previous studies in 
one respect — namely, that the primary action of chloroform on the vital 
functions of circulation and respiration is greatly to depress the vaso- 
motor system, thereby causing an extraordinary fall of blood-pressure. 
Gaskell and Shore, to be sure, assert that anaesthesia can be produced 
by chloroform without causing this fall, but the author has never been 
able to do so. They also believe that the fall is chiefly a result of car- 
x See Therapeutic Gazette, October, 1893. 



CHLOROFORM. 145 

diac failure. With this view the author dissents, because their experi- 
ments upon which these assertions are based were too complex to give 
practical results ; and second, because his own studies and those of others 
show the vasomotor system to be depressed. There is of course some 
cardiac enfeeblement and dilatation, which adds to the fall of pressure. 

As with other discussions in medicine, the truth of the question as 
to whether chloroform causes death by respiratory failure or cardiac fail- 
ure lies, as it were, halfway between the two antagonistic forces ; and, 
further than this, the somewhat startling statement may be made that it 
is not directly due, in the majority of cases, to either of these causes. 
On the contrary, the cause of death from chloroform is usually vaso- 
motor depression, whereby the arterioles allow the blood to pass too 
freely into the great blood-vessel areas which are found in the capillaries 
and veins, and as a result the man is suddenly bled into his own vessels 
as effectually as if into a bowl. When it is remembered that the capil- 
lary network of the body will, with the relaxed veins, hold many times 
the normal quantity of blood, and when it is remembered that we can 
inject salt solutions into the vessels to the extent of several times the 
normal quantity of blood without raising the blood-pressure, it at once 
becomes evident that the complete vascular relaxation caused by chloro- 
form results in failure of all the vital functions, not because the drug 
has paralyzed the heart or respiratory centre, but because these parts 
are deprived of blood by its stagnation in the widely dilated capillaries 
and abdominal veins. Recent studies by Leonard Hill on The Physi- 
ology and Pathology of the Cerebral Circulation showed that this was 
the case, for he asserts that when the blood was no longer flowing to 
the respiratory centres the heart was still beating, because its coronary 
arteries, being lower down, were more easily supplied by the small 
blood-stream received by the heart from the veins. These studies are 
proved by the experiments of myself and my assistant, Dr. Thornton, 1 
by every tracing of the Hyderabad Commissions, and all other tracings 
we have ever seen. We may conclude, therefore, that while chloroform 
without doubt acts as a powerful depressant poison to the respiratory 
centre and the heart in the same manner as it paralyzes all living pro- 
toplasm when applied in excess, that when properly given by inhalation 
it produces a death equivalent to that resulting from hemorrhage, which 
is a failure of the respiration not so much from a direct depression of the 
respiratory centre as from its starvation of blood : and while the tend- 
ency of the drug is to depress and dilate the heart, just as it dilates 
the vessels of which the heart is merely a highly specialized part, the 
failure in the pulse rests upon vasomotor palsy, the patient becoming 
pulseless because the heart has not any blood to pump. 

Let us see what evidence supports this view: First, we have the lab- 
oratory tracings of many independent investigators extending over many 
years and made in all parts of the world, all of which show a fall of 
blood-pressure. Among these may be named Bowditch and Minot of 
Boston, Coats, H. C. Wood, Gaskell and Shore, the Hyderabad Chlo- 
roform Commissions, the studies of Wood and myself in 1889 and 1890, 
and of myself and Thornton in 1892 and 1893. They are confirmed 

1 Therapeutic Gazette, October, 1893. 
10 



146 DBUGS. 

by Hill, who has seen the abdominal vessels engorged with blood under 
chloroform, the medulla almost bloodless, and the heart still pumping 
though respiration had ceased. They are confirmed by my own experi- 
ments, in which I proved that even after the respiration had stopped 
and the carotid was empty, and the dog apparently dead, he could be 
resuscitated by visceral compression and artificial respiration, and by 
inversion, whereby the blood left the dilated abdominal veins for the 
heart and brain. Again, if a needle was inserted through the chest- 
wall, the heart was found to be beating, for the needle moved to and 
fro ; and finally if the chest was opened the heart could still be found 
beating feebly — dilated, it is true, but beating. 

So much for the laboratory evidence. What have we in clinical evi- 
dence ? Equally positive proofs of vasomotor palsy, and none of death 
being purely cardiac or respiratory. For years Chisholm of Baltimore 
and later Howard Kelly and a large number of others have used inver- 
sion with compression of the floating ribs in artificial respiration, which 
has forced the blood into the chest and saved life again and again. For 
years the literature of medicine has teemed with reports of death from 
chloroform while the patient was sitting up or half recumbent, because, 
the blood-paths being dilated, this posture favored anaemia of the vital 
centres. Again, it has been proved that the best vasomotor stimu- 
lant — belladonna or atropine — given before the* chloroform is used 
increases the safety of the patient, and that compression of the limbs 
by bandages does likewise. Finally, Hill has shown that abdominal 
compression also aids resuscitation by sending the blood to the heart. 
On the contrary, saline transfusion, which would seem to be indicated, 
is useless, because the dilated blood-paths will receive all the saline 
for a long time before they will overflow toward the heart, for as 
fast as the fluid flows in they dilate. 

The author therefore thinks that while chloroform in its general 
depressing power depresses all vital functions, it is the question of 
blood-pressure which is most important in the healthy individual, 
although the heart may fail if it be damaged by disease before the 
drug is used. Therefore in the use of chloroform we should always 
keep the head low, precede the use of chloroform by atropine hypo- 
dermically, bandage the limbs if the case is feeble or already blood- 
less, and if necessary place compresses on the belly and apply them 
deeply by pressure if failure of the circulation is developed. 

The primary action of the chloroform is to depress the blood-press- 
ure chiefly by its vasomotor effect, secondly by its cardiac effect, and 
.finally, while the drug does exercise a depressant effect on the respi- 
ratory centre, the failure of this centre is chiefly due to anaemia. As, 
however, an intact respiratory centre means regular breathing, we 
watch this function to determine the dose of chloroform actually 
inhaled, and because any variation in this function, as shown in 
irregular breathing, means that the chloroform is disordering arterial 
tension. Death from chloroform in a healthy organism, then, is 
usually a vasomotor death, for an intact arterial system is as impor- 
tant to vital function as an intact cardiac apparatus. 

Blood. — Upon the blood in the body chloroform has little or no 



CHLOROFORM. 147 

effect when it is inhaled. Shaken with chloroform in a bowl the blood 
becomes scarlet in hue. 

Temperature. — Chloroform when taken by inhalation distinctly 
lowers the bodily temperature, probably by aiding in the dissipation 
of heat and by its action on the nervous mechanism of heat-produc- 
tion. 

Elimination takes place by the lungs and by the kidneys, and 
goes on very rapidly, owing to the great volatility of the drug. 

If large amounts are eliminated by the kidneys, these organs are 
apt to become irritated and inflamed. 

Antiseptic Power. — Chloroform, when it is added to organic fluids, 
prevents all changes which depend upon the growth of micro-organ- 
isms. 

Untoward Effects. — Sometimes during the administration of chlo- 
roform the heart or respiration suddenly ceases, and in some cases this 
change is preceded by a peculiar shade or cloud w T hich passes over the 
face of the patient. Death may come suddenly and without any warn- 
ing. If untoward effects appear, the anaesthetic must be at once with- 
drawn and artificial respiration resorted to. 1 Injections of ether 
and hot brandy should be given beneath the skin, and the poles of a 
battery with a rapidly-interrupted current swept over the body, but not 
held over the phrenic nerve and diaphragm. The patient must be held 
head downward, so that the blood will flow to the brain, as Leonard 
Hill and the author have shown that the chief cause of death is vaso- 
motor relaxation with accumulation of all the blood in the abdominal 
vessels. Bandages should be applied to the limbs and compression by 
a bandage and large compress be exercised on the abdominal contents, 
and active artificial respiration practised for a long period of time as 
the most important measure for the patient's relief. External heat 
should be applied. Atropine, strychnine, and digitalis may be used to 
stimulate the heart and respiration. Of these strychnine is the most 
valuable. (See directions under the article on Ether.) 

Simultaneously w T ith the movements of artificial respiration an 
assistant should grip the tip of the tongue with a pair of forceps 
and draw it out of the mouth and upward from ten to fourteen times 
a minute in order to stimulate the diaphragm. (See Asphyxia.) In a 
certain number of cases patients apparently dead from chloroform have 

1 While few text-books give any specific directions concerning the practical appli- 
cation of the methods which are to be employed in such emergencies, those that do so 
force the physician to a procedure at once dangerous and impractical ; for the direc- 
tions usually given are, to place the positive pole of the battery on the phrenic nerve 
as it crosses the anterior scalene muscle at the root of the neck, the negative pole 
being pressed against the lower margin of the ribs. A rapidly-interrupted current is 
now to be used with the purpose of causing contraction of the diaphragm bv the direct 
action of the electricity upon the nerve. Even theoretically this is a possible source 
of danger, and practically the writer has proved danger to be ever present under such 
treatment. The cardiac inhibitory nerves run so closely to the phrenic fibres, and 
respond so readily to electrical stimulation, that it is hard to imagine how they can 
escape stimulation if a current be used of sufficient strength to excite the phrenic 
nerves near by. By practical experiment the writer has proved that inhibition of 
the heart may not only be possibly brought about by this method, but that it is nearly 
impossible to avoid such an effect if the phrenics are to be reached at all. 



148 DRUGS. 

been resuscitated by repeated compression or massage of the prae- 
cordium. 

The measures adopted for resuscitation should not be stopped for 
at least one hour, as persons have recovered as long as this after an 
accident from chloroform. 

Ostertag has found that very prolonged inhalations of chloroform 
in the lower animals produce widespread fatty degeneration. 

Therapeutics. — The first and most important use of chloroform is 
as an anaesthetic, and at this point we come to a question which has 
been for many years a matter of contention between different sections 
of the medical profession — namely, as to whether its use is dangerous. 
In the Southern and Western parts of the United States chloroform is 
nearly always used, but in the Eastern and Northern portions it is 
rarely employed. Southerners certainly seem to take chloroform 
better than Northerners or those living on the Atlantic coast. It is 
impossible to go into a general discussion of this question here ; suffice it 
to state that even the most enthusiastic supporters of the use of chloro- 
form confess that it is a more dangerous drug than ether if carelessly 
used, and, while the advantages of chloroform are many, this one great 
disadvantage overshadows them all. 1 The advantages are — its more 
agreeable odor and the fact that it does not irritate the air-passages, 
owing to the small amount necessary to cause anaesthesia ; the fact 
that its use is less apt to be followed by nausea and vomiting ; the 
rapidity of its action ; and the small bulk which has to be carried by 
the surgeon. Its disadvantage is — the possibility of its killing the 
patient. 

We come, then, to the all-important questions : 

1. Is chloroform a safe anaesthetic ? 

2. Are we to watch the pulse or respiration during the use of the 
drug, and what are the signs in the respiratory function indicative of 
danger to the patient ? 

3. What is the true cause of death from chloroform ? 

4. Is death from chloroform possible when it is properly admin- 
istered ? 

5. Under what circumstances is the surgeon to use chloroform in 
preference to the less dangerous anaesthetic, ether ? 

6. What is the best way of administering chloroform ? 

To the first question the answer is, Yes for the majority of cases, 
provided it is given by one who is skilled in its use, and not only 
knows how to give it, but how to detect signs of danger. It is not so 
safe as ether at any time, other things being equal, and never safe in 
the hands of a tyro. 

To the second question the answer is, Watch the respiration, 
because as soon as enough chloroform is used to endanger the circula- 
tion the respiration will show some signs of abnormality, either in 
depth, shallowness, or irregularity. In other words, the very effect 
of the drug may be to cause such deep and rapid respirations that an 

1 The mortality based upon many tens of thousands of cases where chloroform has 
been used is about 1 in 2039 (Gurlt). 



CHLOROFORM. 149 

excessive quantity of the drug is taken into the lungs and continues 
to be absorbed even after the inhaler is withdrawn. 

As there is always a fall of blood-pressure under chloroform, it is 
difficult to feel the radial or temporal pulse, and the respiratory cen- 
tre recognizes the degree of arterial depression which its sister vaso- 
motor centre has permitted by finding that its blood-supply is insuf- 
ficient. As respiration fails first, it should be watched first. It is only 
by watching the respiration that we can tell how much chloroform the 
patient is getting. We do not watch this function for danger alone, 
but to tell us of the dose. 

Every one is agreed that the patient taking chloroform should 
have plenty of fresh air, and in India, to all intents and purposes, 
patients are operated on in the open air, at least as compared to the 
closed rooms necessary in America and Europe. This free supply of 
air is important, whether we believe death to be imminent from cardiac 
or respiratory failure ; but this supply of air matters little to the patient 
if he does not breathe freely, nor does the amount of chloroform amount 
to aught if it is not drawn into the ehest. The dose of chloroform is 
not the amount on the inhaler, but the amount taken into the chest, 
and, finally, the amount absorbed by the blood-vessels. The rapidity 
and depth of respiratory movements is, therefore, as Lawric asserts, the 
entire key to the situation. We withdraw chloroform, as Lawrie says, 
whenever respiration becomes disturbed in rhythm or wdien straggling 
disturbs' it, because it is the first indication that the drug's action is 
uncertain, and because there is no telling the dose which is absorbed. 
While watching the respiration will not warn us of a sudden cardiac 
arrest in fatty heart plus chloroform depression, neither will the pulse 
give us such warning ; and we are confident that the statement of the 
Hyderabad Commission, that the respiration should be watched, is 
correct, for we believe, from a long series of observations, that grad- 
ual cardiac failure never occurs without producing respiratory changes 
from the very first. In other words, we do not believe that in a 
healthy heart chloroform can cause serious disorder without, as a 
result of beginning disorder, disturbing respiration ; and, second, 
that in the healthy heart a quantity of chloroform sufficient to disorder 
it will by its direct action disorder the respiration. If, as an extra 
precaution, one assistant watches the pulse while the other watches 
the respiration, very well, for though the respiration is the more 
important function to watch, the man watching the pulse might dis- 
cover an irregularity which the anoesthetizer may not see reproduced 
in the respiratory action ; but as divided attention generally means a 
slighting of both objects in view, Lawrie is right in insisting on the 
pulse being let alone. 

The answer to Question 3 is that death is always due in the healthy 
person to vasomotor failure accompanied by respiratory depression, 
and vascular collapse may be severe enough to cause death, even if 
artificial respiration is used skilfully. Death only occurs in the healthy 
person when chloroform is given in excessive quantities. 

The answer to Question 4 is, Yes. The physician having a case of 
heart disease requiring surgical interference, should always advise the 



150 DRUGS. 

patient of the danger of any anaesthetic, and he should remember, 
whether it is wise to tell the patient or not, that anaesthesia always 
means a step toward death, even in the healthiest of men. In the 
event of a death under chloroform the physician is not to blame if he 
has taken proper preliminary precautions and given the chloroform 
properly. 

To Question 5 Ave have several answers to make : 

1. Chloroform may be used in hot climates (when ether is inap- 
plicable), where a free circulation of air increases the safety of the 
patient. 

2. Chloroform may be used whenever a large number of persons 
are to be rapidly anaesthetized, so that the surgeon may pass on to 
others and save a majority of lives, even if the drug endangers a few, 
as on the battle-field, where only a small bulk of anaesthetics can be 
carried. 

3. Its employment is indicated in cases of Bright's disease requir- 
ing the surgeon's attention, owing to the fact that anaesthesia may be 
obtained with so little chloroform that the kidneys are not irritated, 
whereas ether, because of the large quantities necessarily used, would 
irritate these organs. Quantity for quantity, ether is, of course, the 
less irritant of the two. 

4. In cases of aneurism or great atheroma of the blood-vessels, 
where the shock of an operation without anaesthesia would be a greater 
danger than the use of an anaesthetic, chloroform is to be employed, 
since the greater struggles caused by ether and the stimulating effect 
which it has on the circulation and blood-pressure might cause vas- 
cular rupture. 

5. In children or adults who already have bronchitis, or who are 
known to bear ether badly, or, in other words, have an idiosyncrasy 
to that drug, chloroform may be employed. 

6. Persons who are robust and strong, and who struggle violently; 
are in greater danger from the use of chloroform than the sickly 
and weak, probably because the struggles exhaust the vasomotor sys- 
tem, strain the heart, and tend to dilate its walls. 

Other indications for the use of chloroform in preference to ether 
are brain surgery, where ether is apt to produce meningeal conges- 
tion. In performing tracheotomy, if the case is urgent and the ether 
produces respiratory irritation, chloroform may be used with advantage. 

Chloroform inhalations have been recommended in excessive chorea 
and in 'puerperal convulsions, and are, of course, of great service in the 
reduction of hernia, owing to the muscular relaxation produced. Some- 
times a few whiffs will put a nervous patient to sleep. Parturient women 
seem able to take chloroform with more safety than other women. There 
are four important factors in increasing the safety of chloroform in this 
class of cases : 1st. Less chloroform is given than usual in surgical ope- 
rations; 2d. The pregnancy may produce immunity by reason of the 
slight cardiac hypertrophy produced at this time ; 3d. The absence of 
fright, for the woman welcomes the anaesthetic ; and 4th. The frequently 
recurring pains of labor so stimulate the vasomotor centre that the domi- 
nant action of chloroform — namely, vasomotor depression — is combated. 



CHLOROFORM. 151 

In severe whooping cough a few drops of chloroform may be 
poured on the hand of the attendant and held before the child's face. 
While the child may at first dislike the odor of the drug, the relief 
given soon teaches the patient its value, and he will ask for it when 
he feels the attacks coming on. If the attack is prolonged and violent, 
this may be a dangerous treatment, owing to the strained condition of 
the heart-muscle. 

The question has arisen a number of times whether it is possible to 
chloroform a person who is asleep without his being wakened. This 
has been decided by numerous tests to be possible, particularly if the 
sleep be heavy. 

Chloroform, when taken internally by the mouth, causes a sensa- 
tion of warmth in the stomach and a hot, burning taste about the lips 
and buccal mucous membrane. In overdose it can and has produced 
death when taken in this manner. Although rarely used in internal 
medicine, chloroform in the form of the spirit of chloroform (Spiritus 
Chloroformi, U. S.) or water of chloroform [Aqua Chloroformi, U. S.) 
is useful in cough mixtures, which are given to persons having an irri- 
tative cough, and in cases where, through nervousness or other cause, 
tickling in the throat or bronchial tubes keeps the patient continually 
in a state of unrest. (See Bronchitis.) 

In gastric or intestinal flatulence 1 or 2 drops (0.06-0.10) of pure 
chloroform, or 10 to 20 drops (0.65-1.30) of the spirit of chloroform, 
will often give relief. The following prescription is very useful in 
all forms of abdominal pain and is harmless in ordinary dose : 

R .— Spt. chloroformi f ^ss (16.0). 

Spt. camphoree f.^ij (8.0). 

Spt. lavendul. comp q. s. f^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every twenty minutes for 4 doses. 

In the treatment of serous diarrhoea when combined with astrin- 
gents and opium the spirit of chloroform is most useful, provided that 
the irritating cause is first removed. In renal or hepatic colic a few 
inhalations, not sufficient to disturb consciousness, will not only give 
temporary but sometimes permanent relief. Hypodermic injections 
of 10 to 15 drops (0.65-1.0), reaching down to a painful sciatic nerve, 
have been recommended by Bartholow. Rubbed on the chest in the 
form of chloroform liniment, this drug will sometimes prevent asth- 
matic attacks, but it ought not to be inhaled except most carefully, in 
this disease, because of the strained condition of the right side of the 
heart. In drachm (4.0) doses chloroform has been used as a remedy 
for tape-worm, but ought never to be so employed. 

When placed in liniments of a stimulating character chloroform 
is a very useful application over muscles affected by soreness and 
stiffness, as in lumbago and gout, and these liniments may also be 
used over neuralgic areas for their local anaesthetic effect. 

Administration. — When chloroform is given it should be poured 
drop by drop upon a folded napkin or towel, and the cloth should 
then be held about three to six inches from the mouth and nose, so 
that the vapor may be thoroughly mixed with air in the proportion 



152 DRUGS. 

of 95 per cent, of air to 5 of vapor. The administration must be 
gradual, as "pushing" the anaesthetic is dangerous. 

The safest method of administration is by Lawrie's or Esmarch's 
inhaler, because these provide a free circulation of air and do not 
distract the attention of the anaesthetizer from the respiratory move- 
ment by complicated apparatus. 

The dangers of chloroform seem to be considerably decreased by 
the simultaneous administration of oxygen gas with the anaesthetic 
vapor. (See Oxygen, Important.) 

The author agrees so heartily with Lawrie's personal conclusions 
that he prints them below : 

1. The chloroform should be given on absorbent cotton, stitched 
in an open cone or cap. (A depression made through the opening 
in the inside flannel bag will answer as well.) 

2. To ensure regular breathing, the patient, lying down, with 
everything loose about the neck, heart, and abdomen, should be made 
to blow into the cone, held at a little distance from the face. The 
right distance throughout the inhalation is the nearest which does not 
cause struggling or choking or holding of the breath. Provided no 
choking or holding of the breath occurs, the cap should gradually 
be brought nearer to, and eventually may be held close over, the 
mouth and nose as insensibility deepens. 

3. The administrator's sole object while producing anaesthesia is 
to keep the breathing regular. As long as the breathing is regular 
and the patient is not compelled to gasp in chloroform at an abnormal 
rate, there is absolutely no danger whatever in pushing the anaesthetic 
till full anaesthesia is produced. 

4. Irregularity of the breathing is generally caused by insufficient 
air, which makes the patient struggle or choke or hold his breath. 
There is little or no tendency to either of these untoward events if 
sufficient air is given with the chloroform. If they do occur, the cap 
must be removed, and the patient must be allowed to take a breath 
of fresh air before the administration is proceeded with. 

5. Full anaesthesia is estimated by insensitiveness of the cornea. 
It is also indicated by stertorous breathing or by complete relaxation 
of the muscles. Directly the cornea becomes insensitive or the breath- 
ing becomes stertorous the inhalation should be stopped. The breath- 
ing may become stertorous while the cornea is still sensitive. The 
rule to stop the inhalation should, notwithstanding, be rigidly enforced, 
and it will be found that the cornea always becomes insensitive within 
a few seconds afterward. 

Above all things, it is necessary to remember the fact that a per- 
son having taken chloroform twenty times before does not show he is 
not in danger on taking it the twenty-first time, and it is also to be 
borne in mind that many of the sudden deaths from chloroform have 
occurred during the first inhalation of the drug, before consciousness 
has been lost, and, therefore, when an accident was least expected. 

In operations about the mouth chloroform may be employed by 
passing a soft catheter into the nose and by means of a hand-bulb or 
Junker inhaler introducing chloroform vapor into the post-nasal spaces. 



CHLOROFORM. 153 

Before closing the consideration of the use of chloroform for anaes- 
thetic purposes mention should be made of the so-called anaesthetic 
mixtures. Of these the A. C. E. is the best known. It consists in a 
mixture of 1 part alcohol (sp. gr. .838), 2 parts of chloroform (sp. gr. 
1.497) 1 , and 3 parts ether (sp. gr. .735). Billroth's A. C. E. mixture is 
composed of chloroform 3 parts, and ether and alcohol 1 part each. 
The Vienna mixture consists in 1 part of chloroform and 5 of ether, and 
the so-called methylene mixture is 30 per cent, methylic alcohol and 
70 per cent, chloroform. The object of all these mixtures is evident — 
namely, to get the anaesthetic effect of the ether and chloroform without 
the cardiac and respiratory effects of either, and the alcohol when 
added is to act ajs a stimulant. As the volatility of each ingredient 
varies, the mixture is useless, as the ether evaporates first, and the 
chloroform next, and the alcohol last. The A. C. E. is popular in Eng- 
land, but not so in the United States. 

The rapidity with which any drug, which produces anaesthesia 
by being inhaled, acts is governed in part by its boiling- or most 
rapid evaporation-point. The higher this point the greater is its 
rapidity of action and the more prolonged its effects. Thus we find 
that in the case of chloroform, the evaporation-point of which is 65° 
C, anaesthesia speedily follows its administration in small amounts 
and lasts for some time. Once in the system it is eliminated slowly, 
because the bodily heat is less than its point of most rapid evaporation. 
On the other hand, sulphuric ether boils at 34° C, and for this reason 
acts more slowly and more transiently, because for every breath of 
ether vapor which is inhaled an equal quantity of ether is exhaled ) 
since its evaporation-point is less than that of the body. Schleich has 
found that if chloroform, sulphuric ether, and petroleum ether are 
mixed, they form a fluid the evaporation-point of which varies from 
38° C. to 42° C, according to the proportions of the ingredients. 
By the use of such a fluid for anaesthetic purposes we avoid the over- 
effects of chloroform when used alone and the necessity of using 
excessive amounts of ether, and the patient speedily returns to con- 
sciousness after the inhalation ceases. Further disagreeable after- 
effects are said to be not so common or severe as with a single drug. 
These so-called mixtures of Schleich may be made in three ways: 

No. 1 is composed of: 

Chloroform 45 parts. 

Petroleum ether 15 " 

Sulphuric ether 180 " 

The boiling-point of this mixture is 38° C, and as the lower the 
boiling-point the more transient the anaesthesia, it is to be employed 
in brief operative procedures of about twenty minutes. About 1 ounce, 
or 30 grammes, will be required, given best in an ordinary ether cone, 
made of cardboard and a towel. About three ounces will be needed 
for a period of one hour. If a more prolonged and powerful effect is 
desired, then one of the following mixtures is used, No. 3 being 
naturally more powerful than No. 2, because its boiling-point is 
higher. 



154 DRUGS. 

No. 2: 

Chloroform 45 parts. 

Petroleum ether 15 " 

Sulphuric ether 150 " 

The boiling-point of this mixture is 45° C. 
No. 3: 

Chloroform 30 parts. 

Petroleum ether 15 " 

Sulphuric ether 80 " 

The boiling-point of this mixture is 42° C. 

The petroleum ether has no deleterious effects, and seems to modify 
the effect of the chloroform and dilute the sulphuric ether without 
altering its general influence. It is to be remembered that only 
petroleum ether, which boils at 60° to 65° C, is to be used. The 
ordinary petroleum ether, or benzine, of the drug stores, which boils 
at 55° C., is not suitable. 

Aside from the disagreeable odor of the benzine, these mixtures 
are said to cause less cyanosis, less mucous secretion, and other disa- 
greeable effects than any single anaesthetic known and to be safer 
in every way. They have not so far proved popular in America. 

Local Use and Internal Administration. — The official preparations of 
chloroform are a liniment (Linimentum Chloroformi, U. S. and B. P.); 
a water (Aqua Chloroformi, V. S. and B. P.), dose \ to 2 ounces (15.0— 
60.0) ; a spirit (Spiritus Chloroformi, U. S. and B. P.), the dose of which 
is 20 minims to 1 fluidrachm (1.3-4.0) ; and an emulsion (Emulsum 
Chloroformi, U. S.), composed of chloroform, gum tragacanth, oil of 
almonds, and water, given in the dose of 2 to 4 fluidrachms (8.0— 
15.0). The B. P. recognizes, besides those given, the Tinctura Chlo- 
roformi et Morphines, dose 5 to 10 minims (0.3-0.65). 



CHROMIC ACID. 

Chromic Acid (Acidum Chromicum, U. S. and B. P.) is not a 
true acid, but an anhydride, and occurs in the form of brilliant red 
crystals, which are deliquescent and possess a sour, metallic taste. 
The acid should be kept in glass-stoppered bottles. It should never 
be mixed with sweet spirit of nitre, strong alcohol, or glycerin, or 
any organic matter, as under these circumstances it may explode. 

Therapeutics. — Chromic acid is used solely as a caustic for the 
removal and destruction of growths on the skin or mucous membranes. 
The liquid resulting from its deliquescence on exposure to the air 
may be employed by means of a glass rod if a very severe action is 
needed. The surrounding tissues should always be protected by lard 
or adhesive strips. 

Dr. J. Wm. White has recorded a death from the application of 
this acid to a large number of condylomata about the buttocks and 
vulva. Where the drug has been swallowed the patient should be 
treated for gastro-enteritis, and dilute alkalies and lime-water be used, 
as well as emetics and demulcent drinks. 



CHRYSAROBIN—CIMICIFUGA. 155 

If a superficial action is desired, a solution containing 100 grains 
to the ounce (6.5 : 32.0) of water is sufficient, and for small warts and 
similar growths this solution will be found strong enough. 

Liquor Acidi Chromici, B. P., is composed of 1 part of acid to 3 
of water. 

CHRYSAROBIN. 

Chrysarobin (Chrysarobinum, U. S. and B. P.) is a mixture of 
the proximate principles derived from a powder found in the wood of 
the tree Andira Araroba, which was originally used for medicinal 
purposes in Brazil. In the East Indies it is called " Goa powder." 
Chrysarobin is sometimes misnamed chrysophanic acid, and is a yel- 
low, tasteless powder, soluble in solutions of alkalies, in acids, and 
in ether. 

Therapeutics. — Chrysarobin is given internally in the dose of \ of 
a grain (0.008) in psoriasis and parasitic diseases of the skin, but 
more commonly is employed externally in the form of the official 
ointment ( Unguentum Chrysarobini, U. S. and B. P.), which is too 
strong for direct use, and should be mixed with 4 or 5 parts of ben- 
zoated lard before application to the skin. Even when so diluted 
chrysarobin may cause great swelling and inflammation of the skin, 
with desquamation of the cuticle. Should the surface be broken, it 
may be absorbed and cause vomiting. As the drug stains the skin 
a dark-brown, it ought not to be used on the face, but should this acci- 
dent occur the discoloration may be removed by the application of a 
weak solution of chlorinated lime. In psoriasis the following may be 
employed after the patient has taken a bath to soften the scales : 
R.— Chrysarobini £j (4.0). 

Alcoholis} aa q. s. ut ft. sol. 

Collodii f Jij (64.0).— M. 

S. — Apply to the part affected with a brush. 



CIMICIFUGA. 

Cimicifuga ( U. S.). — This drug is derived from Cimicifuga Race- 
mosa, otherwise known as black cohosh or black snake-root. It con- 
tains a resin and a volatile oil, upon which its medicinal powers are 
supposed to depend. The fluid extract and tincture should always be 
freshly prepared from the fresh crude drug. It is official in the B. P. 
as Cimicifugce RMzoma. 

Physiological Action. — In large closes cimicifuga paralyzes the sen- 
sory side of the spinal cord, and in consequence lowers reflex activity. 
It has no effect on the nerves and muscles. On the circulation the 
drug acts by depressing the heart and vasomotor system. Death is 
due to respiratory arrest. In small dose it is a feeble cardiac stimu- 
lant. In overdose it nearly always produces frontal headache. 

Therapeutics. — Cimicifuga is, after arsenic, the best remedy we 
have for chorea, particularly if the patient is otherwise in good health, 
but it should be used with careful attention to the regularity of the 



156 DRUGS. 

bowels and often be accompanied by iron. It is also indicated where 
there is, in addition to St. Yitus's dance, a rheumatic tendency. In 
chronic bronchitis it is asserted to be of value, and in rheumatism of a 
subacute or chronic type cimicifuga sometimes gives relief. 

Cimicifuga has been highly praised in the treatment of neuralgia, 
particularly of the ovarian type, and in amenorrhoea, subinvolution, 
and tenderness of the womb. To women who state that they cannot 
step off a step without paining or hurting the uterus or ovaries cimi- 
cifuga often gives relief. Some writers assert that it is an efficient 
heart tonic in cases of fatty and irritable heart when digitalis fails. 
There can be no doubt that it is a powerful uterine stimulant, and it 
ought to be used with care during pregnancy for fear of abortion. 
There are, however, some practitioners who commend its use for the 
prevention of this accident. By reason of this power it may be 
employed instead of ergot during labor, and is better in some cases, 
because it produces normal, not tonic contractions. In the treatment 
of headache arising from overstraining of the eyes in study cimicifuga 
is said to do good. 

The drug is official as the extract (JSxtr actum Cimicifugce, JJ. S.), 
dose 1-5 grains (0.05-0.3), the fluid extract (JExtractum Cimicifuga? 
Fluidum, JJ. S., or Extractum Cimicifuga? Liquidum, B. P.), the dose 
of which is 10 to 30 drops (0.65-2.0) or even 1 drachm (4.0), and 
the tincture (Tinctura Cimicifugce, JJ. S. and B. P.), the dose of 
which is 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0.) 

CINCHONA. 

Cinchona, JJ. S., is a name applied to the bark of all the trees 
belonging to the genus Cinchona, provided they contain as much as 
2.5 per cent, of the alkaloid quinine, or 5 per cent, of total alkaloids. 
There are thirty-one species of this genus, but only a comparatively 
small number can be included in the list of those which contain 5 per 
cent, of alkaloid. These are the Cinchona Calisaya, or Cinchona 
flava, which contains the most quinine, the Cinchona Condaminea, 
Cinchona Micrantha, Cinchona Succiruba, or Cinchona Rubra, JJ. S., 
Cinchona Rubra Cortex, B: P., and Cinchona Pitayensis. The first 
is called yellow bark, the second pale bark, the fourth red bark. The 
alkaloids of the quinine series derived from these barks are quinine or 
quinina, quinidine or quinidina, and quinicine, which is an artificial 
alkaloid. Of the cinchonine series we have cinchonine and its sul- 
phate, cinchonidine, and cinchonicine, which last is also an artificial 
alkaloid. Besides these alkaloids we have present kinic and kinovic 
acids and other inert and useless substances. 

As quinine is the most important of the group, and as its physio- 
logical action is virtually identical with the rest, whatever is said 
hereafter in this article refers to quinine, unless it is otherwise stated. 
All the alkaloids of cinchona which have been named are not employed 
as pure alkaloids, but as salts formed by adding sulphuric, hydrochloric, 
or other acid to increase their solubility. 

Physiological Action. — When quinine is taken in overdose it causes 



CINCHONA. 157 

ringing in the ears, dizziness, disorders of taste and smell, disturbance 
of vision in some cases, and fulness in the head. Deafness often comes 
on, and is generally, with the roaring in the ears, the most pressing 
symptom. Headache is not uncommon. (See Untoward Effects.) 

Nervous System. — Upon the cerebrum quinine acts as a stimu- 
lant, and finally as a congestant, if given in excessive dose. If poi- 
sonous doses are used, intense cerebral congestion ensues, and finally 
unconsciousness comes on. On the spinal cord of the lower animals 
the drug first causes a decrease in reflex action by stimulating 
Setschenow's reflex inhibitory centre, and finally by depressing the 
spinal cord and nerves. The latter changes occur only after poison- 
ous doses. 

Circulation. — If quinine, even in small amount, be injected into 
the jugular vein of a dog, so that it goes in concentrated form to the 
heart, cardiac paralysis will result. If this does not occur, the drug 
simply decreases pulse-force, pulse-rate, and arterial pressure. When 
given to man in small medicinal doses by the mouth, the drug acts as a 
general stimulant to the entire body, and so tends to support the circu- 
lation, increasing to a slight degree the pulse-rate and blood-pressure. 
If the dose by the mouth be very large (15 grains), the pulse is 
depressed. Full doses in fever therefore act as vascular sedatives. 

Blood. — The blood after poisonous doses is more coagulable than 
normal, but in medicinal amounts no such effect is produced. The 
effect of quinine on the blood-corpuscles is of great interest. Even in 
full medicinal doses it arrests the diapedesis of the white cells from the 
capillaries by a direct action on these cells, and if the drug be applied 
to the mesentery of a frog the cells already extruded cease their move- 
ment, but the intravascular cells do not. On the other hand, if the 
quinine be given internally in so small a dose that the proportion to 
the blood is 1:20,000, the white cells in the vessels cease to migrate,, 
but the ones in the surrounding tissues do not (Binz, Hare, Dissel- 
horst). This is perhaps the explanation of the effects of quinine in 
acute inflammations, for it arrests inflammatory exudation and allows 
the extruded cells to wander away from the diseased area. It is stated, 
however, that this is not the case with all animals. Binz asserts that 
in the proportion of 1:20,000 quinine diminishes the number of white 
cells. Medicinal amounts increase the number of red blood-corpuscles 
very materially in man. It is said that quinine prevents the oxygen- 
bearing powers of the corpuscles, but this probably does not occur from 
medicinal doses. 

Respiration. — Upon respiration quinine acts as a slight stimulant 
in small doses, but as a marked depressant in poisonous amounts, 
death being most commonly due in animals to failure of respiration if 
it be taken by the stomach in lethal dose. Quinine diminishes gaseous 
interchange in the body, probably by decreasing the affinity of the 
haemoglobin for oxygen (Binz, Bonivitsch, and Rossbach). 

Temperature. — Quinine lowers bodily temperature in health very 
little if at all, and in fevered states its influence is governed by the 
cause of the fever. Thus in malarial fevers quinine is a very powerful 
antipyretic by reason of its peculiar powers over the cause. In fever 



158 DRUGS. 

before crisis quinine is of little service, but in that after crisis it causes 
a rapid fall. Perhaps some of the antipyretic influence is due to the 
fact that it tends to arrest oxidation. 

Absorption. — Quinine is absorbed from the stomach, not from the 
intestine, and it is precipitated by the alkaline juices of the bowel. 
For this reason it should be given in cachets, capsules, or powders 
rather than in compressed tablets. If pills are used, only those which 
have been freshly made should be employed. 

Kidneys, Elimination, and Tissue-waste. — Quinine escapes 
from the body chiefly through the kidneys, although some of it is 
destroyed by oxidation in the liver and tissues. The process of 
excretion of quinine is by no means rapid, so far as the entire quan- 
tity to be eliminated is concerned. While it may in rare instances 
be found in the urine in fifteen minutes from the time it is given, it 
does not disappear from this secretion for about twenty-four hours. 
In the urine it is found as quinine and as dihydroxyl quinine. 

Upon tissue-waste quinine acts as a depressant and decreases the 
elimination of nitrogenous materials. 

Digestive Tract. — Quinine has a bitter taste in as small a pro- 
portion as 1 : 10,000 of water. Upon the stomach quinine acts as a 
tonic and stimulant, but if given too frequently or in large doses it may 
irritate this viscus. Moderate doses are slightly constipating in their 
effects, and very large doses may induce colicky pain. It acts as a 
feeble intestinal antiseptic, but does not inhibit the activity of the 
digestive ferments. 

Poisoning and Untoward Effects. — Severe poisoning from quinine 
very rarely occurs except in persons who have an idiosyncrasy to the 
drug. Recently Roberts has recorded a case in which a woman, aged 
thirty-six years, who took 5 drachms (20 grammes), survived after suf- 
fering from deep coma, shallow breathing, slow pulse, absolute deafness, 
and blindness.^ The loss of sight lasted two weeks, but the retinal 
changes persisted for several months. Death from an overdose of 
quinine is exceedingly rare. The cases in which death has followed 
its use are medical curiosities. Bouchardat has recorded the case of an 
adult male who died as a result of taking from 45 to 65 grains of the 
drug. Whether this was the real cause of death is doubtful. Soullier 
quotes Tarnier and Budin as asserting that enough quinine may be 
eliminated by the milk to produce death in a nursling. This seems 
hardly possible. 

" Untoward effects " is the best term with which to qualify the dis- 
agreeable symptoms which sometimes come on in persons having an 
idiosyncrasy to the drug and who are in reality poisoned by small doses. 
In these cases sudden, complete, but temporary blindness is often met 
with. DeSchweinitz has shown that in dogs quinine produces in toxic 
doses permanent optic atrophy and thrombosis of the central vein of 
the retina. He believes that the drug produces local changes in the 
vessels of the eye (endo- vasculitis). In other instances complete deaf- 
ness asserts itself, due to congestion of the middle ear, while skin 
eruptions, generally of the nature of erythema, are not rarely seen. 
In other instances petechial and vesicular eruptions are developed, and 



CINCHONA. 159 

swelling of the gums with a tendency for them to bleed may appear 
(Schulz). After lethal doses hemorrhage into the middle ear may be 
found, and severe epistaxis may ensue after so small a dose as 4 grains 
(0.2). The buzzing in the ears can generally be put aside by the 
administration of 10 grains (0.65) of bromide of sodium combined 
with a little ergot. Karamitsas has proved that quinine may produce 
hemoglobinuria in persons suffering from malarial poisoning, and ap- 
parently may even develop bilious remittent fever. 1 Irritability about 
the neck of the bladder may sometimes be produced by quinine. 

Therapeutics. — The drug is employed in medicine to fulfil three 
great offices, although its influence in other directions is hardly less 
powerful. These are as an antiper 'iodic or antimalarial, as an anti- 
pyretic, and as a tonic possessing peculiar virtues. 

For many years physicians were forced to employ this drug empiri- 
cally, not knowing the cause of the disease called malaria. We now 
know that the theory of Binz, offered as long ago as 1867, is correct, 
and that malaria is due to the presence of a germ, the plasmodium 
malarise, which was first accurately studied by Laveran and named by 
Marchiafava and Celli. These and other investigators have found that 
quinine acts as an active poison to these germs, even in so weak a solu- 
tion as 1 : 20,000. 

For the reasons given in the preceding paragraph quinine is the 
best remedy we have for malarial fever as a prophylactic and cure, 
and it should be given in doses which are indicated by the state of 
the patient. (See Malarial Fever.) If possible it should always be 
preceded by a purge having an hepatic action. This preliminary 
treatment is particularly important in bilious or remittent fever. The 
-drug should be given in hourly doses, or in one or two large doses in 
such a way that its influence is fully felt, not at the time of the 
expected paroxysm, but about an hour or thirty minutes before that 
time. If the paroxysm is near at hand, the drug should be given in 
solution, bitter though it be, in acidulated water. 

As a prophylactic against malaria the dose of quinine should be 2 
to 4 grains (0.1-0.2) or more three times a day. 

In malarial cachexia or hemorrhagic malarial fever quinine gen- 
erally does more harm than good. Under such circumstances the 
danger in using quinine consists in irritating the engorged kidneys 
after the chill has passed by. The quinine is not a haemostatic, and 
only does good in malarial hematuria by preventing the paroxysm 
which will produce the bloody urine. To give quinine after this symp- 
tom appears is to ''lock the door after the horse is stolen." In hema- 
turia occurring from chronic malarial poisoning without a chill quinine 
is of no value. Indeed, it would seem certain from the studies of many 
physicians in America, Greece, and Italy that the use of quinine is 
capable of developing a hematuria. 2 

In pernicious malarial fever quinine should be given by the mouth, 
by the rectum, and hypodermically, as much as 60 to 70 grains (4.0- 

1 See collective investigation of this subject by the author in Therapeutic Gazette for 
Julv, 1892. 
* 2 Ibid. 



160 DRUGS. 

4.5) being used at a dose. In brow ague or malarial neuralgia quinine 
often acts most usefully, and this is also true in some cases of ordinary 
nerve-pain not dependent upon a specific disease. 

For the reduction of the pyrexia of typhus or typhoid fever quinine 
will be found inferior to the new antipyretics, even when given in very 
large dose, and ought to be used very rarely, if at all, for this purpose. 
It will seldom cause a fall of temperature before crisis or lysis, but will 
aid in the fall very actively after these changes have occurred. In those 
cases of fever in which the use of quinine is followed by marked im- 
provement the good results are due either to its specific antimalarial 
influence or to its stimulating influence on the general system. 

As a tonic quinine is not only a simple bitter, but also seems to 
have a direct effect in increasing the number of the red blood-corpus- 
cles. The tonic dose should be 1 to 2 grains (0.05-0.1) three times a. 
day. 

Quinine has been used to overcome uterine inertia in weak women, 
but it is a feeble remedy, and is less and less resorted to by progressive 
obstetricians. Quinine will not of itself cause abortion, but in nervous, 
hysterical women who have a tendency to abort, and to whom it is 
necessary to give full doses of quinine during pregnancy, it may be 
well to combine some sedative, as one of the bromides or opium, with 
the antiperiodic. 

In the lobar pneumonia of children quinine should be used in sup- 
positories in the dose of 2 grains (0.1) three times a day. 

Acting on the basis that chorea is due to lack of inhibitory control 
of muscular movements, Wood has urged the use of quinine in large 
doses in this disease as a stimulant to inhibition. Whether the good 
which sometimes follows this treatment is due to any specific effect of 
the drug is doubtful. 

In cases where prolonged mental or physical strain is to be undergone T 
quinine in the dose of 2 to 4 grains (0.1-0.2) will often prevent exhaus- 
tion and support the system. 

The internal use of quinine is also a wise procedure in whooping 
cough, and the best dose, according to a careful series of studies by 
Baron, is 1J grains (0.075) to each year of the child's age, to be given 
at 6 A. M., 2 p. M., and 10 p. M. 

A very much more agreeable method of pursuing this treatment in 
whooping cough is to give the patient the so-called quinine chocolates^ 
which are made of 1 grain (0.05) of tannate of quinine and chocolate. 
They do not taste of quinine at all if well made. 

Used in solution in the form of a spray by the atomizer, quinine is 
of undoubted service in whooping cough, and will often prevent the 
spread of the disease to other children if they be subjected to its 
use. This solution should contain from 1 to 2 grains (0.05-0.1) to the 
ounce (32.0) and be employed every few hours. It is well to remem- 
ber that quinine is not tasted by the tip of the tongue, but is tasted by 
the back portion. The tip of the atomizer should therefore be carried 
well back of the root of this organ, and a 1 per cent, solution of cocaine 
painted over the dorsum of the tongue in cases where the disagreeable 
taste of the quinine is objected to very strongly. This solution of 



CINCHONA. 161 

quinine used, by means of an atomizer, in colds in the head and in 
foetid sore throat is often of service. Quinine injections in the strength 
of 1 : 3000 are useful in amoebic dysentery, as this drug destroys the 
amoeba coli. 

Administration. — When prescribing quinine the physician should 
employ the hydrochlorate of quinine ( Quinince hydrochloras, U. S. and 
B. P.), as it contains a high percentage of alkaloid, and is very soluble. 
It is stronger in alkaloid than the bisulphate of quinine ( Quinince Bisul- 
phas, U. S. and B. P.), which is, however, soluble in the proportion of 
about 1 to 8 of water. The hydrobromate of quinine {Quinince Hydro- 
bromas, U. S. and B. P.) is another useful salt, soluble in the propor- 
tion of 1 to 16 of water. The valerianate of quinine ( Quinince Valerianas, 
U. S. and B. P.) possesses no special value. The sulphate of quinine 
(Quinince Sulphas, JJ. S. and B. P.), the least soluble of all these salts, 
is by custom most commonly administered. The tannate of quinine is a 
salt not so bitter as the other salts, and is weaker in relative alkaloidal 
strength. One grain (0.05) of the tannate equals about J of a grain 
(0.015) of pure alkaloid. The bisulphate equals about § and the sul- 
phate f of a grain of the pure alkaloid. The dose of all the salts of 
quinine varies from 1 to 4 grains (0.05-0.15) as a tonic, and from 4 
to 60 grains (0.2-4.0) for antimalarial purposes. 

The B. P. recognizes a pill of quinine, the Pilula Quinince Sul- 
p>hatis. 

In regard to the administration of quinine, it may be said that it 
ought never to be given in solution if it can be avoided, because of its 
disagreeable taste. If it is given in solution, the liquid should be 
well acidulated, as under these circumstances it will not taste as bitter 
as when a weakly acidulated solution is employed. In adults and chil- 
dren quinine should be used preferably in small capsules or in pills, 
which may be gelatin- or sugar-coated. Another means for adults is 
the use of cachets. If pills or capsules are employed, care should be 
taken that the sugar is not hardened by age, and that the gelatin is 
thin, for if the pill or capsule escapes into the intestine before it is 
dissolved the quinine is precipitated and is not absorbed. If the case is 
that of a child too young to take a pill, the drug may be given in the 
following manner without tasting very disagreeably : 

R.— Quinine hydrochlor gr. xvj (1.0). 

Ext. glycyrrhiz. fl fgj (4.0). 

Syrupi aurantii cort fjij (64.0). — M. 

S. — A teaspoonful t. d. for a child of three years. 

In some cases quinine chocolates may be used, but unless they are 
well made the after-taste of quinine is well marked. When they are 
used the tannate of quinine should always be placed in them. In other 
cases quinine may be used in the suppository in the dose of 2 to 3 grains 
(0.1-0.15), care being taken that irritation of the rectum does not ensue. 
For suppositories the best salt to employ is the hydrochlorate. 

For hypodermic use the hydrochlorate of quinine should be used 
most commonly, as it is soluble in about 10 parts of water, and con- 
tains more of the alkaloid than the equally soluble bisulphate of 
quinine. It may be employed in the following manner : 
n 



162 DRUGS. 

R. — Quininae hydrochlorat gr. vij (0.5). 

Glycerini ) __ . , n n . 

Aquae dest.} aa fcss (2.0).-M. 

S. — Warm solution before using it, and do not add acid. 

R. — Quininse hydrochlorat gr. xv (1.0). 

Alcoholis tt\xv (1.0). 

Aquas dest f^jss (6.0).— M. 

S. — Add a few drops of hydrochloric acid to complete the solution before using. 

If the bisulphate is used hypodermically, to its solution should be 
added a little tartaric or sulphuric acid to prevent precipitation of the 
drug in the alkaline juices of the connective tissues before it can be 
absorbed. The tartaric acid should be present in the proportion of 
about 1 grain (0.05) to each 5 grains (0.3) of the quinine. Should it- 
be necessary to use the sulphate of quinine hypodermically, 10 grains 
(0.65) should be added to 1 drachm (4.0) of water and sulphuric acid 
added, drop by drop, until the salt is dissolved. The hydrobromate of 
quinine, the solubility of which is about 1 to 54 of water, may also be 
used hypodermically, as may also the bimuriate of quinine and urea 
(Quinince Bimuriatica Carbamas), which, however, is scarcely more 
than half as strong in quinine as the other salts. 

The best place to give the hypodermic injection is in the buttock, 
between the trochanter and the tuberosity of the ischium. Injections 
into the calf of the leg are very painful. 

In Italy, Baccelli has resorted to the intravenous injection of qui- 
nine in pressing cases of malarial infection. He employs the following 
solution for this purpose : 

R.— Quininse hydrochlorat gr. xv (1.0). 

Sodii chloridi , gr. xv (1-0). 

Aquse dest f^ijss (10.0).— M. 

S. — This should be injected, after distilled water has been added to it, into a vein of 
the leg rather4han into a vein of the arm. The solution should be boiled and 
filtered before using, and used while warm. 

As quinine in a concentrated form is a powerful heart-depressant, 
the injection should be given very slowly indeed into a vein of the leg 
when intravenous injections are employed. 

The alkaloids of cinchona other than quinine which are commonly 
used in medicine are cinchonidine, cinchonine, quinidine, and the im- 
pure substance chinoidinum. 

Cullen, Sinkler, and De Brun have all found the sulphate of cin- 
chonidine (Oinchonidina Sulphas, U. S.) very useful in malaria, and 
it is less bitter and more soluble than is quinine. Sinkler states that 
it does not produce the severe head-symptoms caused by quinine. 

The dose of quinidine sulphate (Quinidince Sulphas, U. S.) is about 
twice that of quinine, as is also that of cinchonine sulphate (Cinchoni?ice 
Sulphas, U.S.) and cinchonidine sulphate (Cinchonidina Sulphas, U.S.). 

Chinoidinum is a resinous mass obtained in the preparation of the 
alkaloids of cinchona, and contains amorphous alkaloids. It possesses 
distinct antiperiodic power, and was used freely when quinine was a 
very expensive drug. Its dose is three or four times that of quinine. 

The liquid preparations of cinchona are the infusion (Infusum Cin- 



CINNAMON. 163 

chonce, TJ. S.), close a wineglassful (32.0) ; the tincture (Tinctura Cin- 
chonce, U. S. and B. P.), one or two teaspoonfuls (4.0-8.0) ; and the 
compound (Huxham's) tincture [Tinctura Cinchona Composita, TJ. S. 
and B. P.), a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful (4.0-16.0). Huxham's 
tincture is a most efficient and elegant bitter tonic in debility and con- 
valescence from low fevers. It is too weak in alkaloids to be used in 
malarial poisoning. Under the name of elixir roborans, or Whytt's 
tincture, a similar mixture is employed for precisely the same purposes. 
The other liquid preparation is the fluid extract (Extraction Ginchonce 
Fluiclum, TJ. S. and B. P.), dose 5 to 15 drops (0.3-1.0). A solid 
extract (Extr actum Cinchona, TJ. S.) is also official in the dose of 5 
to 10 grains (0.3-0.65). The B. P. preparations not official in the 
TJ. S. P. are as follows : Infusum Cinchona Acidum, dose 1 to 2 
fluidounces ; Tinctura Quinince Ammoniata, dose \ to 2 fluidrachms 
(2.0-8.0); Vinum Quinince, dose \ to 1 fluidounce (16.0-32.0). 

Contraindications. — Quinine is contraindicated in gastritis, cystitis, 
meningitis, epilepsy, cerebritis, middle-ear disease, because it congests, 
irritates, or stimulates those areas which are diseased, and in those cases 
which have an idiosyncrasy to its action. 

CINNAMON. 

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum Cassia vel saigonicum vel zeylanicum, 
TJ. S., Cinnamomum Cortex, B. P.) is the inner bark of a plant, a 
native of Ceylon or of the species indigenous to China. It contains 
a volatile oil and tannic acid. In overdose the oil acts as a soporific 
arid kills by failure of respiration. 

Therapeutics.— Cinnamon is used, as are all the drugs of its class, 
for flavoring, as a carminative, and as an intestinal stimulant in serous 
diarrhoeas. It has the peculiar powder of acting as a haemostatic in 
uterine hemorrhage where the flow is oozing and not active, thereby 
differing from the other volatile oils, with the exception of that of 
erigeron. The oil of cinnamon is a powerful antiseptic, w T hich can 
be used in dilute form in the dressing of wounds and by injection in 
gonorrhoea. J. Chalmers DaCosta employs a spray of oil of cinna- 
mon and benzoinol in the proportion of 1, 2, or 3 drops (0.05-0.15) 
of the oil to 1 ounce (32.0) of benzoinol, or it may be used by injec- 
tion. It seems to act best in the early stage of gonorrhoea. 

Cinnamic acid, a derivative of oil of cinnamon, is also used for 
the same purposes. 

Administration. — The dose of the oil (Oleum Cinnamomi, TJ. S. 
and B. P.) is 1 to 5 drops (0.06-0.3) ; of the water (Aqua Cinna- 
momi, TJ. S. and B. P.), a wineglassful (32.0) or less; of the spirit 
(Spiritus Cinnamomi, TJ. S. and B. P.), 5 to 30 drops (0.3-2.0); 
of the tincture (Tinctura Cinnamomi, TJ. S. and B. P.), 1 to 1 drachm. 
Under the name of Pulvis Aromaticus, TJ. S. (Pulvis Cinnamomi 
Compositus, B. P.) a carminative powder, consisting of cinnamon 
35 grams, nutmegs 15 grams, cardamoms 15 grams, and ginger 35 
grams, is official. It is useful in the treatment of the flatulence of 
adults and children. The latter should take about 10 grains (0.7) at 
a dose, an adult 30 grains (2.0). 



164 DRUGS. 



CITRIC ACID. 



Citric Acid (Acidum Citricum, U. S. and B. P.) is chemically iden- 
tical with the acid of the lemon, but has not identical influences over 
the body with lemon-juice. 

Not only does the lemon owe its acidity to this acid, but most of 
the other edible fruits, such as strawberries and raspberries, depend 
upon its presence for their acidity. 

Therapeutics. — Citric acid is used in scurvy, or scorbutus, as a pro- 
phylactic and cure. For some unknown reason, pure lemon-juice 
seems to benefit these cases more than citric acid itself, and it is there- 
fore to be preferred to the latter whenever it can be had. In order 
to keep lemon-juice from decomposition on long voyages, it should be 
boiled, and poured while hot into bottles until it nearly reaches to the 
cork ; the remaining space is then filled with a thin layer of sweet oil 
and the bottle corked and stood upright. Under these circumstances 
the juice may be kept indefinitely. 

In rheumatism, either acute or chronic, lemon-juice may be em- 
ployed in the dose of 1 to 2 ounces (32.0-64.0) four times a day, well 
diluted, or 2 drachms (8.0) of citric acid may be given. The acid is 
also of value in hepatic inactivity and catarrhal jaundice. (See Citrate 
of Potassium.) 

The preparations containing citric acid are Syrupus Acidi Citrici, 
U. S., Succus Limonis, B. P., and Syrupus Limonis, B. P. 

CLOVES. 

Cloves (Caryophyllus, TJ. S. ; Carophyllum, B. P.) are the unex- 
panded flowers of the Eugenia aromatica, a plant of the East and 
West Indies. They possess an aromatic odor and the pungent taste 
of a typical spice. They contain a volatile oil (Oleum Carophylli, 
TJ. S. and B. P.), which is yellow when fresh, but very dark-colored 
when old. 

Therapeutics. — Cloves or their oil are used in medicine for the pur- 
pose of acting as a carminative. They are also employed as a stimu- 
lant and tonic to the stomach to prevent griping during an attack of 
diarrhoea, or that caused by purgatives, to act as a flavoring agent, as 
a counter-irritant, and, finally, as a parasiticide and local anaesthetic. 

The oil of cloves possesses great power for good in many cases of 
pulmonary tuberculosis, partly by its germicidal influence upon the 
bacillus. It should be given in the dose of 5 minims (0.3) in capsules 
after food three or four times a day, and a hypodermic injection of ster- 
ilized sweet oil, containing in each dose of 30 drops (2.0) 5 minims 
(0.3) of the oil of cloves, should be administered once a day. The in- 
jection should be given into the subcutaneous tissues of the flank or 
abdomen, and is painful, but the decrease in the cough and expectora- 
tion amply repays the patient for the pain. 

Like all volatile oils, this oil is an efficient local application for 
pediculus pubis and similar parasites, and it may be used in toothache. 
because of its anaesthetic powers, if placed on a pledget of cotton in 



COCA AND COCAINE. 165 

the cavity of a tooth. In the treatment of myalgia or muscular rheu- 
matism oil of cloves is often placed in a liniment for its counter- 
irritant effect. In overdose it acts as a soporific, and kills by failure 
of respiration and the production of marked gastro-enteritis. Minute 
doses of J to 1 drop (0.03-0.06) of the oil in a little water will some- 
times control excessive vomiting. In addition to the oil the B. P. 
has an official infusion, Infusum Caryophylli, the dose of which is 1 
to 2 fluidounces (32.0-64.0). 



COCA AND COCAINE. 

Erythroxylon Coca is official in the U. S. and B. P. as Coca, but in 
the U. S. P. of 1880 it was known as Erythroxylon. Cocaine (B. P.) 
(Cocaince Hydrochloras, U. S.) is the alkaloid derived from Ery- 
throxylon Coca, a shrub of Peru and Bolivia. When cocaine is heated 
with hydrochloric acid it is split up into several substances, amongst 
Others a base called ecgonine, which. has entirely different powers from 
cocaine, and is perhaps responsible for some of the evil effects which 
have resulted from poorly prepared cocaine. It is to be distinctly 
understood that Erythroxylon Coca is not the same as chocolate or 
Theobroma Cacao. 

Physiological Action. — Coca and its alkaloid cocaine, when taken 
internally, produce a sense of exhilaration and pleasure. Often the 
amount of muscular and mental power is temporarily increased under 
their influence. When locally applied to a mucous membrane, cocaine 
causes a blanching followed by marked congestion. 

Nervous System. — The dominant action of cocaine, when locally 
applied to the peripheral sensory nerves, is to paralyze them. When 
taken internally it stimulates the brain to an extraordinary degree, but 
exercises no effect upon the sensory nerves. Sometimes its internal 
use produces a decrease of sensation, which Mosso believes to be due 
to an influence on the spinal cord. This effect is, however, very 
feeble. If the dose be a poisonous one, convulsions of cerebral origin 
ensue, and are both clonic and tetanic in type. 

The sensory nerves are paralyzed by enormous doses both when 
the drug is directly applied and when it is taken internally. 

Upon the muscles, when taken internally, Mosso has proved the 
drug to be a direct stimulant, and it is particularly active after star- 
vation or fatigue. Muscular power is increased temporarily by 
cocaine. 

Circulation. — Cocaine acts as a stimulant to the heart and cir- 
culation in moderate amounts, but its effects are not marked except in 
poisonous dose. 

Respiration. — The drug acts as a powerful respiratory stimulant, 
producing in large dose a great increase in the rapidity of the respira- 
tory movements, but in poisonous dose it kills by failure of respira- 
tion associated with exhaustion from the accompanying convulsions. 

Temperature. — Cocaine raises bodily temperature to a very 
extraordinary degree if given in overdose, this rise being due to an 



166 DRUGS. 

increase of heat-procluction (Reichert). In moderate or medicinal 
amounts it has no effect. 

Kidneys, Elimination, and Tissue-waste. — The drug is elimi- 
nated by the kidneys, but is chiefly destroyed by oxidation in the 
body. The quantity of urine passed is increased under its influence, 
and the nitrogenous elements eliminated in this fluid are a little 
diminished. 

Eye. — Owing to its powerful action as a local anaesthetic, cocaine 
has been used largely in diseases of the eye, and it is particularly effi- 
cacious in this organ because of the delicacy of the conjunctiva, which 
it can readily penetrate and so paralyze the peripheral nerve-endings. 
The anaesthesia comes on in from one to five minutes after the use of 
the drug, according to the strength of the solution used. It is accom- 
panied by very marked dilatation of the pupil, w T hich Koller asserts is 
due to the fact that the drug constricts the blood-vessels of the iris and 
leaves the muscular fibres untouched. Ophthalmologists, however, gen- 
erally assert that it stimulates the peripheral ends of the sympathetic 
nerve. It is important to remember that this dilatation, unlike that 
produced by mydriatics, such as atropine, is not accompanied by paral- 
ysis of accommodation. The drug does not cause a forcible mydriasis, 
and is never used for the prevention of adhesions in iritis unless com- 
bined with atropine. 

Therapeutics. — Cocaine hydrochloY&te (Cocaince ITydrochloras, U. S. 
and B. P.) is used as an anaesthetic in the eye in the dose of from 3 
to 5 or more drops of a 1 to a 4 per cent, solution. The strength of 
2 and 3 per cent, is perhaps most commonly employed. 

The conditions indicating its use in the eye are all operations of a 
painful character, be they what they may, and it can also be used for 
the relief of pain when an acute inflammation or foreign body is caus- 
ing suffering. 

The following formula will be found useful in these states : 

R. — Cocainte hydrochlor. . . • gr. viij (0.53). 

Acid, boric gr. vij (0.46). 

Aquse dest fgj (32.0).— M. 

S. — Use with a dropper in the eye every half hour until relieved. 

Cases of keratitis are recorded in which cocaine has produced per- 
manent corneal opacities, and it may cause dryness and roughening of 
the. corneal epithelium even in the normal eye. 

Cocaine is often used in 2 per cent, solution upon cracked nipples 
just before nursing to relieve pain. The drug must be carefully washed 
off before the baby is put to the breast. It is asserted, however, by 
Gruenel and Desamaux that this treatment may permanently stop the 
flow of milk. 

Owing to the density of the mucous membranes of the vagina and 
rectum, cocaine has little effect upon them unless used in 10 per cent, 
solution and profusely applied. In the mouth cocaine may be used 
in cases of stomatitis where a spot is to be cauterized, in pharyngitis, 
and in soreness and tenderness of the gums. While it gives much 
temporary relief in pharyngitis, the subsequent effects are often 



COCA AND COCAINE. 167 

exceedingly disagreeable, the congestion looking more angry and 
being more painful than before, and the experience of the writer 
indicates that it will only act in a curative manner if applied before 
the capillaries become relaxed or paralyzed by the severity of the 
inflammatory process. In coryza and hay fever a powder consisting 
of cocaine, morphine, and bismuth in the proportion of 1 part each 
of the two alkaloids and 5 parts of the bismuth will often be of ser- 
vice if snuffed up into the nostrils. If cocaine be applied to a large 
nerve-trunk, amputation of the tributary limb may be performed with- 
out pain, but so large an amount of the drug must be used that there 
is great danger of poisoning the patient. 

Cocaine is generally used at present in the place of ether in cases 
requiring amputation of the fingers or in cases of minor surgery where 
the drug can be confined to the part injured. A tight cord should 
be bound around the base of the finger and a 4 to 8 per cent, solu- 
tion injected into the part, a ligature about the base of the digit being 
used to prevent hemorrhage and the systemic absorption of the drug. 
After the operation is concluded slight hemorrhage should be allowed 
to occur, to sweep out the drug and thereby avoid systemic medi- 
cation. Not more than \ grain of cocaine should be injected. 

Under the name of " infiltration ancesthesia " Schleich has introduced 
a method of destroying sensation in localized areas which often gives 
good results for minor operations. He injects into the skin, as super- 
ficially as possible, a sufficient amount of a solution of common salt, 
cocaine, and morphine to produce local oedema, and thereby pressure on 
the nerve-filaments, which are also depressed by the cold liquid coming 
in contact with them. He also believes that the local anaemia so caused 
aids in destroying sensation. The injection is given so gently that a 
sort of wheal or ©edematous spot is produced where the incision is to 
be made. As soon as this spot is developed the needle is inserted 
into its margin and carried under the skin farther, and the injection 
is repeated. In this way the line of an extensive incision can be 
anaesthetized progressively. If deep incisions are necessary, the injec- 
tions are given into the deeper tissues as well. The injections must 
always be made into the healthy skin, as if it is diseased a slough may 
result. Schleich asserts that similar injections under the periosteum 
permit of operations on the bones. The anaesthesia will last twenty-six 
minutes. The solution is of three strengths, as follows : 

Solution. I. II. III. 

Cocaine hydrochloride . . . gr. iv (0.2). gr. ij (0.1). gr. | (0.01). 

Morphine hydrochloride . . gr. | (0.025). gr. | (0.025). gr. j\ (0.005). 

Sodium chloride gr- iv (0.2). gr. iv (0.2). gr. iv (0.2). 

Sterilized distilled water. . . fjiv (120.0). f^iv (120.0). f^iv (120.0). 

To each of these solutions 3 drops of a 5 per cent, solution of carbolic 
acid is added. The second solution is the one commonly used. The 
first is commonly employed where acute inflammation is present, and 
the third where repeated injections are necessary. 

It is worth remembering that cocaine is soluble in fats, whereas its 
salts are not. Cocaine itself should therefore be used in anaesthetic 
salves. 



168 DRUGS. 

Internally, cocaine or the fluid extract of coca may be used as a 
supportive and stimulant in low fevers, and in cases where great 
physical and mental strain is to be borne. Thorington has found 
cocaine of very great value as a stimulant and anti-emetic in yellow 
fever. In the vomiting of pregnancy and other forms of excessive 
emesis it is of great service by depressing the gastric sensory nerves 
and thereby decreasing the irritability of the stomach. 

Cocaine is undoubtedly of service in the opium habit, but if 
largely used soon changes the patient from a case of morphiomania 
to a "coca fiend." 

The dose of the fluid extract (Extr actum Coco? Pluidum, U. S. 
and B. P.) is from J to 2 drachms (2.0-8.0); that of cocaine, from 
^ to \ grain (0.015-0.03). The other B. P. preparations are Lamella? 
Cocaince, each disk containing y^ grain (0.0006) of cocaine hydro- 
chloride and Unguentum Cocaince and Injectio Cocaince Hypo dermic a. 

The cocaine habit is a condition unfortunately often met with since 
the introduction of the drug into therapeutics. It is often combined 
with the morphine habit, and sometimes is employed as a substitute 
for that morbid state. The symptoms of the cocaine habit consist of 
marked loss of flesh, disorders of the circulatory system, mental fail- 
ure and delusions, sometimes resembling those of chronic alcoholism. 
Often hallucinations come on which are generally of a disagreeable type. 
The habit is difficult to cure, for relapses are frequent. The sudden 
withdrawal of cocaine from a patient may result in profound collapse. 

According to Magnan, a pathognomonic symptom of chronic or 
subacute cocaine-intoxication is a sensation of a crawling worm or bug 
under the skin. 

Untoward Effects. — Sometimes loss of speech, blindless, nausea and 
vomiting, syncope, and unconsciousness have followed the internal use 
or local application of cocaine. Epileptiform convulsions have also 
been noted, while the circulation and respiration have been disordered 
in every possible manner. In many of these cases the urine passed 
after the poisoning is copious, very limpid, and contains albumin. Curi- 
ously enough, a large number of cases of severe poisoning have followed 
the injection of. cocaine into the urethra previous to some operation for 
the relief of chronic gonorrhoea or stricture. 

The hypodermic injection of cocaine as a stimulant sometimes causes 
vomiting. 

The treatment of the poisoning consists in the use of ammonia, 
coffee, strychnine, or ether and alcohol if the symptoms are those of 
depression. If they are convulsive in type, then the treatment to be 
instituted is identical with that of strychnine-poisoning (which see). 

Out of 250 cases of accidental poisoning arising from the medicinal 
use of the drug, 13 proved fatal. 

CODEINE. 

Codeina, TJ. S. and B. P., is an alkaloid derived from opium, and 
is often contaminated by morphine. The sulphate of codeine is gen- 
erally used, as it is more soluble than codeine itself. In the B. P. 
codeine phosphate (Codeince Phosphas) is official. 



COD-LIVER OIL. 169 

Physiological Action. — Codeine resembles morphine very decidedly 
in its physiological action, the chief difference being that it possesses 
less narcotizing power, but in large amount more readily produces 
tetanus and final paralysis of the peripheral motor nerves in the lower 
animals (Dott and Stockman). It does not arrest secretion in the 
respiratory and intestinal tract, as does morphine, and therefore is 
less apt to cause constipation. 

Therapeutics. — Codeine has been highly recommended in France 
as a nervous quietant, and in this country in nervous cough or in 
cases where the cough is excessive in bronchitis and phthisis. In 
diabetes mellitus some clinicians have found it of the greatest value, 
while others have been disappointed in its use. It should, however, 
always be tried in this disease, in the hope that it may exercise a 
favorable effect. When given for cough it should be used in the 
dose of from ^ to 2 grains (0.03-0.12) three or four times a day ; gen- 
erally placed in the syrup of wild-cherry bark. When given for diabetes 
the dose should be much larger, beginning at 1 or 2 grains (0.05-0.1), 
and rapidly increasing to 20 or 30 grains (1.3-2.0) or more, given 
three times daily. The B. P. recognizes a syrup {Syrujpus Codeinos) 
given in the dose of 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0). 



COD-LIVER OIL. 

Oleum Morrhuce, TJ. S. andi?. P., sometimes called Oleum Jec oris 
Aselli, is a fixed oil obtained from the fresh livers of the G-adus 
Morrhua, or cod-fish. There are several species of cod from which 
the oil is obtained other than the one named, but this is the chief 
source of supply. The oil is pale or dark according to its degree of 
freedom from foreign materials. Although the paler oils are gen- 
erally prescribed, there can be little doubt that the darker ones are 
more medicinally active. The most prominent inorganic constituents 
of the oil are iodine, bromine, and sulphuric and phosphoric acids. 
It also contains more or less of the biliary salts. 

Physiological Action. — Cod-liver oil depends on a number of sub- 
stances for its peculiar effect. The iodine certainly exerts definite 
alterative powers, and the oil seems peculiarly adapted to digestion 
and absorption, for cod-liver oil passes through animal membranes 
very readily, probably owing to the biliary salts contained in it. 

It aids in the maintenance of bodily temperature by its oxidation, 
and causes a deposit of fat in the tissues. The oil also seems to influ- 
ence the blood directly, for clinical observation shows that ansemic 
persons become healthy-looking under its use, and Cutler and Brad- 
ford have found that this apparent improvement is a physiological 
fact by the use of Malassez's blood-cell-counting apparatus, the red 
corpuscles being always increased. It has been proved by experiment 
that cod-liver oil is more readily oxidized than any other oil. 

The belief among physicians that the effects of cod-liver oil are 
dependent upon some peculiar combination of substances has shown 
itself in the attempts of physiological chemists to isolate the combina- 
tion. One of the best results reached is the so-called " morrhuol " 
of Chapoteau, who seems to have isolated a crystalline substance con- 



170 DRUGS. 

taining phosphorus, iodine, and bromine : 3 to 5 grains of this prepa- 
ration are said to represent 1 drachm of the pure oil, and it is certainly 
of value as a medicament in most of the states in which we use the oil 
itself. In "colds" which "hang on" and are not readily gotten rid 
of morrhuol is best given in capsule or pill. This substance is put on 
the market in gelatin-coated pills or capsules. 

Therapeutics. — Cod-liver oil is useful in persons who have no tuber- 
cular lesion in the lung or other tissues, but have mucous membranes 
which are readily susceptible to disease. This state has been called the 
pre-tubercular stage of phthisis. Cod-liver oil possesses no curative 
power in cases of well-developed or rapid phthisis, and its admin- 
istration in many cases only serves to nauseate the patient or to pro- 
duce an oily diarrhoea through failure of digestion. It does good in the 
early part of the disease in that it acts as a food peculiarly suited to a 
wasting malady, and its mild alterative effects are also of value. It does 
not act as a cure. In chronic rheumatism the drug is often of great 
service, particularly if the disease is largely muscular. Strumous skin 
lesions depending for their existence not only upon scrofulosis, but also 
upon anaemia, often yield to its use. In enlargement of the lymphatic 
glands, where they are not undergoing acute active suppuration, cod^ 
liver oil does good. This is a statement requiring explanation. By 
acute active suppuration is meant the early formation of pus or the 
molecular death of the parts — not the slow formation characterized by 
no active change, but represented by cold abscess or old sores. If the 
suppurative process is chronic, the oil does good by aiding in maintain- 
ing the patient's nutrition. In cases of strumous ophthalmia cod-liver 
oil is of great service. In advanced syphilis cod-liver oil is most useful, 
and in the early stages of rickets it ought always to be employed. In 
marasmus, when used by inunction or taken internally if the stomach 
will stand it, it is one of the best drugs we have. If a few grains of 
bile-salts, consisting of glycocholate and taurocholate of sodium, be 
added to each drachm of oil, it will be very ready absorbed from the 
skin when applied by rubbing. 1 

In sciatica and lumbago and in neuralgia cod-liver oil is of service. 
In emphysema of the lungs it is said to be of great value, and certain 
writers commend its use in gout, although others have asserted that it 
is of no value. Sometimes old persons, whose digestion is not disordered 
and who have no organic brain disease, complain of giddiness. The 
best treatment for this condition, in many instances, is cod-liver oil with 
small doses of quinine, or if these fail wine of ergot and one of the 
bromides may be used. 

Administration. — Owing to its disagreeable taste and smell most 
patients rebel against taking cod-liver oil ; but this can, with a little 

1 These salts may be bought, or made as follows : To about 300 cc. of ox-gall is 
added nearly thrice that quantity of ordinary alcohol, and the flask shaken thoroughly. 
All the mucus is now precipitated and the supernatant fluid is filtered. To the filtrate 
is added a large excess of sulphuric ether, and after a time a plaster-like mass forms 
at the bottom of the vessel, which slowly becomes crystalline. These crystals are now 
placed on a filter-paper and washed with a mixture made up of ether and alcohol, 
equal parts. The filter-paper is dried and the substances then seen are the tauro- 
cholate and glycocholate of sodium. Having carefully removed these salts from the 
paper, they are ready for use. 



COD-LIVER OIL. 171 

persistence, be readily overcome, so that finally the patient may not 
object to the remedy, but actually like it. This is particularly 
true of young children. The secret of reaching this much-to-be- 
desired state lies in the use at first of doses which may be dropped 
into a teaspoon and the spoon then gently submerged in a glass of 
milk. The oil floats off into the milk in a globule in the centre of the 
tumbler, and if the milk be rapidly gulped down without the oil touch- 
ing the sides of the glass, it will not be tasted. The first gulps must 
be large enough to include the oil. The oil may be taken on a full 
stomach, but as a general rule it is best digested if taken about two 
or three hours after meals, when the gastric contents are about to be 
passed into the small bowel, where the oil is digested ; and if it be im- 
mediately followed by a little pancreatin, its digestion will be much 
aided. Other modes of ingestion consist in the placing of the oil in 
whiskey or brandy, in the manner which has been described with milk, 
and this method possesses the advantage that the alcohol by its stimu- 
lating effect aids very distinctly in the digestion of the oil. Sometimes 
a pinch of salt placed in the mouth before and after the oil is taken aids 
in covering its taste and in its digestion. (See Indigestion.) Oil of 
eucalyptus in the proportion of 1 to 100 of the cod-liver oil will cover 
the latter's taste, but many dislike the eucalyptus more than the cod- 
liver oil. The addition of an equal quantity of glycerin, with J to 1 
drop (0.03-0.06) of the oil of bitter almonds to each dose, is often of 
service. Syrup of bitter orange-peel is one of the best covers to its 
taste. Tomato ketchup has also been used with good results. Chew- 
ing a piece of smoked herring before and after taking the oil is of value 
to disguise the taste in some cases. The oil is readily taken in soft cap- 
sules holding from \ to 1 drachm (1.0-4.0). Very few people are unable 
to swallow such capsules if these are first made slippery by dipping 
them in water. 

Cod-liver oil is most readily digested when given in single nightly 
doses after supper or after a light meal just before going to bed. After 
a few days it may be given after dinner, and in the course of a week 
after breakfast. If the patient is once nauseated by overdoses, it is 
almost impossible to make the stomach retain the oil. If it cannot be 
digested, a drachm of ether aids in its absorption, or a drink of whiskey 
or brandy may be used instead. Often a simple bitter, such as a des- 
sertspoonful (8.0) of compound tincture of cardamom, taken in water 
immediately after the oil is swallow T ed, aids in its digestion. 

A large number of preparations of cod-liver oil are on the market 
in emulsion, pancreatized, and purified till they are nearly tasteless. 
Many of the permanent or perfect emulsions contain more Iceland moss 
or acacia than oil. A very useful preparation is the egg-emulsion made 
by one large manufacturing concern, as it contains no acacia and 40 
per cent, of the oil. One of the preparations widely advertised in the 
street-cars of Philadelphia as u tasteless " has been shown to contain no 
oil at all. The pancreatized emulsions are the best if the oil is really 
present in sufficient quantity to do good, as the very fact of its being 
artificially digested adds to its value and makes it possible to put more 
oil into the emulsion. Oil devoid of smell is probably devoid of medi- 



172 DRUGS. 

cinal value, as all the peculiar properties have been "purified" out 
of it. 

Quite recently it has been suggested that cod-liver oil be given by 
the rectum, a full dose of pancreatin being mixed with it to increase its 
assimilability. Sometimes creosote is placed in this injection in 5- to 
10-drop(0.35-0.65) doses. 

COFFEE. 
(See Caffeine.) 



COLCHICUM. 

Colchicum is the corm (Colchici Cormus, B. P. ; Colchici Radix, 
JJ. S.) and seed (Colcliiei Semen, TJ. S. ; Colchici Semina, B. P.) of 
the Colchicum Autumnale, or Meadow Saffron, a plant of Europe, 
containing an alkaloid, colchicine, which may be still further changed 
into colchiceine. While the drug is official in the form of the seeds 
and root, the former are rarely employed. 

Physiological Action. — Colchicum is a very powerful drug, and 
when locally applied is an irritant to the skin. Taken internally in 
overdose, it also irritates the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane. 

According to the studies of one of the writer's students — Dr. 
Ferrer y Leon — the drug has little or no effect when given in mod- 
erate dose on the nervous system, circulation, respiration, or tem- 
perature, only producing changes in .these parts when given in poi- 
sonous doses. In full doses it greatly increases the flow of bile, and 
may cause bilious vomiting and purging. Jacobi asserts that death is 
produced by respiratory failure, the heart continuing to beat for many 
minutes after respiration ceases. The violent gastro-enteritis which is 
present in colchicum poisoning in man certainly has much to do with 
the usual fatal result. 

Therapeutics. — The employment of colchicum in medicine centres 
around its use in gout and similar states, such as chronic rheumatism. 
Indeed, it is almost a specific in acute gout, provided that it be pushed 
until it causes slight griping or laxity of the bowels. Colchicum does 
not seem to possess any marked beneficial effect in preventing attacks. 
Indeed, while it relieves one attack it often seems to hasten the onset 
of the next. In acute gout it is usually well to unload the bowels by 
a small dose of compound extract of colocynth, with some hyoscyamus 
added to it to stop griping. Thus 



K . — Ext. colocynth. comp gr. x vel xx (0.65-1.3). 

Ext. hyoscyami gr. ij (0.12).— M. 

Ft. in pil No. iv. 
S. — One as soon as threatened by an attack. 

This pill is particularly needed if constipation be present and the 
belly is hard. If the abdomen is soft, it should not be given. After 
this has acted colchicum may be given. Thirty to 40 drops (2.0- 
2.65) of the wine of the root should be given, and 20 drops more in 



COLLODION. 173 

twelve hours. In some cases of subacute or chronic gout or chronic 
rheumatism iodide of potassium should be used in conjunction with the 
colchicum. The following may be ordered : 

K.— Potassii iodidi £ss vel 3J (2.0 vel 4.0). 

Vini colchici radicis fgiss (6.0). 

Vini alb q. s. fgiij (90.0).— M. 

S. — Tablespoonful (15.0) three times a day after meals ; shake well. 

The use of colchicum in such doses as to cause severe purgation 
or emesis is dangerous, and ought not to be resorted to. Colchicine 
can be used successfully against gout in the dose of yJ-Q- to -£$ (0.0006- 
0.001) of a grain. 

Poisoning. — The symptoms of poisoning by colchicum are nausea, 
griping, agony in the belly, purging followed by the passing of thick 
mucus, with great and increasing tenesmus, profuse salivation, col- 
lapse, and death from exhaustion and gastro-enteritis. Bloody purg- 
ing is almost never seen. The poisoning is one of the most painful, 
slow, and hopeless poisonings known, and a man taking as much as 
an ounce of the wine of the root or the seed is almost inevitably 
doomed to a terrible death. Tannic acid may be used as a partial 
chemical antidote, and the stomach washed out by the administration 
of emetics and the use of the stomach-pump. Opium is to be used 
to relieve the pain and irritation, and oils are to be given to soothe 
the inflamed mucous membrane. If collapse comes on, external heat 
and stimulants are to be used, and atropine may prove of service 
under these circumstances. 

Administration. — Colchicum ought never to be used in substance, 
but should be employed in the form of wine of the root ( Vinum Col- 
chici Radicis, TJ. S.) in the dose of 10 to 20 drops (0.6-1.2), although 
if a marked effect is required 30 drops (2.0) may be used. The 
extract {JExtractum Colchici Radicis, TJ. S.) is given in the dose of 
2 to 3 grains (0.12-0.2), and the fluid extract (JExtractum Colchici 
Radicis Fluidum, TJ. S.) in the dose of 2 to 4 minims (0.1-0.3). 

Of the seeds, the tincture (Tinctura Colchici Seminis, TJ. S. and 
B. P.) is given in 30- to 90-minim (2.0-6.0) doses; the wine {Vinum 
Colchici Seminis, TJ. S.) in the same amounts ; and the fluid extract 
(JExtractum Colchici Seminis Fluidum, TJ. S.) in the dose of 2 to 5 
drops (0.1-0.3). The B. P. preparations, in addition to those given, 
are Vinum Colchici, dose 10 to 30 minims (0.6-2.0); JExtractum 
Colchici, dose \ to 1 grain (0.015-0.05); and JExtractum Colchici 
Aceticum, dose J to 2 grains (0.03-0.13). 

Colchicine is given in pill in the dose of y^-g- to -^ grain (0.0006— 

COLLODION. 

Collodium, TJ. S. and B. P., is a solution of gun-cotton or pyrox- 
ylon in alcohol and ether, and is a clear, syrup-like fluid, smelling 
strongly of ether. 

Therapeutics. — Collodion is used as an air-tight dressing for small 



174 DRUGS. 

wounds and abrasions and for rendering small dressings waterproof. 
A difficulty in its use consists in the contraction which takes place as 
it dries, which draws and puckers the part sufficiently to cause not only 
discomfort, but acute pain. It should be applied with a camel's-hair 
brush over the part aifected. 

In boils, when they are beginning in a small pustule or papule 
with an inflamed zone, collodion painted over the spot will generally 
abort the disease. If the boil has burst, this treatment is useless, 
but if it has not the pus should not be liberated, but allowed to become 
inspissated. By this treatment and by the frequent application of 
a coat or two the local trouble eventually disappears. Of course 
this rule only applies to certain cases, and if pain is caused by the 
retention of the pus, it must be evacuated with antiseptic precautions. 
In smallpox the flexible collodion may be used to prevent pitting. 

In gouty inflammations of the joints an application of collodion 
mixed with iodine, equal parts, will often remove the pain, although 
at first the suffering may be increased by this treatment. 

Flexible Collodion. 

Flexible Collodion (Collodium Flexile, TJ. S. and B. P.) is made 
by adding Canada turpentine 5 parts and castor oil 3 parts to ordi- 
nary collodion. It does not contract or become hard, and is gener- 
ally to be preferred to ordinary collodion in the dressing of wounds. 

Styptic Collodion. 

Styptic Collodion (Collodium Stypticum, TJ. S.) contains tannic 
acid, and is employed to control small hemorrhages. It is seldom 
used, and its employment is a dirty way of controlling bleeding. 

Cantharidal Collodion. 

Cantharidal Collodion (Collodium Cantharidatum, TJ. S.) has been 
referred to under the head of Cantharides. Collodium Vesicans, 
B. P., is identical with this preparation, and is used for the same 
purpose. 

COLOCYNTH. ■ 

Colocynthis, TJ. S., is the fruit of the Citrullus Colocynthis, a plant 
at present largely grown in all parts of the world. It contains an 
alkaloid, colocynthine, and a resin. Neither of these is ever used in 
medicine. Colocynth causes large watery evacuations, and may, in 
very large dose, produce fatal gastroenteritis. It is official in the 
B. P. as Colocynthidis Pulpa. 

Therapeutics. — Colocynth is never used alone, but always in com- 
bination with other drugs of its class as a hydragogue cathartic. 

In cases of chronic dropsy and for the relief of serous effusions 
this drug is generally given in the form of the compound extract of 



COND URANGO— CONIUM. 175 

colocynth (Extractum Colocynthidis Compositum, U. S. and B. P.), 
which contains 160 grms. of colocynth, 500 grms. of purified aloes, 
140 grms. of the resin of scaminony, 60 grms. of cardamom, and 140 
grms. of soap. In the dose of 5 to 20 grains (0.3-1.3) this acts as a 
powerful watery purge useful in dropsy. The extract {Extractum 
Colocynthidis, U. S.) is given with other drugs in the dose of 2 to 5 
grains (0.13-0.3) as a purge. The following is a useful form in which 
to administer it : 

&. — Extract, colocynth gr. xxx (2.0). 

Extract, belladonna? gr. ij (0.1). 

Extract, nucis vomicae gr. ij (0.1). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. x. 
S. — One each morning. 

Colocynth is one of the principal ingredients in compound cathartic 
pills (Pilulce Catharticce Composite, U. S.) Each pill contains : com- 
pound extract of colocynth, IJ grains (0.09): extract of jalap and 
calomel, of each 1 grain (0.06) ; gamboge, J- grain (0.015). This pill 
is not to be used constantly, as it eventually makes the bowels more 
constipated than before. The U. S. P. of 1890 also orders a pill 
(Pilulce Catharticce Vegetabiles, U. S.) which contains compound 
extract of colocynth, extract of hyoscyamus, extract of jalap, extract 
of leptandra, resin of podophyllin, and oil of peppermint. This is 
given in the dose of 1 to 2 pills. 

The preparations of the B. P. not official in the U. S. P. are : 
Pilula Colocynthidis Composita, composed of colocynth-pulp, aloes, 
scammony, sulphate of potassium, and oil of cloves, dose 5 to 10 
grains (0.3-0.65) ; Pilula Colocynthidis et Hyoscvami, dose 5 to 10 
grains (0.3-0.65). 

CONDURANGO. 

Condurango is the bark of Condurango Blanco, a tree of Colombia, 
South America. It was introduced into medicine in 1873 as a cure 
of gastric cancer, and at one time had a favorable reputation. We 
now know that, so far as the morbid growth is concerned, its action 
is valueless, but there is no doubt that it diminishes the severity of 
the symptoms in many cases by exercising a sedative effect on the 
gastric mucous membrane. It also tends to relieve the accompanying 
gastric catarrh through its action as a stomachic. 

The bark is never employed as the bark, but in the form of the 
fluid extract, dose 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0), or the wine, dose J to'l 
ounce (15.0-30.0). Sometimes it is given in the form of a decoction 
made by adding 1 part of the bark to 8 parts of water, which is given 
in the dose of 1 tablespoonful (2.0) three times a day. Often it is wise 
to add to the prescription a little hydrochloric acid to take the place of 
the natural acid of the stomach, which is usually lacking in such cases. 

CONIUM. 

Conium ( U. S.) is the leaves and fruit of the Conium maculatum. 
The plant grows in Europe and the United States, and contains a 



176 DRUGS. 

resin known as coniine. This drug is official in the B. P. as hemlock- 
leaves [Conii Folia) and hemlock-fruit [Conii Fructus). 

Physiological Action. — Conium in full medicinal dose produces a 
feeling of relaxation and loss of muscular power, and if the dose be 
very large it causes giddiness, staggering, and disordered vision, with 
failure of the circulation. 

Nervous System. — Conium depresses the motor nerves, and, if 
the dose be extraordinarily large, the sensory nerves. Upon the 
spinal cord it exerts a feeble depressing influence, but has no posi- 
tive effect, while the fact that consciousness continues almost up to 
death shows that the intellectual portion of the cerebrum escapes its 
influence. 

Circulation. — The action of the drug upon the circulation is 
depressant. It causes at first a fall of arterial pressure, then, if the 
dose be large, a rise, due to the asphyxia caused by nervo-muscular 
failure of the respiratory apparatus. Finally, a constant fall of pressure 
takes place. 

Respiration is depressed, because of the paralytic influence of the 
drug on the nerve-trunks supplying the respiratory muscles. 

Therapeutics. — Conium holds an unimportant place in the drug- 
list of to-day. It has little value except in spasms due to irritation 
of a nerve-trunk, when it may be of service. In spasms of cortical 
or spinal origin other drugs should be used, as it is evident that 
conium has really no effect in quieting the central nervous proto- 
plasm, but only prevents the impulses which are sent out from mani- 
festing themselves in movements of the muscles. The powdered 
leaves or other preparations may be smeared over poultices to relieve 
the pain of ulcers and cancers, and they certainly do good in such 
instances. 

Administration. — The dose of the alcoholic extract (Extractum 
Conii, U. S.) is from J to 1 grain (0.03-0.06), and of the fluid extract 
(Fxtractum Conii Fluidum, TJ. S.) 2 to 6 drops (0.1-0.3). The 
dose of the tincture (Tinctura Conii, B. P.) is 10 to 30 drops (0.65- 
2.0). Coniine is a liquid alkaloid which should never be used. The 
dose would be about -g^ of a grain (0.001). The dose of the hydro- 
bromide of coniine is said by Helbing to be J to J a grain (0.01-0.03). 
The preparation in the B. P. made from the leaves is Succus Conii, 
dose 30 minims to 2 fluidrachms (2.0-8.0) or more. Vapor Conii 
consists of the juice of hemlock (Succus Conii) \ ounce (16.0), 
liquor potassa 1 drachm (4.0), and distilled water 1 ounce (32.0). 
20 drops (1.2) of this mixture are placed in hot water in an inhaler, 
and so employed for the relief of irritative coughs or spasmodic 
asthma. 

It is to be remembered that the variability of the drug, so far as 
power is concerned, is very great — so great as to make it unreliable. 
For this reason a small dose should be given at first and the amount 
gradually increased. 

Poisoning. — A prominent symptom of poisoning by conium is drop- 
ping of the eyelids (ptosis), due to paralysis of the oculo-motor nerves, 






CONVA LLA RIA— COPAIBA. 177 



and staggering and inability to walk. Its treatment consists in the 
use of strychnine as a respiratory and nervous stimulant, the employ- 
ment of external heat, and the use of cardiac stimulants if the circu- 
lation fails. The stomach is to be emptied by emetics or the stomach- 
pump before the antidotes are used. 



CONVALLARIA. 

This drug is derived from the rhizome and root-stalk of Conval- 
laria majalis. It is employed in medicine as a cardiac tonic to fulfil 
the indications which direct us in the use of digitalis. While by no 
means so valuable a drug as foxglove, it sometimes acts better in an 
individual case than the older remedy. The heart is not greatly 
slowed by it, but the drug is particularly useful in cases of arhyth- 
mia and "cardiac hurry." 

The' dose of the fluid extract (Bxtractum Convallaria 3 . Fluidum, 
U. S.) is from 4 to 8 drops (0.2-0.5) three times a day. The tinc- 
ture (Tinctura Convallarice) is given in the dose of 5 to 20 minims 
(0.3-1.3). Convallamarin is a glucoside of convallaria which has 
been used in the dose of \ a grain (0.03) three times a day. Some 
clinicians think it ought to be given but once a day on account of 
a danger of cumulative action. 



COPAIBA. 

The Copaiba of the U. S. P. and B. P. is really the balsam or 
the oleoresin of Copaifera Langsdorffi, and is a clear, transparent 
liquid of oily consistency, of a pale-yellow color and a peculiar odor. 
From it is distilled an oil {Oleum Copaiba 3 , U. S. and B. P.) which is 
of little value. 

As copaiba is an oleoresin, the term "oleoresin of copaiba" is 
often used to distinguish it from the oil. 

Therapeutics. — Copaiba is used for the purpose of stimulating the 
mucous membranes of the genito-urinary tract, particularly when they 
are depressed after a period of inflammation, as in the later stages of 
gonorrhoea. In cases suffering from chronic urethritis with anaemia 
and debility the following prescription is useful: 

R. — Oleoresinse eo-paibae gj (4.0). 

Oleoresinae cubebse gtt. iv (0.2). 

Ferri et ammonii citratis gr. xx (1.3). — M. 

Ft. in capsulis No. x. 
S. — One t. d. after meals. 

Copaiba is employed in subacute and chronic bronchitis as an expect- 
orant. In the treatment of subacute pyelitis, cystitis, and dysentery 
it is of value. In dropsy due to slow renal changes it will often be 
of service. 

Administration. — Copaiba itself is given in the dose of 5 to 20 
minims (0.3-1.3) in capsule or in emulsion. The oil of copaiba 

12 



178 DRUGS. 

(Oleum Copaibce, U. S. and B. P.) is given in capsule or emulsion, 
preferably in the former, in the dose of 10 to 20 minims (0.65-1.3) 
two to four times a day. Sometimes it is dropped on sugar and so 
administered. Massa Copaibce, U. S., is made by rubbing up copaiba 
with magnesium, but this is a useless and clumsy way of using it in 
the pill form. 

The drug is eliminated in the urine, and gives the test for albumin 
with nitric acid. 

In some cases it causes urticaria, which soon disappears on the with- 
drawal of the drug. 

COPPER. 

Cuprum is never used in the form of the metal itself, but chiefly 
as the sulphate, which appears in commerce as a blue, clear, some- 
what efflorescent salt. It is soluble in 4 parts of cold water, 2 of 
boiling water, but is not soluble in alcohol. 

Physiological Action. — Copper sulphate, when locally applied to a 
mucous membrane, acts as a powerful astringent, or on the surface of 
an ulcer as a mild and superficial caustic. Upon the nervous system 
in cats it acts as a depressant poison Avhen given hypodermically, 
finally causing death from respiratory failure. When given in over- 
dose by the stomach it causes death by violent gastro-enteritis and 
exhaustion. The symptoms do not generally come on for an hour, 
and consist in burning pain in the stomach, a copperish or metallic 
taste in the mouth, followed by vomiting of bluish liquids and glairy 
mucus. With the vomiting, purging comes on, the passages at first 
containing the contents of the intestine, and finally mucus and blood. 
Convulsions of an epileptiform character are present, and constant 
and profuse salivation is not infrequent. After death fatty degene- 
ration of the liver and kidneys has been noticed, and it is not at all 
uncommon for jaundice to appear after the first twenty-four hours, 
if the patient survives so long. This jaundice is dependent upon 
changes in the blood. The treatment of the poisoning consists in 
the primary use of the chemical antidote, which is the yellow prus- 
siate of potassium, and the administration of emollient or demulcent 
substances, such as sweet oil and white of eggs, followed instantly by 
emetics or the stomach-pump. If emesis and purgation are already 
active, emetics are of course contraindicated, and counter-irritation 
is to be employed over the stomach and intestines in the shape of a 
mustard plaster of moderate strength, and opium given to allay irrita- 
tion and relieve pain. 

Chronic copper poisoning is almost never seen, and, although the 
metal is widely used for coloring canned green vegetables, it seems 
to be harmless when ingested in such small amounts. 

Therapeutics. — Sulphate of copper (Cupri Sulphas, TJ. S. and 
B. P.), in the dose of 5 to 7 grains (0.3-0.4) may be used as a rap- 
idly-acting emetic which only acts upon the stomach, not the vomit- 
ing centre. As it is irritant, the emetic dose ought not to be repeated, 
but if emesis does not occur the sulphate of zinc or mustard should 



CREOSOTE. 179 

be used in its stead. Indeed, it may be said of sulphate of copper 
that it should never be given as an emetic, except in phosphorus poi- 
soning, when it acts as the chemical antidote. Even here its use must 
be most cautious, for Thornton has proved in the Laboratory of 
Experimental Therapeutics of the Jefferson Medical College that an 
antidotal dose of copper sulphate given to a dog poisoned with phos- 
phorus may produce death before the phosphorus can cause a lethal 
result. In pill form it is sometimes given in diarrhoeas depending 
upon ulceration of the bowels, The dose should be J to 1 grain 
(0.015-0.06) combined with opium. 

In some states of the body, particularly in shin diseases of the dry 
type and in persons with tubercular tendencies, copper seems to act 
like arsenic, and may be used in minute doses of y 1 ^ of a grain (0.006) 
or less three times a day where arsenic is not well borne. In small 
doses it is said to be a direct stimulant to the tissues, and to increase 
the firmness of the flesh and strength of the normal man. Very 
recently strong claims for copper as a remedy for anosmia have been 
put forward, particularly if it is employed as the arsenite of copper, 
when the action of the arsenic and copper together produces a good 
effect. 

Locally applied, sulphate of copper is useful, in the solid form or 
in powder, in the treatment of indolent ulcers. In chronic conjunc- 
tivitis or in cases of tinea tarsi — that is, tinea on the margin of the 
eyelids— a crystal of the sulphate may be drawn over the diseased 
spot; or a weak solution of 1 to 3 grains (0.06-0.18) to the ounce 
(32.0) of water may be dropped into the eye in subacute con- 
junctivitis. 

In relaxed sore throat, as a gargle, in the strength of 4 grains (6.2) 
to the ounce, it is often of service. 



CREOSOTE. 

Creosote (Creosotum, U. S. and B. P), as employed in medicine, 
should always be derived from the destructive distillation of beech- 
wood and be designated " beechwood creosote." Much of that sold 
is derived from coal-tar, and is far less useful. Chemically, creosote 
is almost identical with carbolic acid. Clinically, it is very different. 
Beechwood creosote should be of a reddish-amber hue and about as 
thick as olive oil. Its physiological action is almost identical with 
that of carbolic acid, and in poisoning by creosote the same antidotes 
as are employed in carbolic-acid poisoning — namely, soluble sulphates 
— should be used, as has been proved in experiments by the author. 
Creosote contains 60 per cent, of guaiacol and 40 of cresol, not creosol. 
Guaiacol is sometimes used in place of creosote in the dose of 1 to 2 
minims (0.06-0.13). (See Guaiacol.) Creosote is a powerful anti- 
septic. 

According to the studies of Imbert, creosote is eliminated chiefly 
by the kidneys in the form of guaiacol sulphate and creosol sulphate 
of potassium. Elimination does not go on very rapidly, for this 



180 DRUGS. 

investigator did not find it completed for about twenty-eight hours. 
A small amount of the drug is eliminated by the lungs. 

Therapeutics. — During the past few years creosote has been largely 
prescribed in phthisis and chronic bronchitis, and some of the results 
reached by its use have undoubtedly been of value. It has also been 
inhaled from sponges with great relief, and even has been injected 
into the lungs by the trachea or through the chest-wall. (See article 
on Tuberculosis.) In the treatment of chronic bronchitis creosote may 
be placed in boiling water and inhaled in the steam. Under these 
circumstances it at least relieves the foetor of the breath, and this 
method often gives more rapid relief than any other measure in ordi- 
nary subacute inflammation of the bronchi. The beginning dose when 
the drug is given internally is 2 to 5 drops (0.1-0.35). 

Creosote is useless, so far as producing a cure is concerned, if 
tuberculosis is more than incipient, and ought not to be employed if 
it disorders the stomach. The drug is contraindicated in phthisis 
if fever or haemoptysis be present, but in those patients who have little 
fever and a rather slow development of the disease creosote often proves 
of very considerable advantage. The most favorable subjects for its 
employment are those in whom there is, in addition to parenchymatous 
changes in the lungs, marked bronchial catarrh, with a profuse secre- 
tion of mucus. In such cases the following prescription may be used : 

& .— Creosoti (beechwood) f giij (12.0). 

Tinct. gentian, comp f %] (32.0). 

Spt. vini rectificati f ^viij (256.0). 

Vini Xerici Oij (1 litre).— M. 

S. — A tablespoonful in a wineglassful (16.0 : 64.0) of water three times a day. 

Unless the patient is fastidious, the creosote may be dropped into 
half a glass of milk and taken in this three times a day. Often as 
much as a drachm can be given by gradually producing tolerance 
through ascending doses; and it is worthy of note that in most in- 
stances large doses are required if * satisfactory results are to be 
obtained. 

Inhalations of the drug often give relief in the advanced stages of 
phthisis, and decrease the cough, allay the laryngeal dryness, and aid 
expectoration. When creosote is given hypodermically in phthisis, it 
should be given in the following formula: 

R.— Creosoti . . . f^ij (8.0). 

Olei amygdal. dulcis f.^ij (8.0).— M. 

S. — 10 minims (0.65) to be injected deeply into tissues below the scapula. 

This method is not to be employed except in rare cases. 

In the treatment of subacute laryngitis a fine spray of 1 to 2 
minims (0.05-0.1) of creosote, 4 grains (0.2) of menthol, and 1 ounce 
(32.0) of alboline is of service used several times a day, or a mixture 
composed of creosote 10 minims (0.65), chloroform spirit 10 minims 
(0.65), and alcohol 20 minims (1.3) may be placed on an inhaler and 
inhaled. 

Creosote is a very valuable remedy in cases of indigestion with 
fermentative changes in the gastric contents when these arise from the 



CREOSOTE CARBONATE— CREOLIN. 181 

deficient digestion of meats or the use of sweets, when given in the dose 
of | to 2 minims (0.03 to 0.1) after meals, preferably in tablet or capsule. 
Applied on a pledget of cotton to the cavity of a tooth, creosote often 
relieves toothache by virtue of its anesthetic influence over peripheral 
sensory nerves. Sometimes creosote is given in pancreatized cod-liver 
oil by enema, from 5 to 15 drops being so given to children with pul- 
monary or peritoneal tuberculosis. 

While ordinary medicinal doses of creosote rarely cause disagree- 
able symptoms, except some disorder of the stomach or bowels when 
it is pushed in full doses, the physician who is ordering large amounts 
should be always on the lookout for toxic symptoms. These consist in 
vertigo, headache, and a tendency to stupor, and the urine may become 
smoky in appearance, as in carbolic-acid poisoning. If any of these 
signs of overdosing appear, the drug must be reduced in dose or 
stopped altogether. 

The preparations of creosote are Aqua Creosoti, U. S. and B. P., 
given in the dose of 1 to 3 fluidrachms (4.0-12.0) ; Mistura Oreosoti, 
B. P., dose 1 to 2 fluidounces (32.0-64.0); JJnguentum Oreosoti, B. P., 
for local application. 

CREOSOTE CARBONATE. 

Creosote carbonate, sometimes called " Creosotal," is a combination 
of creosote with carbonic acid. Over 90 per cent, of creosote car- 
bonate is said to be creosote. It is a thick, oily fluid of an amber 
color, with but little taste or odor. It is insoluble in water, alcohol, and 
glycerin, but is soluble in 95 per cent, alcohol, in ether, chloroform, 
and in cod-liver and olive oils. It is said to be less irritating to the 
stomach than creosote. The drug is dissolved and absorbed chiefly in 
the intestine. The dose of creosote carbonate is identical with that of 
creosote itself, and it is used for the same purposes. It is best given in 
capsules in olive oil. (See Guaiacol Carbonate.) 

CREOLIN. 

Creolin is a liquid cresol, a coal-tar product, possessing marked 
antiseptic but comparatively slight poisonous properties. In appear- 
ance it is a dark-brown fluid, and is derived from soft coal. It is of 
the consistency of syrup. When added to water it forms a white 
cloud and mixes thoroughly, forming an emulsion up to 12 per cent, 
of the drug. 

Therapeutics. — Creolin is used as an antiseptic in the lying-in 
state, as a wash for the hands, and for vaginal irrigation. It cannot 
be used as a solution in which to place instruments, as it makes so 
opaque a mixture with water as to prevent their being seen when lying 
at the bottom of the dish. When used as a vaginal douche it should 
be employed in the strength of 2 per cent. One of its properties which 
is of value is that it forms a slippery coating over the maternal parts 
during parturition. In the treatment of cystitis in the female, Parvin 
highly recommends it as a vesical wash in the strength of a 1 per cent. 



182 DRUGS. 

solution, or, after the bladder becomes accustomed to its use, in a 2 per 
cent, solution. According to Kretzschmar and others, a solution of 
1 to 500, used with a syringe, is useful in otorrhoea, 1 to 100 in nasal 
ulcers, and 1 to 1000 as a nasal douche in rhinitis when there is 
much discharge with the formation of crusts. Creolin has also been 
used as an injection in the proportion of 5 parts in 1000 of water for 
dysentery and entero-colitis with success. 

In the eye Alt has used with good results a 1 to 2 per cent, solution 
in the treatment of blepharitis, keratitis, and phlyctenular ophthalmia, 

CROTON CHLORAL. 

Croton Chloral, or Butyl Chloral Hydras, B. P., has a physio- 
logical action closely allied to chloral itself, but possesses more anal- 
gesic power and is very much less depressant to the heart and circu- 
lation. The dose for the production of sleep is the same as chloral, 
5 to 20 grains (0.3-1.3) in syrup. 

Therapeutics. — Croton chloral is preferable to chloral in sleepless- 
ness due to pain. 

In facial neuralgia and migraine it is exceedingly efficacious, par- 
ticularly if the fifth nerve be involved. In headaches due to eye- 
strain, and in those associated with sick stomach, but not due to 
gastric indigestion or nervous debility, croton chloral is of service. 
Curiously enough, it is valueless in toothache, but does good in the 
neuralgia due to decayed teeth. 

Administration. — Croton chloral should be used in pill form in the 
dose of 3 to 5 grains (0.2-0.3) every two hours till the pain is 
relieved or sleep comes on, or it may be given in solution or syrup 
of acacia and water, or water and glycerin. It has been used in as 
large a dose as 60 grains (4.0), but 20 to 30 grains (0.65-2.0) ought 
to be the maximum dose as a general rule. 



CROTON OIL. 

Croton oil {Oleum Tiglii, "U. S. ; Oleum Crotonis, B. P.) is an 
exceedingly irritant oil derived from Croton Tiglium, a small tree of 
India. The oil is pale yellow and of a complex character. Applied 
to the skin for any length of time, it is an intense irritant, producing 
blisters or pustules. 1 drop (0.06), placed on the tongue with 5 drops 
(0.35) of sweet oil, acts as a violent watery purge, and, owing to the 
smallness of its dose, it is frequently employed to revulse the uncon- 
scious, as in cerebral congestion. In delirium it is used for the same 
purpose, and may be given to maniacs who are suffering from an 
attack of cerebral congestion or obstinate constipation, owing to the 
smallness of its dose and rapidity of action. The dose is 1 drop (0.06) 
placed on the tongue with sweet oil or given in emulsion or in pill. 
It ought never to be used when there is any irritation of the stomach 
or bowels. As a counter-irritant it is sometimes applied over a ten- 
der nerve or to the chest in the treatment of bronchitis, in the pro- 



CUBEBS— CUSSO. 183 

portion of half-and-half with sweet oil. Thus applied, it may be 
absorbed and cause purging. The treatment of poisoning by croton 
oil is identical with that of gastro-enteritis. (See Gastro-enteritis.) 
Linimentum Crotonis is a preparation of the B. P. ivhich is employed 
as a counter-irritant liniment for sprains and in muscular rheumatism. 



CUBEBS. 

Cubebs {Cubeba, TJ. S. and B. P.) are the unripe fruit of Piper 
Cubeba, a plant of Java. They consist in wrinkled or rough black 
bodies about the size of small peas, and have an aromatic pungent 
taste. They contain a volatile oil, cubebic acid, and cubebin. The 
drug should not be kept in powdered form, as it loses its powers, but 
should be powdered as needed. Overdoses of cubebs cause gastro- 
intestinal and genito-urinary inflammation. 

Therapeutics. — Cubebs are used in the advanced stages of gonor- 
rhea where a tendency to a chronic discharge is present. Some sur- 
geons have used them in the early stages as an abortive treatment, 
but this is a bad practice. In cold in the head the powdered berries 
may be snuffed up the nostril, provided that the stage of secretion is 
well established. They ought not to be used before this stage. In 
the treatment of chronic or subacute bronchitis the oleoresin of 
cubebs is very useful in some cases (see Bronchitis), and in the form 
of cubeb cigarettes the drug is much used as a remedy for hoarseness 
due to subacute laryngitis. 

Administration. — Cubebs may be given in powder in the dose of 
10 to 60 grains (0.65-4.0), in the fluid extract (Extr actum Cubeba? 
Fluidum, TJ. S.) 10 to 30 drops (0.65-2.0), and in the form of the 
tincture {Tinctura Cubeba?, TJ. S. and B. P.) in the dose of 10 drops 
to ^ an ounce (0.65 : 16.0). 

The dose of the oleoresin (Oleoresina Cubeba?, TJ. S.) is 2 to 20 
drops (0.1-1.3) three times a day, and it may be given in capsules or 
emulsion. The troches of cubebs (Trochisci Cubeba?, TJ. S.) are 
used for the relief of pharyngitis of a chronic type. The dose of the 
oil [Oleum Cubeba?, TJ. S. and B. P.) is 5 to 20 minims (0.3-1.3). 



cusso. 

Cusso, TJ. S. and B. P., sometimes called Kousso, is derived from 
Brayera Anthelmintic a, a plant of Abyssinia. In the TJ. 8. P. of 
1880 it was called Brayera. It contains a volatile oil, tannic acid, 
and koosin or taeniin. The drug is used against the tape-worm, and 
is most valuable as a vermifuge, also possessing the advantage of 
safety. It should be used in an infusion (Infusum Brayera?) in the 
dose of \ an ounce (16.0) of the powdered flowers to a pint (500 
cc.) of water, and be taken in the morning on an empty stomach. 
(See Worms.) Koosin may be used in the dose of 20 to 40 grains 
(1.3-2.5) in capsule. The fluid extract [Extr actum Cusso Fluidum) is 



184 DRUGS. 

given in the dose of \ an ounce (16.0). It has been said that the 
drug is apt to cause abortion in pregnant women, but this is not 
known to be a fact. 



CYANIDE OP POTASSIUM. 

Cyanide of Potassium (Potassii Cyanidum, U. S.) is used in the 
same way and for the same purpose as hydrocyanic acid. (See 
Hydrocyanic Acid.) The dose is y 1 ^ to y 1 ^- of a grain (0.006). 

The following prescriptions may be used in cases suffering from 
bronchitis or phthisis accompanied with excessive cough : 



R . — Potassii cyanid . 

Morphinse sulph 

Acid, sulph. arom 

Syr. pruni virginianse . . . 
S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) three times a day 



• • • gr.ij (0.1). 
■ • - gr.j (0.05). 
. . . f Sij (8.0). 
q. s. ad f giij (96.0).— M. 



Or as follows : 



R .—Potassii cyanid gr. ij (0.1). 

Ammon. chloridi ^ij (8.0). 

Acid, hydrochlor. dil f^j (4.0). 

Elix. calisayse q. s. ad f giij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) three or four times a day. 



DERMATOL. 
(See Bismuth Subgallate.) 

DIASTASE. 

The word diastase is applied to substances found in certain of the 
digestive juices of the animal body and present in processes connected 
with grain when fermented, as, for example, in the manufacture of al- 
coholic beverages. Whatever diastase may be in one sense, we recog- 
nize that it belongs to the same class of enzymes as pepsin and the 
like, and it has the power of converting starch into sugar. Many 
preparations of malt contain some diastatic power, but there is only 
one preparation of diastase, which possesses no other property save that 
of aiding the digestion of the starches — namely, one prepared origin- 
ally by a Japanese investigator, Takamine, and called from his name 
" Taka-diastase." It is used to relieve cases of indigestion of the 
starchy foods in the dose of 2 to 5 grains after meals, in tablets or 
capsules or in a solution. 



DIGITALIS. 

Digitalis, U. S., is the leaves of Digitalis purpurea, or foxglove, of 
the second year's growth. The leaves are official in the B. P. as Digi- 



DIGITALIS. 185 

talis Folia. It contains a number of substances, no single one of 
which acts as do preparations of the crude drug. In other words, all 
these compounds must act together to be therapeutically active. Among 
the substances so far isolated from digitalis by chemists may be 
named digitalin, digitalein, digitoxin, digitin, and digitonin. Several 
of these are simply compounds of the others. Digitalin, so called, 
occurs in two forms, amorphous and crystalline. The crystalline digi- 
talin (French) is largely digitoxin, while the amorphous is composed 
of digitonin, digitalein, and digitalin. A pure digitalin has been 
isolated which can now be obtained from Merck. Digitoxin and pure 
digitalin are the two most active principles yet found. None of these 
substances should be used in medicine to take the place of digitalis. 

We have already pointed out in the early part of this volume the 
necessity of employing reliable drugs. In the instance of digitalis 
this is particularly important, because the cases in which it is used 
are often serious, and because digitalis varies greatly in strength. 
As a rule, the wild digitalis is stronger than the cultivated, and the 
English or German digitalis is better than the American. The prep- 
arations of digitalis should therefore be obtained from a first-rate 
manufacturing pharmacist after they have been physiologically tested. 

Physiological Action. — Digitalis is apt to irritate mucous membranes 
which are already slightly out of order, and for this reason should not 
be given by the mouth in cases of gastritis and allied states if it can be 
avoided. 

Nervous System. — The action of digitalis upon the nervous sys- 
tem is only manifested when poisonous doses are used. Small toxic 
doses decrease reflex activity by stimulating Setschenow's reflex inhib- 
itory centres in the medulla, and finally by depressing the spinal cord. 
Convulsions are sometimes seen as a result of the action of decomposi- 
tion products of digitalis — namely, toxiresin and digitalresin. Finally, 
the motor nerve-trunks themselves are depressed and the muscles are 
paralyzed. 

Circulation. — Upon the circulatory system digitalis exerts its chief 
influence. In moderate or medicinal amounts it increases the pulse- 
force and arterial pressure, slows the pulse, and increases the size of the 
pulse-wave. The increase of pulse-force is due to a stimulating influ- 
ence exercised upon the cardiac ganglia and the muscular fibres of the 
heart ; the rise of arterial pressure is caused by the increase in pulse- 
force and pulse-volume, and by a stimulation of the vasomotor centre 
and the muscular coats of the blood-vessels, whereby a contraction occurs 
in the walls of the arteries and arterioles. The slow pulse is produced 
by stimulation of the pneumogastric centre and the peripheral ends of 
the vagus verves. The increase in the volume of the pulse is due to 
this influence on the vagi, for, the pneumogastric nerves being stimu- 
lated, the diastole of the heart is more full and complete and occupies a 
greater length of time. The result of this delay is that the ventricles 
become thoroughly distended, and on contracting drive out a much larger 
wave of blood through the aorta than is normally sent out. This is 
important to remember when using the drug in heart disease and other 
states. While we do not know that the vagi are the trophic nerves of 



186 DRUGS. 

the heart, we have a large amount of evidence in favor of such a 
view, and it has long been thought that digitalis was not only a heart 
stimulant, but a heart tonic. If the trophic nerves of the heart are 
stimulated by digitalis, it becomes evident that it is a doubly useful 
remedy. 1 (See the article on " Heart Disease " in Part IV. of this 
volume for a further explanation of the influence of digitalis in 
improving the nutrition of the heart muscle.) 

When very full medicinal doses of digitalis are given, or when poison- 
ous doses are ingested, the action of the heart becomes exceedingly 
irregular, hobbling, and dicrotic. (See Poisoning.) What the cause 
of this irregularity is we do not know. It is certainly not due to weak- 
ness, for the cardiac beats, when they occur, are in themselves more 
forcible than in health. The probable explanation of this peculiar 
cardiac irregularity lies in a disturbance of the co-ordinating apparatus 
of the various parts of the heart muscle. By this the author does not 
refer to the so-called co-ordinating centre of Kronecker and Schmey, 
which probably does not exist, but to the changes which may take 
place in the so-called "contraction wave," which is found to begin in 
the normal heart at the great veins and passes from them through the 
auricular walls to the walls of the ventricles. It has been found by 
Wooldridge and by Tigerstedt that if the auricle and ventricles be 
separated by a ligature or clamp, they still continue beating, but no 
longer do so synchronously, or, in other words, the centres of each set 
of walls act independently of the others. The irregular action of the 
heart under) digitalis is probably dependent upon a disassociation of 
these centres-; and this theory is still further substantiated by the 
experiments of Roy and Adami, who have proved that independent 
contraction of the various parts of the heart can be produced by stim- 
ulation of the peripheral end of the cut vagus, a part of the nerve 
which is stimulated by digitalis in the large doses which we have been 
considering. In man we frequently see this irregular pulse replaced 
by an exceedingly rapid pulse, which is shuttle-like in character ; and 
whether the pulse be irregular or rapid, the arterial pressure is always 
low, owing, first, to the imperfect action of the heart, and, second, to 
a depression of the vasomotor centres and the muscular coats of the 
blood-vessels. The rapid pulse, when it occurs, is probably due to a 
depression of the peripheral ends of the vagus nerves. 

In the frog digitalis causes, when given in full doses, systolic 
arrest of the heart, but in man the arrest is in diastole. 

If a patient who has taken a poisonous dose be suddenly raised up, 
he may drop dead, owing to the disturbance of the contraction-wave in 
the heart produced by the erect posture. Under these circumstances 
the heart beats so abortively that the circulation fails. 

Respikation. — Digitalis has almost no effect on this function unless 
the amount be poisonous, when respiration is slowed. 

Temperature. — Upon the normal bodily temperature digitalis has 
little or no effect in medicinal dose. In poisonous dose it lowers tem- 

1 In a recent study by the author he found that when digitalis is given continu- 
ously for a long period" of time there results cardiac hypertrophy independent of any 
valvular lesion. See Therapeutic Gazette, December, 1897. 



DIGITALIS. 187 

perature. In fever the drug seems to cause a slight fall with some con- 
stancy, but it can rarely be used for any antipyretic influence. High 
temperatures prevent digitalis from slowing the pulse, because, as 
proved by Brunton and Cash, fever depresses the vagus centres in the 
medulla, and also in all probability, when the temperature is very high, 
the peripheral ends of the vagus. This is an important point to be 
remembered in the therapeutic use of this drug. 

Kidneys, Tissue-waste, and Elimination. — Digitalis has almost 
no effect over the kidney structure itself, and does not to any extent 
stimulate the renal epithelium. The cause of the increased urinary flow 
produced by digitalis in cases of cardiac dropsy depends upon the 
removal of congestion of the kidneys and the increased arterial pres- 
sure and improved circulation brought about by the drug. 

It is important to remember that digitalis, if given in overdose, may 
cause a spasm of the blood-vessels of the kidney, and so cause suppres- 
sion of urine. This is usually followed by the development of cumula- 
tive effects. 

Upon tissue- waste digitalis seems to have little effect, but there is 
still some discrepancy in the reports as to the amount of urea cast off 
under its use, some investigators saying it is increased, others that it 
is diminished. 

We do not know how the drug is eliminated, as chemists have never 
been able to find it in the urine. It is probably oxidized in the body. 

Poisoning. — The slow, full pulse, followed by the hobbling, dicrotic, 
shuttle-like pulse-beats, and the angry, tumultuous cardiac beat against 
the chest-wall, afford a combination of symptoms characteristic of the 
over-action of digitalis. The pulse may be full and slow when the 
patient is lying down, but at once becomes irregular on his sitting up. 

Often when the patient has by error received too much of the drug 
the finger can scarcely note any pulse at the wrist, yet the ear when 
placed over the heart shows it to be beating wildly, as though it would 
break out of the chest. It is important that the weak pulse at the 
wrist be not taken as the only guide as to the state of the patient for 
this very reason, and the physician should always auscult the praecor- 
dium before reaching an opinion as to the action of digitalis. 

As the poisoning progresses vomiting may come on, exophthalmus 
occurs, and a peculiar blue pearliness of the sclerotic coat of the eye 
is seen. Consciousness is generally preserved nearly to the last. 
Death from digitalis poisoning may be put off for days or occur in 
two hours or even less. Headache is often a severe symptom. 

Treatment of Poisoning. — Tannic acid is to be given as a chem- 
ical antidote ; emetics and the stomach-pump are to be used, the former 
only when the drug has not yet been absorbed, for if the heart is much 
affected emetics are dangerous. External heat is to be applied, par- 
ticularly about the abdomen ; the maintenance of a horizontal posi- 
tion must be insisted upon for several days after active symptoms have 
passed by, for sudden death on sitting up has occurred. The use of 
tincture of aconite, as the physiological antidote, is resorted to. 

Therapeutics. — Much unfortunate misunderstanding concerning the 
action of digitalis has arisen, and, while some call it a circulatory stim- 



188 DRUGS. 

ulant, others think it a circulatory depressant. The first class base 
their belief on the signs of increased arterial pressure and cardiac power, 
the others on the fact that it slows and steadies an irritable, rapidly- 
acting heart, and they overlook the other signs. Digitalis is a car- 
diac stimulant, and not a depressant. The quieting of irritability by 
it is the quietness produced by the drink of whiskey or coffee taken 
by the pugilist before he enters the ring, to steady his nerves and 
make him firm. If digitalis is used to decrease arterial tension, its 
dose must be dangerously large. (See Physiological Action.) 

Digitalis is of value in all cases of cardiac disease where the con- 
dition is one in which the heart fails to do its proper amount of work. 
If simple hypertrophy or excessive compensatory hypertrophy exists, 
it is harmful. It is of less value in aortic regurgitation than in any 
other lesion, because the prolongation of diastole allows greater oppor- 
tunity for the blood to fall back into the ventricle, although in the 
second stage of this lesion, when the mitral orifice and valve are 
beginning to be affected, it is often very useful. In some instances 
of mitral regurgitation the drug does harm by overdistending the 
auricle through ventricular stimulation, which results in an increase 
in the regurgitant flow, and we can never tell before trying it which 
cases will be so affected. In cases where the heart is irritable, palpi- 
tation present, and indigestion not the cause of the trouble, digitalis 
is of .service. (See Heart Disease.) 1 It is also useful in cardiac dila-.l 
tatiou and asthenia — that condition which DaCosta calls a tired heart. , 

In the second stage of pneumonia if the heart is laboring and un- 
able to do its work properly, digitalis is often invaluable (see Pneu- 
monia), and as a heart tonic during the course of exhausting fevers, in 
small doses, is of great service. In congestion of the lungs in the 
typhoid state it will drive out the blood from the part congested and 
relieve stasis. 

In cardiac weakness from collapse, injury, poisoning, or shock digi- 
talis is of service, particularly in aconite poisoning, in which it is the 
physiological antidote. Owing to the slowness of its action it should, 
however, be preceded by amm6*hia and alcohol where the need is 
pressing. In muscarine poisoning digitalis is the antidote. 

As a diuretic digitalis is most useful when the kidneys are congested 
and the circulation is sluggish from cardiac feebleness. When the renal 
structure is diseased other drugs should take its place, or it should be 
combined with more active renal remedies, such as squill or caffeine, or 
in very chronic cases of kidney trouble with compound spirit of juniper. 

Untoward Effects. — Digitalis sometimes causes nausea and indigestion 
by irritating the stomach. In children it is very apt to produce marked 
irregularity of the pulse. When it is given in full doses the patient 
should always be made to remain in bed and not allowed to sit up sud- 
denly, as syncope may occur. It is particularly important that this rule 
be enforced if the patient desires to empty his bladder, for cases are on 
record in which a patient has risen suddenly, emptied the bladder, and 
fainted or even died in syncope. 

1 It is absolutely necessary for the student to turn to the article on Heart Disease 
and to read it carefully in order to understand the action of digitalis in disease. 



DIGITALIS. 189 

In some cases a cumulative action occurs which consists in the 
failure of the drug to appreciably influence the circulation for some 
days, only to exert all its power suddenly and produce symptoms of 
poisoning. This is particularly apt to occur when the removal of 
ascites or dropsy takes place by tapping after the drug has been taken 
for a long period. It is thought that the sudden withdrawal of pres- 
sure upon the great vascular trunks of the body-cavities causes the 
absorption of the drug with the juices of the tissues where it has 
remained inactive. Such an accident also sometimes occurs when a 
fever ends by crisis and digitalis has been given. It also takes place 
whenever full doses are given so frequently as to be in excess of elimi- 
nation, for the drug is slowly eliminated, and so rapidly accumulates in 
the body. Cumulative action is often preceded by a scanty passage of 
urine. A decrease in the quantity of the urine when digitalis is being 
used should cause the physician to stop its administration or be most 
cautious in its continuance. 

Contraindications. — In cases of marked atheroma of the blood-ves- 
sels, in aneurism and apoplexy digitalis is a dangerous drug, because it 
raises arterial pressure, and it is because^of this effect that it is harmful 
in the presence of arterial excitement. In fatty degeneration of the 
heart the remaining healthy muscular fibres of this organ are, it is 
true, stimulated by the drug, but at the same time it also increases 
arterial tension to such an extent as to increase the labor of the 
failing heart. 

Administration. — The official preparations of digitalis are the tinc- 
ture (Tinctura Digitalis, U. S. and B. P.), dose 10 to 20 drops (0.65— 
1.3); the infusion (Infusum Digitalis, U. S. and B. P.), 1 teaspoon- 
ful to 4 teaspoonfuls (4.0-16.0) ; the fluid extract (Extr actum Digi- 
talis Fluidum, U. S.), dose 1 to 2 drops (0.05-0.1); the extract 
(Fxtractum Digitalis, JJ. S.), J of a grain (0.015); and the powdered 
digitalis leaves (Digitalis Folia, B. P.), dose 1 to 4 grains (0.05-0.2), 
generally given in a pill. 

Some choice should be exercised in the use of the various prepa- 
rations made from digitalis leaves, because the different active ingre- 
dients of the drug possess different solubilities and exert different 
effects on the circulation. Thus digitalin, digitoxin, and digitalein 
all act as powerful stimulants to the heart muscle. Digitalin also 
stimulates the vagus peripherally and centrically. All three of these 
raise arterial pressure by stimulating the vasomotor system periph- 
erally and centrically. Digitonin, on the other hand, does not stim- 
ulate the heart muscle, but rather depresses it. It also depresses the 
vagus and thereby somewhat antagonizes the digitalin, 1 digitoxin, and 
digitalein. 

If we now turn to a consideration of the solubilities of these prin- 
ciples, we can readily explain the different effects produced by the 
infusion and tincture or fluid extract. Digitonin is soluble in water, 
as is digitalein ; but digitalin is only slightly soluble and digitoxin is 

1 By digitalin reference is made to that prepared by Merck, and sometimes 
called the digitalin of Schmiedeberg, and not the amorphous form of Homolle or the 
crystalline digitalin of Nativelle. 



190 DRUGS. 

scarcely at all soluble in water. As a result, the use of the infusion 
in a case of heart disease would not give the patient the same degree 
of cardiac power as the use of the tincture, for not only would the 
most powerful stimulant of all to the heart, vasomotor system, and 
vagi — namely, digitalin — be present in small amount, but in addi- 
tion the large proportion of digitonin would antidote it. On the 
other hand, digitonin is sparingly soluble in alcohol, while digitalin 
and digitalein are readily soluble in it, digitoxin being slightly so. 
It would seem, therefore, that in the presence of a failing heart and 
circulation the tincture and the fluid extract are the preparations 
greatly to be preferred to the infusion, because they contain large 
amounts of the active stimulant ingredients. 

The reason that the infusion acts efficiently as a diuretic in some 
cases probably depends upon the fact that as it does not contain so 
much digitalin it is less apt to cause spasm of the renal vessels ; 
but if the heart is feeble and there is renal stasis, the tincture is 
probably the better preparation to overcome this state, because it both 
aids the heart and by contracting the renal vessels overcomes the 
stasis. The use of digitalin is inadvisable, unless Ave are sure that we 
get that made according to the process of Schmiedeberg, for the other 
digitalins usually sold are very uncertain. The infusion is far more 
apt to disorder the stomach than the fluid extract or tincture, because 
of the irritating digitonin. The dose of digitalin, which ought not to 
be used as a substitute for digitalis, is -fa of a grain (0.001). 

When digitalis cannot be swallowed it can be given hypodermi- 
cally in the form of the tincture, or its absorption can be brought 
about by the use of a poultice made by placing some digitalis leaves 
in a small bag and steeping it in hot water. The bag is then placed 
over the loins. This treatment must be cautiously employed to avoid 
poisoning. 

DIURETIN. 

(See SODIO-SALICYLATE OF THEOBROMINE.) 

DUBOISINE. 

Duboisine is the alkaloid of the leaves of Duboisia myoporoides, a 
plant of Australia. The crude drug is little used in medicine, but 
duboisine sulphate is used as a mydriatic under the same conditions as 
is atropine, and more largely still as a hypnotic in insanity, inter- 
changeably with hyoscine. The dose of duboisine sulphate hypodermi- 
cally as a hypnotic is -^ to -^ of a grain (0.0008-0.001). The clinical 
experience so far adduced would seem to indicate that it tends to de- 
crease urinary secretion and to disorder the digestion, producing at the 
same time a soapy taste in the mouth, with excessive dryness of the 
mucous membranes. Rarely it causes profuse salivation or sweating in 
those who have an idiosyncracy to its use. In a large number of insane 
and hysterical cases De Montyel found its use was followed by vom- 
iting of part of the food, but the patients seemed to have no nausea. 



ELATERIUM— ERGOT. 191 

The sulphate has been used with much asserted success in the treat- 
ment of paralysis agitans. Usually the dose by the mouth for this pur- 
pose has been y^-g- of a grain three times a day. Cividati and Gianelli 
assert that duboisine is useful in epilepsy, particularly in its psychic 
forms. 



ELATERIUM. 

Elaterium, B. P., is a sediment obtained from the juice of the 
Ecballium Elaterium, or squirting cucumber. It appears in small, 
easily-broken, thin, grayish-green flakes, and has a bitter taste. Ela- 
terium is not official in the U. S. P., but its active principle, elaterin 
{Elaterinum, U. S. and B. P.), is official. Notwithstanding this fact, 
the crude drug is largely used. 

Physiological Action. — Elaterium is a very decided irritant to all 
mucous membranes, and even to the fingers of those who handle it. 
Its chief effect when taken internally by man is to cause profuse 
watery stools, but for some unknown reason it rarely acts upon 
animals in this manner. 

Therapeutics. — This drug is the best hydragogue purge which we 
have, causing very large watery passages, but not producing much 
pain when used in proper dose. For this reason it is useful in the 
treatment of local serous effusions, as in pericarditis and pleurisy, and 
in dropsy and ascites or general anasarca. It ought never to be used 
in cases of marked exhaustion, and may be advantageously followed, 
soon after it acts, by alcoholic stimulants. In uraemia with dropsy it 
is thought to aid in the elimination of the urgemic poison by the 
bowel. In cerebral congestions or effusions the drug will often be of 
service by depleting the diseased vessels. 

In poisoning by elaterium the symptoms are those of violent gas- 
troenteritis, and must be treated accordingly. (See Gastro-enteritis.) 

Administration. — The dose of elaterium is J of a grain (0.01), 
given in a freshly-made pill. Elaterin is best given in the dose of 
from -gV to £r of a grain (0.002-0.004), as follows : 

R.— Elaterini gr. iv (0.2). 

Alcoholis f ^iv (128.0).— M. 

Dissolve by gentle heat. 
S. — Half a drachm contains T V grain (0.004), or one full dose. 

The official preparation of elaterin, the active principle of elate- 
rium, is Trituratio Elaterini, U. S. (elaterin 1, sugar of milk 9), 
given in the dose of J to 1 grain (0.03-0.06). The Pulvis Elaterini 
Compositus, B. P. (elaterin 1, sugar of milk 39), is given in the dose 
of 1 to 5 grains (0.05-0.35). 

ERGOT. 

Ergota, U. S. and B. P., is derived from the spawn or mycelium of 
the fungus known as Claviceps purpura, which grows in the flower 
and replaces the grain in common rye, or Secale cereale. 



192 DRUGS. 

Many so-called active principles have been isolated by chemists, 
and named ecbolic acid, ergotic acid, sclerotinic acid, and ero-otin. 
None of them represent the entire drug, the nearest in its approach 
being ergotin, and ergotin is not an isolated principle, but a combina- 
tion of principles. Robert teaches that there are three principles — 
namely,. ergotinic acid, cornutine, and sphacelinic acid — and that cor- 
nutine is a true alkaloid. Further, that it is upon this cornutine and 
sphacelinic acid that the chief activity of the drug depends. Tanret, 
on the other hand, denies the existence of cornutine as an alkaloid. 

Physiological Action. — Nervous System. — Upon the nervous sys- 
tem ergot exercises little, if any, effect. 

Circulation. — Ergot when injected into the circulation causes a 
primary fall of arterial pressure, followed by a rise. The dominant 
action is represented in the rise. This rise is due to a stimulation of 
the vasomotor centres, but the primary fall is caused by its direct 
depressant effect upon the heart-muscle, resulting from the direct 
contact of the drug en masse with the heart. If the dose be very 
large, the fall of pressure is never recovered from, and progressive 
paralysis of the vasomotor apparatus and heart occurs. When given 
in medicinal doses by the stomach the drug causes a rise of arterial 
pressure, probably by an action on the vasomotor centre and the muscu- 
lar coats of the blood-vessels. 

Uterus and Unstriped Muscular Fibre. — It has been com- 
monly taught that the contractions of the uterus produced by medicinal 
doses of ergot arise from the stimulating influence of this drug upon 
the muscular fibres of this organ ; and while this is probably the case, 
it is also a fact, as shown by the careful studies of Hemmeter, that the 
drug causes uterine contractions by stimulating the centres in the 
lumbar portion of the spinal cord which control this viscus. 

On the uterus ergot in full medicinal dose exerts its influence — not 
increasing the normal pains of labor, but causing a tetanic, tonic, 
unyielding uterine spasm which drives all before it. In very small 
doses it may assist the normal contractions without causing them to 
become tetanic. 

Ergot acts as a stimulant to all unstriped muscular fibres. 

Acute Poisoning. — The symptoms of overdosing from ergot, when 
the effects are slowly produced, are sometimes great hunger or craving 
of food, at other times nausea and vomiting. If the poisoning is quite 
severe, there are great restlessness, headache, delirium, and coldness 
of the surface of the body. 

Chronic Poisoning. — Two forms of poisoning from the prolonged 
use of ergotized rye bread sometimes occur. One is characterized by 
spasmodic muscular contractions, the. other consists in the formation 
of gangrenous sloughs. In the first of these forms it is not very un- 
common for cataract to develop, and it is stated that the spasms are 
due to the influence of one of the principles of ergot — namely, cornu- 
tine. 

Therapeutics. — Ergot is given to parturient women for the preven- 
tion or arrest of post-partum hemorrhages. For the prevention it should 
be given to the woman by the mouth just as the head of the child is 



ERGOT. 193 

about to slip over the perineum, and not before. When administered 
to stop a hemorrhage already flowing, the doses should be large, as 
much as 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0) of the fluid extract or 2 wineglass- 
fuls (64.0) of the wine of ergot. The drug should produce its effects 
in about fifteen minutes, and may be repeated every fifteen minutes till 
it acts. The action lasts about half an hour. Ergot should never be 
given in the early stages of labor, but this rule may, under certain con- 
ditions, be modified. If uterine inertia comes on in the course of a nor- 
mal labor, and quinine cannot be used for any reason, a small dose of 
ergot may be employed. These small doses do not cause a constant 
tetanic uterine contraction, but simply bring on the "to-and-fro" move- 
ments. By small doses the writer means from 5 to 20 drops (0.35- 
1.3) of the fluid extract. Caution must be used even with these doses. 

If the birth-canal is obstructed, ergot should never be employed, 
and, unless the os uteri is well dilated, should not be given in any 
dose. 

In post-partum hemorrhage of a severe character it may be well to 
give a solution of the aqueous extract of ergot hypodermically. The 
extract should be rubbed with the proper amount of water (parts 1 to 
5), and filtered through a fine aseptic handkerchief to get rid of foreign 
bodies before it is injected. 1 

When ergot is given care should be taken that the uterine cavity is 
clear of all clots or placental fragments, lest the closure of the os uteri 
under the influence of the drug imprison these harmful materials. 

According to many obstetricians, whose results have been confirmed 
by a number of special studies, ergot in moderate doses very distinctly 
aids in overcoming subinvolution of the uterus. 

In hemorrhages from the lungs and kidneys or other unapproach- 
able parts ergot is thought by some to be very useful when given by 
the mouth, but it is probable that it rarely achieves any real good. 
Particularly is this the case in pulmonary hemorrhage, since the vaso- 
motor system practically does not exist in the pulmonary vessels, and 
the increased pressure caused by the ergot in the general systemic cir- 
culation may increase the pulmonary leakage. The truth is, that in pul- 
monary hemorrhage very little real good can be obtained by internal 
medication. 

In epistaxis, menorrhagia, and metrorrhagia, and in some cases of 
night-siveats, ergot is of service. In hypostatic, pulmonary, and other 
congestions it is useful, particularly if employed with digitalis. 

In dysenteries with bloody stools and in serous diarrhoea ergot some- 
times does good. 

Some persons suffer from vertigo associated with hyperesthesia of the 
scalp and headache. Relief can often be obtained in such cases by the 
use of 20 drops (1.3) of the fluid extract of ergot and 5 to 10 grains 
(0.35-0.65) of bromide of potassium three times a day. 

Ergot has been used very largely in the treatment of uterine fibroids 
as an expulsive remedy and cure. It is only of value in those cases 

1 Under the name of " Ergot Aseptic," there is dispensed in sealed and sterile glass 
bulbs a concentrated preparation of ergot for hypodermic use. Each bulb holds one 
dose, and the drug is drawn directly from it into the syringe. 
13 



194 DRUGS. 

where the growths are just beneath the mucous membrane. By the 
contractions of the uterine muscular fibres the blood-supply of the growth 
is decreased, the recurring hemorrhages cease, and the tumor is finally 
expelled, having really sloughed out of its bed. This method is far 
inferior to the knife, and very painful and prolonged. Large growths 
cannot be so treated. Ergot is sometimes useful in the treatment of 
bleeding hemorrhoids, and it has been given with success in diabetes 
insipidus, when it is well to combine with it the bromide of sodium. 
Administration. — Ergot is official in the U. S. P. as the fluid extract 
{Extractum Ergotce Fluidmn), dose \ to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0); the solid 
extract {Extractum Ergotce, B. P.), dose 5 to 20 grains (0.35-1.3); 
and the wine ( Vinum Ergotce), dose 2 to 4 drachms (8.0-16.0). Bon- 
jean's ergotin is made by a special process, and it or the solid extract 
can be given hypodermically in the manner already described. The 
B. P. preparations are Extractum Ergotce Liquidum, dose 10 to 30 
minims (0.65-2.0) ; and Infusion Ergotce, 1 to 2 fluidounces (32.0- 
64.0). Ergotin (Ergotinum) is given in the dose of 2 to 5 grains (0.1- 
0.35). Injectio Ergotince Hypodermica, B. P., is given in the dose of 
3 to 10 minims (0.15-0.65), by subcutaneous injection. The B, P. also 
recognizes an ammoniated tincture of ergot. 



ERIGERON, or PLEABANE. 

Oil of Erigeron [Oleum Erigerontis, U. S.) is a yellowish volatile 
oil of a peculiar, not bad, taste, closely resembling turpentine, which is 
distilled from the fresh, flowering herb of Erigeron canadense. It is by 
far the best medicinal remedy which we have for the treatment of pas- 
sive uterine oozing, or a "show," as it is sometimes called. 

In epistaxis and other hemorrhages of moderate degree it is quite 
useful. In some instances it is used in place of copaiba and cubebs 
in the later stages of gonorrhoea. It is best given in capsule or on 
sugar in the dose of 10 to 30 drops (0.65-2.0) after meals, or oftener 
if needed. 

ETHER. 

Sulphuric ether is official as uEther, U. S. and B. P., but in the 
Pharmacopoeia of 1880 was called JEther Fortior. Pure Ether (JEther 
Purificatus, B. P.) is free from alcohol and water. Ordinary ether 
is not generally used as an anaesthetic, but for the abstraction 
of oils and for other pharmaceutical purposes. It is made by the 
action of sulphuric acid on ethylic alcohol, and is sometimes called, 
in consequence, ethyl oxide. Ordinary ether contains about 74 per 
cent, of ethyl oxide and 16 per cent, of alcohol, with a little water. 
On the other hand, the stronger or official ether contains about 96 
per cent, of ethyl oxide and only 4 per cent, of alcohol, with water. 
Both preparations boil when held in a test-tube if a piece of broken 
glass is added to the liquid. The stronger ether boils much more 
vigorously than the weaker under these circumstances. 



ETHER. 195 

Ether possesses a peculiar penetrating odor, a hot burning taste, 
and is a colorless, volatile, and very inflammable liquid. For this 
reason it should never be held near a fire or light, and, as its vapor 
is heavier than air, any fire in the room should be above the patient, 
not below him. No flame should be held nearer to the ether than five 
feet. 

Physiological Action. — The action of ether on the animal organism 
is very rapid and powerful, but temporary. Except for the rapidity of 
its effects it is very much like that of alcohol. When applied to the 
skin, it causes intense cold by its evaporation, and may be used in the 
form of a spray to benumb or locally freeze a part. 

Upon mucous membranes ether as a liquid or in vapor acts as an 
irritant, and causes, when its vapor is first inhaled, great irritation of 
the fauces and respiratory tract, so that temporary arrest of respiration 
is not uncommon. The face becomes suffused and red and the conjunc- 
tiva injected. Owing to these conditions the patient often is restless or 
or struggles to get his face away from the vapor, but a stage of quiet 
soon succeeds this primary stage of struggling. During this period of 
quiet the breathing is generally full and deep and the pulse rapid but 
strong, while the ocular reflexes are at its beginning intact. Following 
this stage a second period of struggling comes on, in which the patient 
may become absolutely uncontrollable except by brute force. Yelling, 
shouting, screaming, cursing, or laughing and crying, may be prominent 
symptoms, and the individual is pugilistic, caressing, or ill-tempered, 
according to his temperament. If the drug is now pushed, a condition 
of total anaesthesia is soon attained, and quietude takes the place of the 
struggles. This is the time for the operation to be carried on, for if it 
is attempted in the earlier stages the struggles of the second stage pre- 
vent any operative procedures. (See Therapeutics, below.) It is not 
proper to push the drug till the muscular relaxation amounts to complete 
flaccidity, as this endangers the respiration. 

Nervous System. — In producing its effects, ether acts first on the 
brain, then on the sensory tracts of the spinal cord, then on the motor 
tracts, then on the sensory side of the medulla oblongata, and finally 
upon the motor side of the medulla, and thereby produces death from 
respiratory failure if given to excess. Upon the nerve-trunks it exerts 
no effect unless it is directly applied to them. Ether does not produce 
anaesthesia by influencing the blood, coagulating the protoplasm of the 
nervous system, or by any other destructive influence. It simply puts 
aside, Tor the time being, the vital functions of the parts affected 
by it. 

Circulation. — Ether is one of the most diffusible and rapidly act- 
ing cardiac stimulants which we possess, and is correspondingly fleeting 
in its effects. It increases the pulse-rate and force by stimulating the 
heart and the arterial pressure by increasing the activity of the vaso- 
motor centres. In overdoses it acts as a cardiac depressant, but only 
when the amount is very large. Upon the blood J. Chalmers DaCosta 
has shown that ether, when given by inhalation, decreases the haemo- 
globin and the number of the red corpuscles, particularly in those 
persons who are already somewhat anaemic. 



196 DRUGS. 

Respiration. — As already stated, when ether is first inhaled it 
often causes an arrest of respiration. According to Kretzschmar, this 
is due to an irritation of the trifacial nerve, which causes a reflex spasm 
of the glottis, and not to irritation of the peripheral vagi in the lungs. 
This is only partly true, for the author has proved that section of the 
vagus nerves prevents this occurrence, so that both the vagal and tri- 
geminal irritations are responsible for the arrest. 

Upon the respiratory centre ether acts as a powerful stimulant when 
used in ordinary amounts ; in overdose it paralyzes this part of the 
nervous system. 

Temperature. — Prolonged etherization lowers the bodily heat very 
greatly. That of the dog may be lowered some 9° F. in an hour if the 
drug be pushed, and as great a fall has been known as 4° F. in man. 
The fall is partly due to the depression of the nervous system and the 
chilling of the body and lungs by the evaporation of the drug. 

Elimination. — Ether escapes from the body by the lungs and 
kidneys. 

Untoward Effects. — Ether, while safer than chloroform, is not abso- 
lutely devoid of all dangerous effects. 1 Sometimes, when the drug is 
pushed too strongly, deep cyanosis with pulsation of the jugular veins 
shows deficient oxygenation of the blood and cardiac distention. In 
other, very rare, instances sudden cardiac failure has occurred or total 
arrest of respiration ensued. In nearly all cases of sudden death from 
ether grave kidney or heart lesions have been present, and have been 
found at the autopsy. Rarely the rise of arterial pressure which it pro- 
duces has caused apoplexy. 

In patients under ether the movement of the diaphragm is an 
exceedingly interesting study, for before the condition known as sur- 
gical anaesthesia is developed, while there is still some rigidity and 
the throat reflex is not completely abolished, the contractions of the 
diaphragm are frequently so violent that unless the laryngeal open- 
ing be absolutely free the intercostal spaces are depressed and the 
abdominal contents thrust violently downward and outward. Just so 
soon, however, as the chin is pulled forward and a free access of air 
is allowed, the abdominal displacement, though it is still present, is 
not so great, and the chest movement is no longer reversed. As the 
ether is pushed the respiration becomes purely thoracic, the dia- 
phragm no longer taking part in the respiratory cycle, or becoming 
so relaxed that it allows the chest on expansion to aspirate the 
abdominal viscera upward, as is shown by the retraction of the belly- 
walls at a time when they should normally expand with the thorax 
in inspiration. This observation would seem to point to the fact that 
the primary stimulant action of ether upon the respiratory apparatus 
is particularly felt by those centres which govern the movements of 
the diaphragm, and that, as this is the case, these centres later on are 
the first to feel the paralyzing effect of still larger amounts of the 
drug. 

These facts give us, therefore, a danger-signal during the adminis- 
tration of ether, and the integrity of the diaphragmatic function, as 
1 The mortality due to etherization is about 1 in 20,000 eases. 



ETHER. 197 

represented by the movement of the belly-walls, should be as care- 
fully observed as are the thoracic excursions, the character of the 
pulse, or the condition of the pupil. The rule may therefore be laid 
down that when the diaphragm ceases to act anaesthesia has been 
carried to its extreme legitimate limit, and that the use of an anaes- 
thetic after this time must be carried on with the greatest care and 
watchfulness. 

The diaphragm is the first part of the respiratory mechanism to 
yield to respiratory paralysis. In death from any cause the progress 
of failure of respiration will, in the vast majority of cases, be denoted 
by a failure on the part of. the diaphragm primarily, with compensa- 
tory excursions of the chest ; and it is also to be noted that as the 
chest movements fail the accessory muscles of the neck come into 
play. These muscles in time cease to act, the hyoidean group lose 
their point oVappui, the chest remains motionless, the lower jaw is 
dropped, and the scene is closed by a few gasps in which the muscles 
of the neck may be the chief factors. 

The treatment of accidents during etherization consists in the 
withdrawal of the ether, the use of artificial respiration, and the 
placing of the body, if the face is pale, head downward. On the 
other hand, if the face is flushed and cyanotic it indicates respiratory, 
not cardiac, failure, and this position is not to be resorted to. The 
physician should also employ hypodermic injections of strychnine, 
atropine, and digitalis, or, more rarely, an intravenous injection of 
ammonia, which is more dangerous, but better than the others in a 
pressing emergency because it is more rapid in its action. Ether is 
often given hypodermically under such circumstances, and seems to 
do good, but its use is a bad practice, as, if the heart or respiration is 
already depressed by ether, the employment of still more of the drug 
simply makes matters worse. The cases in which such a line of treat- 
ment is followed by good results are those in which the failure of res- 
piration is not due to a saturation of the body with ether, but to 
asphyxia produced by mechanical interference with free breathing, as, 
for example, the presence of mucus in the air-passages or a too close 
application of the towel to the face. In such cases the hypodermic 
injection of ether causes so much local pain and irritation as reflexly 
to call up respiratory movements, as well as to directly stimulate the 
respiratory centre to greater effort. 1 Alcohol ought not to be used if 
the other drugs named can be obtained, because alcohol is so nearly 
allied physiologically and chemically to ether. Frictions, hot appli- 
cations, and artificial respiration should be practised. (See article on 
Asphyxia.) 

The diaphragm being the most important muscle of respiration, the 
physician should seek to stimulate it by resorting to Laborde's rhythmic 
traction of the tongue, which consists in rhythmically drawing this 
organ outward and upward from the mouth ten to fourteen times a 
minute. 

As ether is at hand, it may be dashed on the chest and abdomen to 

1 As consciousness is not necessary to the carrying out of a reflex action, this is 
perfectly possible and probable. 



198 DRUGS. 

cause inspiration by reflex action ; in lieu of cold water, which wets 
the clothes and does not evaporate rapidly. 

In some cases great nausea and vomiting follows the use of ether. 
This can generally be prevented by the avoidance of food before the 
operation (see Therapeutics), and by the administration of cracked ice 
and small doses of aconite or brandy after tbe operation. (See Vomit- 
ing.) This condition may also be avoided in many cases by giving 
oxygen gas with the anaesthetic. (See Oxygen, Important.) Severe 
bronchitis may occur in invalids and children after the inhalation of 
ether, and in many cases this is due more to the exposure than the 
drug. Total or partial anuria may develop after etherization, partic- 
ularly after abdominal operations ; and this is a very dangerous symp- 
tom. It has, however, been proved both experimentally and clinically 
that ether is not capable, in the ordinary patient, of producing renal 
disorder of any moment unless the kidneys are already diseased. Weir 
asserts that ether is not dangerous even in those with moderately dis- 
eased kidneys. The use of ether in diabetic patients is very danger- 
ous ; the patient often never regains consciousness after its use. 

Not uncommonly after the use of ether in the case of an old person 
or a child the bronchial tubes so fill with mucus that there is danger 
of the patient drowning in his own secretions. Full doses of atropine, 
which check secretion, given hypodermically, are useful at such times. 

Therapeutics. — Ether is used chiefly as an anaesthetic by means of 
inhalation. The method consists in forming a cone out of a towel 
and a piece of paper and placing a small sponge in its end. Upon 
this sponge the ether is poured, and the large open mouth of the cone 
is placed over the face. If this be done suddenly, the sensation of 
suffocation is generally so great as to cause fright and struggling, 
which is inadvisable. The better way is to hold the cone at some dis- 
tance from the face, and gradually bring it nearer as the effects of the 
ether are felt. After partial anaesthesia is attained the cone should 
be placed closely over the face and the vapor be pushed in as concen- 
trated a form as possible, whereas when chloroform is used it should 
be well mixed with a great amount of air. Care should be taken 
that the ether does not get into the eyes of the patient, either in 
vapor or liquid form, owing to the irritation which it will set up. To 
prevent this a thin piece of muslin Avet with water will be found of 
service if placed over the eyes. A large number of ether-inhalers 
are employed in preference to the towel, of which the best is probably 
that known as the " Allis Inhaler." 

When ether is to be given no food ought to be allowed the patient 
for twelve hours preceding its use, except a little milk or tea an hour 
or two before the operation, in order to avoid vomiting during and 
after this procedure. The patient should not be allowed to retain 
any tobacco or false teeth in the mouth, as either may slip into the 
larynx and cause death while the anaesthetic is being given. 

Under the name of the A. C. E. mixture there is used a com- 
pound of alcohol, chloroform, and ether, which is properly but rarely 
used in America. (See Chloroform for Schleich's mixtures.) 

Ether may be used as a local anaesthetic in an atomizer spray, owing 



ETHYL BROMIDE. 199 

to the cold produced by its evaporation when it strikes the skin. Thus 
it is particularly useful in cases where thoracentesis or paracentesis 
abdominis is to be performed, and also in cases of superficial neur- 
algia, where the benumbing of the nerve often effects a permanent 
cure. 

Internally, by the stomach, ether is very useful in colic, although 
for flatulence of adults and children Hoffmann's anodyne is a more 
efficient remedy. In cases of collapse ether given by means of the 
hypodermic needle or by the stomach is of great service, particularly 
when cardiac action is very feeble, and it will give relief by inhalation 
in some of these cases more rapidly than the nitrite of amyl. 

In hiccough a few inhalations of ether will often stop the spas- 
modic movements, and other local muscular spasms can be relieved in 
this way. 

Large doses of ether given by the mouth or hypodermically have 
been highly recommended in the treatment of urcemia. They are 
most serviceable in the forms in which cardiac and respiratory com- 
plications are marked. 

Ether may be used by inhalation to produce muscular relax- 
ation when the surgeon desires to reduce a strangulated hernia by 
taxis. 

In cases where cod-liver oil cannot be digested ether may be given 
in 20-drop (1.30) doses in ice-water or capsule, either with the oil, or 
some minutes after it is taken, to aid in its digestion and absorption. 

Internal Administration. — When used internally, ether should be 
given in ice-cold water, or, better still, in capsules, in the dose of 30 
drops to J an ounce (2.0 : 16.0). If cold water is not used to dilute it, 
so great is the irritation of the fauces produced by the fumes of the 
drug that deglutition is impossible. 

Contraindications. — Ether should not be used by inhalation in bron- 
chitis or acute nephritis, because of its irritant properties ; in perito- 
nitis or gastritis, because it is apt to induce vomiting ; in aneurism or 
in the presence of marked vascular atheroma, because it may rupture a 
blood-vessel by raising arterial pressure ; nor in diabetes. 



ETHYL BROMIDE. 

Bromide of Ethyl is obtained by distilling a mixture of alcohol, 
sulphuric acid, and bromide of potassium, and is a colorless fluid of 
neutral reaction, having a pleasant odor resembling chloroform. It 
evaporates with great rapidity, and any sample which does not do 
this is to be discarded. Poured on the hand, it should leave no fatty 
feeling. It should be remembered that the drug is decomposed by 
sunlight and when in contact w T ith pure air. In the presence of lamp- 
light the fumes form bromal hydrate and bromine. The drug should 
be kept in dark-glass bottles. The physician should distinctly sepa- 
rate in his mind bromide of ethyl from bromide of ethylene. The 
latter is a chemical product possessing very dangerous properties, and 
should never be used in medicine. There is reason to believe that 



200 DRUGS. 

unfavorable symptoms follow the use of bromide of ethyl only when 
the drug is impure or is improperly used. 

Physiological Action. — According to the studies of Thornton and 
Meixell in the Laboratory of the Jeiferson Medical College, the domi- 
nant action of the bromide of ethyl is on the respiratory, not on the 
circulatory, system. This effect is depressant, but only seen after 
excessive doses. The blood-pressure falls under its influence to a 
slight degree, and the pulse is slowed through an influence probably 
exercised on the inhibitory nervous mechanism of the heart. 

Therapeutics. — Bromide of ethyl is a useful anaesthetic for short 
operations, such as opening boils or abscesses, or for the relief of the 
pain in other brief surgical procedures. Originally introduced into 
general use in this country by Levis, it has been found unsuited to 
major surgical cases, because if continued for a long time it seriously 
depresses the respiration. Bromide of ethyl has been found of the 
greatest value by Montgomery of Philadelphia as an anaesthetic in 
labor and for minor gynecological operations in office practice. He 
finds that the patient may be allowed to inhale the drug from a Haw- 
ley inhaler, for as soon as she has had enough to produce anaesthesia 
the inhaler drops from her hand. The patient is also more obedient 
to the physician's directions, because of the fleeting influence of the 
drug, than when chloroform or ether is taken, and it is not so apt 
to cause post-partum hemorrhage through uterine relaxation. 

A very great advantage possessed by bromide of ethyl is the 
rapidity of its action. A few whiffs are generally all that is needed 
to cause anaesthesia. It rarely produces disagreeable effects. Cases 
of sudden death under its use are, however, on record, and in some 
instances nervous twitchings, and even tetanic spasms, have been 
known to follow its employment. These tetanic symptoms are, how- 
ever, fleeting and generally of little importance. Nausea and vomit- 
ing rarely follow its employment, but it is apt to leave an unpleasant 
garlic-like taste in the mouth, and a similar odor of the breath is 
frequently noted for several days after its use. 

Administration. — Bromide of ethyl should be administered for but 
a brief period, but when taken should be inhaled freely. It cannot 
be given carelessly with good effect. If a good sample is employed, 
45 minims to 3 drachms (3.0-12.0) is a sufficient amount to induce 
anaesthesia. This quantity should be used at once, instead of added to 
the inhaler drop by drop, as in the case of chloroform, and the cloth or 
inhaler should be held close to the mouth and nose, instead of at a little 
distance, as is often necessary with other anaesthetics. 

ETHYL IODIDE. 

This is a colorless, non-inflammable liquid, which really should be 
called hydriodic ethyl. Ethyl iodide must be kept in dark-colored 
bottles in a dark place to prevent it from undergoing decomposition. 
It is very volatile, and the fumes arising from it are slightly pungent, 
but not irritating in ordinary amounts. L^nfortunately, the odor is 
disagreeable to most persons. 



EUCAINE HYDROCHLORATE. 201 

Physiological Action. — Very little is known of the general physio- 
logical action of iodide of ethyl, and the drug would be a good one for 
laboratory investigation. It does not produce anaesthesia except in 
very large amounts. 

Therapeutics. — Iodide of ethyl is used in medicine entirely by 
inhalation for the treatment of subacute or chronic catarrh of the air- 
passages and for the purpose of rapidly impressing the system with 
iodine for alterative purposes, for it is the iodine in the remedy which 
produces the curative effects desired. In catarrhal states of the bron- 
chial tubes the stimulating effect of the iodine is supposed to cause 
free secretion and to prevent abnormal thickening of the mucus and 
dilatation of the air-passages. For this reason iodide of ethyl is sup- 
posed to be of service in asthma and its resulting emphysema. Very 
recently Bartholow has recommended this drug in the treatment of 
pneumonia. It is said by that writer to be particularly useful in the 
later stages of this disease, to aid in producing resolution, but the 
author has never seen it produce much effect. 

Administration. — 10 to 20 drops (0.65-1.3) may be placed upon a 
handkerchief and inhaled, or a small vial filled with the drug may be 
held in the hand under the nostrils. Under these circumstances the 
heat of the hand sets free the necessary amount of vapor. 

EUCAINE HYDROCHLORATE. 

Eucaine hydrochlorate is a synthetic substance having a chemical 
formula closely resembling that of cocaine. The drug is now mar- 
keted as a substitute for cocaine, it being claimed that it does not 
affect the heart as does the latter drug. Eucaine does not cause a 
primary contraction of the blood-vessels when locally applied, as does 
cocaine, but a hyperemia of the parts affected. Two forms of eucaine 
are used, eucaine "A" and eucaine "B;" the first for ordinary local 
anaesthesia, and the second for use in ophthalmic and genito-urinary 
surgery, as it is said to be less irritating. Used by the process for 
producing infiltration anaesthesia (see Cocaine), it causes considerable 
pain before acting as an anaesthetic. In ophthalmic practice it is 
employed in 2 per cent, solution, and to ordinary mucous membranes 
in 10 per cent, solution — that is, from 10 to 48 grains to the ounce 
of water. One advantage of eucaine is that it forms a permanent 
solution with water in 10 per cent, solution. Further, eucaine solu- 
tions can be boiled before they are used without causing decomposi- 
tion of the drug. 

Eucaine hydrochlorate possesses a distinct disadvantage in its 
inability to cause primary contraction of the blood-vessels when 
locally applied, and this effect of cocaine is often most valuable to 
overcome local engorgement. Further, it causes severe smarting 
pain when dropped in+o the eye. Eucaine is also capable of pro- 
ducing internal effects resembling those due to overdoses of cocaine, 
and these must be treated by the use of strong coffee, alcohol, digi- 
talis, and strychnine. If the case is pressing ether, ammonia, and 
nitroglycerin may be used as rapidly acting stimulants. 



202 DRUGS. 



EUCALYPTUS. 

Eucalyptus, TJ. S., is the leaves of the Eucalyptus globulus, or blue- 
gum tree, a native of Australia, but grown at present all over the 
world. Its chief medicinal constituent is the oil of eucalyptus {Oleum 
Eucalypti, TJ. 8.), from which is derived Eucalyp>tol, TJ. S., which is 
a camphorous body obtained by redistillation with caustic potash or 
chloride of calcium. The oil of eucalyptus and eucalyptol are used 
for the same purposes, but the latter is the refined product of the 
former. 

Physiological Action. — Locally applied, the oil is a decided irritant. 
10 to 20 drops (0.65-1.3) taken internally cause slight stimulation, fol- 
lowed by a sense of calm, while larger doses produce disturbed diges- 
tion and loose, oily-odored stools. The pulse is increased in frequency 
and force, and intense headache may come on. After very large 
doses there is a fall in pulse-force, bodily temperature, and strength 
of limb, and the respirations are decreased. A peculiar loss of sen- 
sation in the lower limbs may occur. If death takes place, it is due 
to respiratory failure. The drug is eliminated by the skin, kidneys, 
bowels, and lungs. The urine may have the odor of violets, as it 
sometimes does after the use of oil of turpentine. 

The oil of eucalyptus has considerable antiseptic power. 

Therapeutics. — Eucalyptus is used in malarial fever where quinine 
cannot be had, nor be borne by the patient owing to idiosyncrasy. In 
bronchitiSyJm an emulsion or in capsule, it is of great value in the later 
stages (see Bronchitis), since in its elimination by the lungs it acts 
locally upon the inflamed mucous membrane, and it may be used in the 
subacute forms of gonorrhoea in the same manner. The following pre- 
scription will answer : 

R .— Olei eucalypti fgj (4.0). 

Olei amygdalae dulc f^j (4.0). — M. 

Ft. in capsule No. x. 
S. — One t. d. after meals. 

Oil of eucalyptus is very useful in some forms of rheumatic head- 
ache or in headache dependent upon malarial fever. - 

Eucalyptol, TJ. S., is obtained from oil of eucalytus, and is largely 
employed by rhinologists and others in lotions and other nasal appli- 
cations It may be used in solutions of fatty oils, but is insoluble in 
water, although it is soluble in alcohol and ether. 

Administration. — The fluid extract {Extr actum Eucalypti Fluidum, 
U. S.) is given in the dose of 10 drops to 2 drachms (8.0), the oil 
(Oleum Eucalypti, TJ. S. and B. P.) in the dose of 5 drops (0.35). 
The dose of eucalyptol is 5 grains (0.35) in capsule. 

Trochisci Eucalypti and Unguentum Eucalypti are official in the 
B. P., but are seldom used. 

EUONYMUS. 

Euonymus, TJ. S., or Wahoo, is the bark of Euonymus Atropurpu- 
reus, a native plant of the United States. It contains an active prin- 



E UP A TORI UM—E UR OPHEN. 203 

ciple, Euonymin, B. P. As a laxative its action is very slow and 
moderate, but it is thought to act particularly on the liver, and may 
be used when mild hepatic torpor is present. 

Administration.— The dose of the solid extract {Extr actum Euonymi, 
U. S., Extr actum Euonymi Siccum) is 3 to 10 grains (0.15-0.65). Of 
euonymin the dose is J to 1 grain (0.03-0.05). 



EUPATORIUM. 

Eupatorium, U. S., Thoroughwort or Boneset, is the leaves of the 
Eupatorium perfoliatum, an American plant which is very largely 
used as a simple bitter tonic and diaphoretic in household medicine. 
The drug is generally given in hot infusion in cases of arrested men- 
struation due to cold or in the chill of a remittent or intermittent fever \ 
and also for anorexia and debility. Its taste is very disagreeable, and 
in the dose of a pint (500 cc.) of the cold infusion it has been used as 
an emetic. The fluid extract (Extractum Eupatorii Eluidum, U. /S y .) 
is given in the dose of 30 drops to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0). 



EUPHORBIA PILULIFERA. 

This herb is sometimes called Snake-weed or Cat's-hair, and is a 
native of Australia and the West Indies, where, like stramonium, it 
grows profusely as a weed by the wayside. 

Physiological Action. — In toxic doses the drug kills small ani- 
mals by failure of the respiration and circulation, these two vital 
functions being greatly affected by doses which exert no great influ- 
ence on the rest of the body. In full dose it may cause some gastric 
irritation. 

Therapeutics. — Euphorbia pilulifera is one of the latest remedies 
introduced into medicine for the relief and cure of asthma, in which 
disease the results obtained, after other remedies fail, are very extra- 
ordinary if the reports of those who have given it a thorough trial 
can be accepted without reserve. As yet we do not know the form 
of asthma which is most relieved by its use, and its employment is 
purely empirical. It has also been highly praised in the treatment 
of chronic bronchitis and emphysema. 

Administration. — Euphorbia pilulifera is best given in the form of 
the fluid extract in the dose of 30 drops to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0). The 
decoction is made by adding a " handful of stalks with the leaves on 
them to 2 quarts (2 litres) of boiling water, and boiling down to 1J 
quarts (If litres)." Of this decoction the dose is a small wineglass- 
ful (64.0) three times a day. (See Asthma.) 



EUROPHEN. 

Europhen is the result of the action of iodine on isobutylorthocre- 
sol in the presence of an alkali, and appears as a fine yellow powder. 



204 DRUGS. 

soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform, and oils, but insoluble in water. 
Introduced because it was hoped that it might prove a useful substi- 
tute for iodoform, its usefulness is still undecided, owing to the short 
time that it has been before the profession. One advantage claimed 
for it is that it parts with its iodine very slowly, and so is not apt to 
produce toxic symptoms as rapidly as does iodoform. For this very 
reason, however, it lacks the remedial power of the older drug, except 
in those instances in which a drying powder is needed which will 
keep the wound pure by making it too dry to be favorable to the 
growth of germs. When such an action is desired, europhen pos- 
sesses the additional advantage of being five times as bulky as iodo- 
form. In the treatment of tuberculous growths europhen has already 
proved itself very inferior to iodoform. Owing to its stability, it fails 
to part with its iodine except in the presence of moisture, and is use- 
less in dry skin diseases. It has been found useful in scrofuloderma 
ulcer of the legs, and lupus. Europhen may be employed externally 
in a salve of the strength of from 5 to 10 per cent., or with olive oil 
or lanolin. It can also be added to flexile collodion. The drug does 
not possess the odor of iodoform, but experience will probably prove 
it to be more irritating than the latter drug. The internal dose is 1 
to 3 grains (0.05-0.15) in cases of syphilis. Europhen is incompat- 
ible with metallic oxides and the preparations of mercury, and also 
with the starch and zinc paste largely used by dermatologists. 



EXALGINE. 

This substance is really methyl-acetanilid, and closely resembles 
acetanilid or antifebrin in its effects. It is given for the same pur- 
poses as is acetanilid and antipyrine — namely, for the relief of pain 
in locomotor ataxia and other nervous affections — but never as an 
antipyretic. When used, exalgine should be given night and morn- 
ing as a rule, so that the doses shall not be near together. The 
beginning dose should be from 2 to 4 grains (0.1-0.2), and not more 
than 15 grains (1.0) should be given in twenty-four hours. It is 
stated by those who have used the drug that fever contraindicates its 
employment. 

The following prescriptions will be found applicable : 

R. — Exalgini gr. xxx (2.0). 

Tincturae aurant. dulcis f^ij (8.0). — M. 

Ft. in sol. et adde 

Syr. aurantii f^ss (16.0). 

Aquae menth. piperit q. s. ad ffiv (128.0). — M. 

S. — A tablespoonful night and morning. 



Or, 



R. — Exalgini gr. xxx (2.0). 

Spt. frumenti fjss (16.0).— M. 

Ft. in sol. et adde 

Syr. simplicis f&j (32.0). 

Aquae dest .... q. s.' ad fgiv (128.0).— M. 

S. — Tablespoonful night and morning. 



FLAXSEED. 205 



FLAXSEED. 

Flaxseed or Linseed {Linum, U. S. and B. P.) is the seed of Linum 
usitatissimum, or flax from which linen is made ; it is official in the B. P. 
as Lini Semina. These seeds contain an oil and a mucilage, the first 
of which is largely used in the arts, and the second is sometimes em- 
ployed in medicine. The oil {Oleum Lini, U. S. and B. P.) is also 
used by physicians and pharmacists for various purposes. 

Therapeutics. — Flaxseed acts as a demulcent to inflamed mucous 
membranes, and is used largely in the treatment of acute cystitis, 
bronchitis, gastritis, nephritis, and similar states, in the form of flax- 
seed tea. This is prepared by mixing together 3 drachms (12.0) of 
flaxseed, not ground, 30 grains (2.0) of extract of liquorice, 10 ounces 
(320.0) of boiling water, and allowing the mixture to stand one to 
four hours in a warm place. If the mixture is boiled, the oil is set 
free and makes the dose disagreeable. This infusion may now be 
made more tasteful and useful by the addition of a little lemon-juice 
and sugar and by the placing of from 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0) of 
gum arabic in the pitcher containing it. If the cough is excessive, 
a little paregoric may be added. Linseed oil is used sometimes as 
a laxative in the dose of 2 ounces (64.0), and is said to be of service 
when so given in the treatment of hemorrhoids. 

Flaxseed meal {Lini Farina) is employed universally when moist- 
ened as a useful poultice. 

Under the name of Carron oil an emulsion of lime-water and lin- 
seed oil, equal parts, is the standard application for limited or exten- 
sive burns. 



FORMIC ALDEHYDE (FORMALDEHYDE). 

Formic aldehyde is a gaseous body difficult of application because 
of its physical characteristics, but nevertheless possessing very great 
power as a disinfectant or germicide. It is prepared by subjecting 
methyl alcohol to oxidation, and almost every instrument-maker has a 
device whereby this gas may be generated, and the room formerly occu- 
pied by a sick person thereby disinfected far more efficaciously than can 
be accomplished by burning sulphur. The doors and windows of the 
room should be tightly shut during the process of disinfection and for 
several hours after the formaldehyde generator is exhausted. As the 
gas is exceedingly irritating to the eyes and respiratory passages, no one 
should attempt to enter the room. After the disinfection is completed 
the room should be aired for some hours, or, if it must be used at once, 
it may be rendered capable of habitation by spraying a 20 per cent, 
solution of ammonia to neutralize the acid atmosphere. The great ad- 
vantage of formaldehyde for these purposes is the fact that it permeates 
every nook and cranny, and yet does no injury to colored fabrics, as 
does chlorine gas under similar circumstances. Such generators as 
have been named can be had for about four dollars. 

A solution of formic aldehyde in the strength of 40 per cent, has 
been widely used of late for disinfectant and antiseptic purposes. For 



206 DRUGS. 

all these purposes it is usually diluted still further by the addition of 
water. A 1 per cent, solution is usually quite active enough for sur- 
gical antisepsis, and is far less poisonous than is the bichloride of mer- 
cury. A similar percentage, or a little stronger, may be used to pre- 
serve pathological specimens, and it is stated that in the proportion of 
1 to 32,000 it will preserve milk for several days. Taken internally 
in small amounts, it does not possess any toxic properties. 

Concentrated undiluted formaldehyde solution may be used for the 
purpose of cauterizing syphilitic sores. 

The safety, efficiency, and cheapness of formaldehyde gas as a dis- 
infectant, and of the solution, render this agent a most valuable one. 

GALLIC ACID. 

Acidum Gfallicum (U. S. and B. P.) is usually prepared from 
tannic acid. It occurs in nearly colorless, long, needle-like crystals, 
which are soluble in 100 parts of cold water, 41 parts of alcohol, and 
3 parts of boiling water. 

Physiological Action. — Gallic acid is an astringent, but not a coag- 
ulator of blood. Locally applied in bleeding, it is useless, but given 
internally in hemorrhages which cannot be acted upon by the direct 
locally application of tannic acid, it is useful as a haemostatic because 
it contracts the blood-vessels. It is eliminated from the body by the 
kidneys as gallic acid. 

Therapeutics. — Gallic acid may be used with some success in licema- 
turia, haemoptysis, colliquative sweats, and in chronic bronchitis with 
profuse expectoration. 

Combined with opium, it is one of the best remedies in diabetes 
insipidus, and is even useful in diabetes mellitus. 

In albuminuria dependent upon a relaxed, atonic state of the kid- 
neys and in acute or chronic diarrhoea gallic acid may be used with 
advantage, lu the form of the ointment it is useful in the treatment 
of psoriasis, and in the cure of ulcers and sores which are actively 
discharging. A very useful application to external hemorrhoids is 
equal parts of stramonium ointment and gallic acid. 

Administration. — Gallic acid is given in the dose of 2 to 40 grains 
(0.1-2.6) in pill or solution. It ought never to be used with any salt 
of iron, as it is chemically incompatible. The preparation used locally 
is the Unguentum Acidi Gallici. 

Nut-gall. 

Nut-galls (Galla, U. S. and B. P.) are the small excrescences 
found upon the oak (Quercus lusitanica) formed by the ova of the fly 
Cynips G-alloe tinctorial. Their sole value depends upon the tannic 
acid contained in them, and they are official in the form' of the tinc- 
ture (Tinctura Gallce, U. &'.), dose J to 2 fluidrachms (2.0-8.0), and 
the ointment (Unguentum Gallce, U. S. and B. P.). Unguentum 
Gallce cum Opio is official in the B. P., and is used as an astringent 
and sedative ointment. 



GA ULTHERIA—GELSEMIUM. 207 



GAULTHERIA. 

Wintergreen, or Gaultlieria procumbens, is an American ever- 
green containing a volatile oil. The oil possesses a peculiar, exceed- 
ingly penetrating odor and a warm aromatic taste. It is about 96 
per cent, salicylate of methyl. Salicylate of Methyl (Methyl Sali- 
cylates, U. S.) is an artificial product made official in the last revision 
of the IT. S. P. 

Physiological Action. — Owing to the large amount of salicylate of 
methyl contained in the oil, its physiological action is almost identical 
with that of salicylic acid. 

Therapeutics. — Aside from its use as a flavoring substance, oil of 
gaultheria is largely used in place of the ordinary salicylates in all 
forms of rheumatism. The oil (Oleum Graultherice, U. S.) is best 
given in capsules or emulsion or dropped on a teaspoonful of sugar 
three times a day after meals. The dose may be as high as 100 drops 
(7.0) a day, but if 60 drops (4.0) three times a day do no good, push- 
ing it further is practically useless. Very few patients can take more 
than 30 drops a day. 

Very recently Lannois and Limousin of Lyons has highly recom- 
mended the application of this oil to acute and chronic rheumatic joints. 
The oil is placed on lint, and then the lint is wrapped around the part 
affected, evaporation being prevented by applying a gutta-percha cover- 
ing. They assert that this treatment gives rapid relief, although they 
admit that after it the skin may desquamate. 

The spirit of gaultheria (Spiritus Gfaultherice, U. S.) is given in 
the dose of 10 to 20 minims (0.65-1.3). 

GELSBMIUM. 

G-elsemium, U. S. and B. P., or Yellow Jasmine, as used in med- 
icine is the rhizome of the G-elsemium sempervirens, a climbing plant 
of the Southern United States. It contains an alkaloid, gelsemine, 
and gelseminic acid. 

Physiological Action. — Neevous System. — Gelsemium paralyzes 
the spinal cord, particularly on its sensory side (?), although the motor 
side is certainly ultimately depressed. It does not influence the nerves 
•or muscles except those of the head, on which it acts as a paralyzant, 
particularly affecting the motor fibres, 

Circulation. — Grelsemium is a depressant to the circulation, act- 
ing particularly on the heart. It paralyzes the vagus and lowers blood 
pressure. 

Respiration. — Gelsemium kills by paralyzing the respiratory cen- 
tres (Sanderson, Ringer, and Murrell). 

Temperature. — In overdose the drug lowers bodily heat very 
markedly. 

Eye.— Gelsemium is a mydriatic of considerable power, causing, 
when dropped into the eye, wide dilatation of the pupil, a result due 
ito paralysis of the oculo-motor nerve peripherally. 



208 DRUGS. 

Therapeutics. — Gelsemium is used in headache and migraine depend- 
ing on nervous troubles or upon eye-strain. It is particularly useful 
in combination with cannabis indica. (See Cannabis Indica and 
Migraine.) 

In malarial fever it is said to be of great service, but this is doubt- 
ful. In the early stages of pneumonia and pleurisy it has been highly 
spoken of by Bartholow. 

Gelsemium has also been found of value in asthma, whooping 
cough, laryngismus stridulus, and nervous cough. In localized mus- 
cular spasm, such as seen in torticollis or wry-neck, and in spasmodic 
dysmenorrhoea, it is of considerable service. It ought not to be used 
if the system is already depressed, but only in sthenic cases. 

When used as a mydriatic, Tweedy recommends gelsemine as -equal 
to atropine in effect, but much more transient in its influence. He uses 
a solution of 8 grains of gelsemine to the ounce (0.5: 32.0) of water, 
instilled, drop by drop, into the eye every fifteen minutes for one 
hour, and then every half-hour for two hours. 

Poisoning. — The most prominent symptoms of gelsemium poison- 
ing are ptosis and dropping of the jaw. These are preceded by a 
sensation of languor, a desire to lie down, relaxation, and muscular 
weakness. Gelsemium is apt to cause temporary internal squint, 
owing to its paralyzant action on the sixth pair of cranial nerves. 
The pulse becomes rapid and feeble, the skin wet and cold, the face 
pinched and anxious, the voice is lost in aphonia, and death ensues 
from centric respiratory failure and an almost simultaneous cardiac 
arrest. Sensation in man is impaired very late in the poisoning. 

The treatment of the poisoning consists in the use of cardiac stimu- 
lants, such as ammonia and digitalis, the application of external heat, 
and the employment of atropine and strychnine for the purpose of 
stimulating the respiratory centre. Emetics and the stomach-pump 
are, of course, to be employed. 

Administration. — The fluid extract {Extractum Grelsemii Fluidum, 
U. S.) is given in the dose of 5 to 10 minims (0.35-0.65), and the 
tincture ( Tinctura G-elsemii, II . S. and B. P.) 10 to 20 drops (0.65-1.3). 
In some parts of the United States physicians largely employ a very 
strong unofficial tincture of gelsemium, the dose of which is 1 to 2 
drops. Gelsemine may be used in the dose of ^g- of a grain (0.001).. 



GENTIAN. 

Grentiana, U. S., is the root of the G-entiana lutea, or Yellow 
Gentian, a European plant. It contains gentianine and gentisic acid, 
and has a bitter taste. This drug is official in the B. P. as Grentianas 
Radix. 

Therapeutics. — Gentian is one of the most efficacious bitter tonics 
that we possess. In the anorexia following acute diseases and in gout 
and malarial poisoning with dyspepsia it is of service. Combined with 
bicarbonate of sodium, it is of great service in the treatment of the 
subacute gastric and intestinal catarrh of children. 



GERANIUM— GINGER. 209 

Administration. — The compound tincture (Tinctura Gentiance Com- 
posite^ U. S. and B. P.) is given in the dose of 1 drachm to a wine- 
glassful (4.0-64.0), the fluid extract (Extractum Gentiance Fluidum, 
U. S.) in the dose of 30 drops to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0), and the solid 
extract (Extractum Gentiance, U. S. and B. P.) in the dose of 1 to 8 
grains (0.05-0.40). Infusum Gentiance Compositum, B. P., is given 
in the dose of 1 to 2 fluidounces (32.0-64.0). The compound tincture 
and compound infusion are composed of gentian, bitter orange-peel, 
and cardamoms. The following prescription is an excellent one for 
use in convalescence from prolonged fevers : 

R— Acid, nitro-hydrochlor. dil f 5j vel f ^ij (4.0-8.0). 

Tr. nucis vomicae f £j (4.0). 

Tr. cardamomi comp f *ij (64.0). 

Tr. gentiame comp q. s. ad f^iv (128.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) in water after meals. 



GERANIUM. 

Geranium, U. S., is the rhizome of Geranium maculatum. It 
contains tannic and gallic acids, and is useful as an astringent in cases 
of serous diarrhoea. It is not the common red geranium seen in 
flower-gardens. 

In infantile diarrhcea geranium-root, boiled in milk in the propor- 
tion of one or two roots to the pint, will be found of great service 
and is tasteless. The dose of the drug itself is 20 to 60 grains (1.3— 
4.0),' and that of the fluid extract (Extr actum Geranii Fluidum? 
U. S.) i to 1 fluidrachm (2.0-4.0). 



GINGER. 

Zingiber, U. S. and B. P., is the rhizome of Zingiber officinale, a 
plant of Hindostan, Jamaica, and other tropical countries. Black 
ginger is the dried rhizome with its bark, while white ginger has this 
covering removed. It contains a hot volatile oil and an aromatic 
resin, and is very largely used in domestic medicine as a carminative 
and stomachic. In the treatment of menstrual cramps it is often 
given, and is particularly useful in those cramps due to suppres- 
sion from exposure to cold. Ginger is often combined with purgative 
medicines to stop griping and for its pleasant flavor. Of itself it is 
decidedly constipating, and when used in diarrhcea mixtures is of value 
other than as a flavoring addition to the prescription. 

Administration. — The fluid extract (Extractum Zingiberis Fluidum, 
U. S.) is given in the dose of 10 to 30 drops (0.65-2.0), well diluted ; 
the tincture (Tinctura Zingiberis, U. S. and B. P.), dose 20 drops 
to 2 drachms (1.3-8.0); the syrup (Syrupus Zi7igiberis, U. S. and 
B. P.), dose 30 drops to 2 drachms (2.0-8.0); the oleoresin (Oleoresina 
Zingiberis, U. S.), dose ,^ to 1 drop (0.03-0.05), well diluted or in 
pill; and the troches (Trochisci Zingiberis, U. S.) used as stimulants 
to salivary secretion. 

14 



210 DRUGS. 



GLANDULAR TREATMENT. 

Within the past ten years physiological investigations have indi- 
cated that several glands in the body not only secrete substances in 
the body-cavities, but also pour out into the blood- or lymph-vessels 
ferments or substances which perform definite physiological functions 
in the system. Disease of these glands perverts these functions, and 
secondary disorders follow. Acting upon the discoveries just named, 
some persons have attempted to show that nearly all of the organs of 
the body, be they glands or not, possess these functions, until they 
have reached a reductio ad absurdum. On the other hand, some of 
the glands are now used, when derived from the lower animals, for 
definite therapeutic purposes, such as the thyroid gland, for example. 
The use of this gland will be found discussed under its own heading, 
but unimportant glands in therapy, or those in regard to which doubt 
exists, are included under the general heading here given. 

The employment of testicular juice, or the dried gland itself, has 
been practically abandoned, but the juice of the ovary seems to possess 
powerful effects. According to Ferre and Bestion, it is capable of caus- 
ing death when given in overdose, and males are far more susceptible 
to it than females. So, too, females before and after the menstrual 
period of life are more susceptible than females during the child- 
bearing period. Given to dogs in overdose the ovary causes erections 
with ejaculations of semen, and, if the dose is large, death with haem- 
orrhages into the spinal cord. It has been used to combat the symp- 
toms following double oophorectomy, and those common to the meno- 
pause and also for aphrodisiac purposes. On the ground that chlorosis 
is due to a faulty internal secretion of the ovary, it has been given in 
this condition with asserted good results, and also in osteomalacia, 
neurasthenia, and hysteria. The dose is from 2 to 4 grains (0.10— 
0.20) a day. 

The suprarenal gland will be found discussed under its own head- 
ing. The use of cerebral and spinal extracts has proved futile, as has 
also the use of bone-marrow in pernicious anaemia. The pancreas has 
been used in pancreatic diabetes, but its value is in doubt. The liver 
has been given in the dose of 3 ounces (90.0) of fresh gland a day 
to combat the delirium of cirrhosis, with asserted good results (Carnot), 
and has also done good in alcoholic cirrhosis with icterus, in that the 
haemorrhages were arrested, the delirium ceased, and the patient gen- 
erally improved. The same treatment has been tried in diabetes. It 
is difficult to see how it can do good. 

While glandular therapeutics gives promise of aiding us greatly in 
the treatment of disease, and while for this reason the cautious phy- 
sician should not oppose resort to the use of glandular extracts, he 
should, nevertheless, always study the physiological function of the 
gland to be employed in order that he may reach a clear idea of its 
remedial possibilities, The extraordinary effects of some glands do 
not prove that all animal extracts are of value, nor does the failure 
of others indicate that all are useless. 



GLYCERIC. 211 



GLYCERIN. 



Glycerinum, U. S. and B. P., is a liquid obtained by the decom- 
position and distillation of fats. It possesses great power in absorb- 
ing water and of dissolving many substances, Even if pure it irri- 
tates the skin of susceptible persons when applied locally by its absorp- 
tion of water, and often causes a slight rash. 

Physiological Action. — Injected into the circulation in large amounts, 
glycerin causes convulsions, which are due to its hygroscopic power. 

According to the clinical researches of Pavy, glycerin increases 
the polyuria of diabetes almost one-half, and for this reason he thinks 
it is not to be employed in this class of cases as a substitute for 
sugar. Other clinicians, however, disagree with him and use it con- 
stantly for this purpose with asserted advantage. 

Therapeutics. — Glycerin may be employed as a sweetening agent 
in the food of diabetics and in cases where sugar cannot be used. It 
has also been given as a laxative in 1- or 2-drachm (4.0-8.0) doses by 
the mouth, and in enema — 1 to 4 drachms (4.0-16.0) with or without 
equal parts of water. In some cases it may be used in suppository 
in the official Suppositoria Glycerini, U. S. and B. P. This latter 
method is very successful in chronic constipation. Its continued use 
by suppository may, however, result in rectal irritation. 

As an antiseptic it is used for preserving specimens and for keep- 
ing alkaloids in solution for hypodermic use. 

In acute coryza, applied by a spray or brush to the nostrils, it is 
sometimes of service ; for this purpose it should be diluted four or 
five times with w T ater. If used on the skin, it should be diluted one- 
half with water. In cases of impacted cerumen in the external audi- 
tory canal glycerin is often of service in softening the mass. 

The uses of glycerin, other than those mentioned, are many. In 
the proportion of equal parts of glycerin and water it makes a very 
useful mouth-wash for the sore and dry mouth of typhoid fever and for 
the removal of sordes. The same wash, with lemon-juice added to it, 
is very agreeable and will relieve the dry, glazed tongue of advanced 
plithisis. 

Owing to the fact that glycerin is hygroscopic, it may be used as a 
depletant on a pledget of cotton in congestion of the uterine cervix, the 
tampon being renewed daily. (See Boric Acid and Boroglyceride.) 

For the prevention of bed-sores Ringer recommends the daily wash- 
ing and rubbing of the part likely to be affected, followed by the 
application of glycerin, and a draw-sheet placed smoothly against the 
patient to protect the bedding. 

Glycerin and whiskey is a favorite household remedy for colds and 
coughs, but is not very useful. Glycerite of starch (Glycerinum 
Amyli, U. S. and B. P.) is used as a protective over superficial irri- 
tations of the skin. Glycerite of yolk of egg {Glyceritum Vitelli, 
U. S.) is used in making emulsions. 

A very useful ointment for the application of medicinal substances 



212 DRUGS. 

to the skin may be made by mixing constantly in the presence of heat 
1 part of potato starch and 15 parts of pure glycerin. The result is 
a clear, transparent, jelly-like substance which does not decompose, 
and has the advantage of holding the medicament which it carries in 
solution rather than by mechanical suspension. 

The B. P. preparations of glycerin are as follows : Glycerinum 
Acidi Carbolici, Glycerinum Acidi Tannici, Glycerinum Aluminis, 
Glycerinum Acidi Borici, Glycerinum Plumbi Subacetatis, Glycerinum 
Tragacanthce, and Glycerinum Boracis. 

GOLD. 

Gold itself is not official in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, but has been 
recommended very highly by Bartholow in chronic BrigMs disease in 
the form of the chloride of gold and sodium (Ami et Sodii Chloridum, 
U. S.). The dose of this substance is -£$ to ^ of a grain (0.003- 
0.006) once, twice, or thrice a day. The author has not found it of 
much value. Gold has also been strongly recommended for indiges- 
tion with epigastric pain after eating when looseness of the bowels is 
present, and it is said to act as a powerful sexual stimulant and to be 
of service in impotence dependent upon inability to obtain an erection 
or when there is deficient glandular action. In overdoses the drug 
causes gastro-enteritis. Magruder has recommended chloride of gold 
and sodium in the treatment of pertussis. 



GRINDELIA ROBUSTA. 

Grindelia, U. S., is an American plant (Grindelia robusta) con- 
taining a resin, a volatile oil, and an alkaloid. 

Physiological Action. — Upon the lower animals and man this drug 
is not very powerful in its action, but may cause, in large doses, 
paralysis of the peripheral sensory nerves, the sensory centres in the 
spinal cord, and finally the motor centres and nerve-trunks. It slows 
the heart by stimulating the vagi, and raises blood-pressure by stimu- 
lating the vasomotor centre. 

Therapeutics. — Grindelia robusta is an exceedingly useful remedy 
in some cases of asthma and in bronchitis in its later stages. It may 
be given in the dose of 20 to 60 drops (1.3-4.0) of the fluid extract 
(Fxtr actum Grindelim Fluidum, U. S.), or by inhaling the fumes of 
burning grindelia-leaves, which are previously soaked in a solution 
of nitre, dried, and burned on a plate or rolled into a cigarette and 
smoked. In chronic cystitis it* stimulates the bladder and is of great 
service. By diluting it 1 to 10 with water it forms one of the best 
lotions that we have for the relief of the dermatitis produced by poi- 
son ivy or Rhus Toxicodendron. 

Administration. — The only preparation which is official is the fluid 
extract (Extr actum Grindelios Fluidum, U. S.), dose 20 to 60 drops 
(1.3-4.0). 



GUAIAC—GUAIACOL. 213 



GUAIAC. 



Lignum Vitse, or. (ruaiacum officinale, a West Indian tree, is used 
in medicine in two forms — namely, as guaiac wood (Guaiaci Lignum, 
U. S. and B. P.), which is in raspings and enters into the compound 
syrup of sarsaparilla, and guaiac resin (Guaiaci Besina, U. S. and 
B. P.), or guaiac, which is soluble in alcohol, ether, and chloroform, 
but is insoluble in water. 

Therapeutics. — Guaiac has been largely used in syphilis, but is 
now rarely, if ever, so employed. Given in acute tonsillitis in the 
dose of 30 grains in an emulsion made by the use of white of egg, it 
will often abort the disease. In rheumatism it has been largely used. 
The ammoniated tincture of guaiac is sometimes employed in the 
treatment of sore throat, particularly if it be rheumatic in type, but 
is a disagreeable preparation to take into the mouth, and the sali- 
cylates may always be used in its place. 

Administration. — The tincture (Tinctura Guaiaci, U. S.) is given 
in the dose of 5 to 60 drops (0.35-4.0), and the ammoniated tincture 
{Tinctura Guaiaci Ammoniata, TJ. S. and B. P.) is used in the same 
dose, preferably in milk. Mistura Guaiaci, B. P., is given in the 
dose of 1 to 2 nuidounces (32.0-64.0). Trochisci Guaiaci are official 
in the B. P. 



GUAIACOL. 

Guaiacol is a liquid constituting from 60 to 90 per cent., of creo- 
sote. It is obtained by the distillation of beechwood creosote, fol- 
lowed by a complicated process which it is not necessary to describe. 
In other cases guaiacol is obtained from beechwood creosote by pre- 
cipitation with barium hydrate. Much of the " absolute guaiacol " 
of commerce is impure. Chemically pure guaiacol, obtained by the 
process last named, is a light-colored fluid of an agreeable odor and 
soluble in water in the proportion of 1 to 85 (Helbing). It is easily 
soluble in alcohol and ether. 

Therapeutics.— Guaiacol has been largely used by some practition- 
ers, chiefly in Europe, for the treatment of tuberculosis as a substitute 
for creosote, because it is the principal ingredient of that drug. (See 
Creosote.) It was thought by Guttmann, Sommerbrodt, and others 
that the good effect of creosote was due to its destructive action on 
the bacillus, or that it so improved digestion as to increase the resist- 
ance of the patient to the spread of the disease. Recently, Hoelscher 
and Seifert have asserted that guaiacol and creosote produce their 
good effects by forming compounds with the toxines or poisonous 
albuminoids formed by the bacilli, which are then eliminated from 
the body. The same rules govern the use of guaiacol as govern the 
employment of creosote. It is best given with brandy, wine, or other 
alcoholic drink, or in capsules with cod-liver or sweet oil. 5 or 10 
drops (0.35-0.65) of guaiacol may be added to a pitcher of hot water 



214 DRUGS. 

and the vapor inhaled three or four times a day in cases of subacute 
and chronic bronchitis. The dose by the stomach is 5 to 20 minims 
(0.35-1.5). 

Recent clinical observations prove conclusively that guaiacol pos- 
sesses powerful antipyretic influences. As pointed out by Sciolla in 
1893, guaiacol when painted on the skin of a febrile patient causes a 
pronounced fall of temperature, which begins soon after the applica- 
tion is made, but is not fully accomplished for from two to three 
hours. The application may be made to the skin of the abdomen, 
thighs, or chest, about 30 to 40 drops (2.0-2.6) being used with a 
brush. When a full effect is required, it is well to place an imper- 
meable dressing over the part painted to prevent evaporation and aid 
absorption. These applications may be resorted to as often as is 
necessary for the reduction of the fever, and, although the fall of 
temperature is sometimes very rapid and very great — as much as 
7° F. in two hours — DaCosta has never seen serious nervous or car- 
diac symptoms produced, but other observers have noted such unto- 
ward results. The temperature is very apt to speedily rise after the 
reduction, and this rise is often preceded by a chill. These appli- 
cations cannot supplant the cold bath, although they undoubtedly 
do reduce the temperature. The true sphere of usefulness to be 
assigned to guaiacol as an antipyretic seems to be that of a less 
valuable therapeutic measure than the bath, and one equally power- 
ful and about as dangerous as are the antipyretic drugs of coal-tar 
derivation. 

When used externally in the fever of tuberculosis its action is very 
satisfactory, but the presence of cavities contraindicates its use, it is 
said. 

The studies of Stolzenberg show that if frequently and constantly 
used guaiacol produces in febrile patients a tendency toward depression. 
Thayer finds that great sweating and depression generally follow its 
external use in fevers. 

Probably future reports will develop the fact that in cases of renal 
irritation guaiacol will prove harmful. 

Guaiacol has been used by painting it on the affected part in the 
treatment of superficial neuralgias, and in deep-seated nerve-pains, as 
in sciatica, it has been given hypodermically in the dose of 2 minims 
in 10 minims of spirit of chloroform deeply into the neighborhood of 
the painful nerve. 

If guaiacol is placed upon the skin by means of a small compress, 
which has been wet with it and bound tightly to the part, local anaes- 
thesia is rapidly developed, but if it is left in place too long, it may 
be absorbed in sufficient amount to cause depression or a fall of tem- 
perature. 

Belfield highly recommends painting the scrotum with guaiacol 15 
minims (1.0) and glycerin 45 minims (3.0) for orchitis. 

A serious objection to the external use of guaiacol is its disagree- 
able odor. 



GUAIACOL CARBONATE— HAMAMELIS. 215 



OUAIACOL CARBONATE. 

Carbonate of guaiacol is a white, crystalline powder, consisting of 91 
per cent, of pure guaiacol and 9 per cent, of carbonic acid. This 
powder is insoluble in water, neutral in reaction, and is said to be with- 
out any irritating effect on the stomach. Taken by the healthy indi- 
vidual, it is decomposed into guaiacol and carbonic acid in the bowel, 
but not in the stomach, and it is used for this reason, as salol is, as an 
intestinal antiseptic in the various forms of fermentative diarrhoea and 
typhoid fever. The drug is said to be slowly absorbed, but after ab- 
sorption is rapidly eliminated. Its therapeutic applications in tuber- 
culosis are practically identical with those, of pure guaiacol, save that 
it is more readily borne by the stomach than the latter drug. Guaiacol 
carbonate may be given in capsule or pill, or it may be given in dry 
powder on the tongue in the dose of 2 to 10 grains (0.10-0.65). 
Usually in typhoid fever the dose is about 2 grains (0.10) every three 
hours, and in tuberculosis of the lungs 5 grains (0.35) three times a 
day. 

EUEMATOXYLON. 

Hwmatoxylon, U.S., Hcematoxyli Lignum, B. P., or Logwood, is 
the heart-wood of Hoematoxylon campechianum, a tree of the Amer- 
ican tropics. It contains an alkaloid, hematoxylin. 

Therapeutics. — Haematoxylon is a mild astringent, very useful in 
serous diarrhoeas and in the diarrhoeas of young children, as children 
do not dislike it, owing to its agreeable taste. (See article on Diar- 
rhoea.). As it colors the stools and urine red, the nurse should be 
warned lest she be alarmed at the sight of what looks like blood on 
the diaper after the drug is given to infants. If the urine is alka- 
line, the color may be violet or red. In leueorrhoea its internal use is 
of service. The extract (Extr actum JTosmatoxyli, U. S.) is given in 
the dose of 8 to 30 grains (0.6-2.0), and Decoctum Hosmatoxyli, B. P., 
in the dose of 1 to 2 fluidounces (32.0-64.0). An unofficial fluid 
extract is often to be found in the shops. The dose of this is J to 2 
fluidrachms (2.0-8.0). (See article on Diarrhoea.) 

HAMAMELIS. 

Hamamelis, U. S., Witch-hazel, or Hamamelis virginiana, is a 
plant of the United States, devoid of any true active principle, but 
possessing extraordinary remedial power. 

Therapeutics. — Hamamelis is to be employed in relaxed sore throat 
resulting in congestion and hyperaemia upon exposure or where mild 
catarrhal states are present. Similarly, we employ it in an atomizer, 
after attacks of acute coryza, to tone up the nasal mucous membrane. 
The strength of the solution should be 20 to 60 minims (1.3-4.0) of the 
distilled extract to the ounce (32.0) of water. Hamamelis when taken 
internally is often wonderfully successful in the treatment of uterine 
oozing from small blood-vessels, seems to do good even in hcematemesis 



216 DRUGS. 

and haemoptysis, and will sometimes arrest hematuria when all other 
remedies fail. Applied by means of cloths to teg ulcers, it acts very 
thoroughly and rapidly relieves the angry-looking skin surrounding 
the ulcer. In bleeding from the bladder it may be injected into this 
viscus daily in the form of the distilled fluid extract. Taken internally 
and applied locally, it is of value in the treatment of bleeding and the 
so-called blind piles. (See Hemorrhoids.) 

Administration. — The one official preparation in the U. S. P. is the 
fluid extract {Extr actum Hamamelidis Fluidum, U. S. ; Liquidum, 
B. P.), dose 5 to 20 drops (0.35-1.30). The dose of the distilled 
extract, which is not official and is a perfectly clear liquid, is from 
30 drops to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0), and this is much the best preparation 
for internal and external use. Unfortunately, the preparations of the 
drug vary very much both in odor and efficacy. Some of the pro- 
prietary preparations of witch-hazel are more active than those ordi- 
narily dispensed in the drug-store. This is due to greater care in 
their preparation, and to the fact that they are sold in original 
packages without exposure to the air. The B. P. recognizes a solu- 
tion, Liquor Hamamelidis. 



* 



HOFFMANN'S ANODYNE. 



^piritus JEtheris Compositus, U. S. and B. P., consists of alco- 
hol, ether, and the heavy oil of wine. The writer has experimentally 
studied very thoroughly the action of the last-named ingredient, and 
finds: 

First. That the belief in heavy oil of wine being the quieting 
agent in Hoffmann's anodyne is fallacious. 

Second. The calmative effects of this mixture depend largely on 
the ether, rather than on the oil. 

Third. It would seem probable that in Hoffmann's anodyne we 
possess an agent in which there are linked together three drugs of 
undoubted power, each one of which successively substitutes the 
other, stimulating the system in the order here named — viz. ether, 
alcohol, and the heavy oil of wine. 

On animal temperature, as ascertained by the thermometer in the 
rectum, the heavy oil of wine exercises no influence, even when the 
arterial pressure is very low. That large doses of the heavy oil of 
wine are in no way possessed of toxic effects is proved by the fact 
that 30 cc. of the drug, given by the mouth to a small dog weighing 
twelve pounds, failed to produce any apparent, symptoms, except, 
perhaps, to stimulate him slightly. While the odor of the oil is 
penetrating, it is by no means disagreeable, and it possesses but 
little taste other than that caused by the presence of an oily sub- 
stance. 

Therapeutics. — Hoffmann's anodyne is the best carminative that 
we possess for general use, and is one of the best remedies for singultus 
or hiccough. These effects are accomplished probably in two ways : 
The alcohol and ether act as irritants or stimulants to the intestine, 
and free peristalsis results, while the heavy oil of wine acts, perhaps, 



HOMA TROPIXE— HONEY. 217 

as a nervous sedative. In angina pectoris this drug is often the best 
remedy we have, and in the cardiac palpitation of tobacco heart or 
that arising from indigestion it is very useful. 

In the nausea and depression seen after excessive smoking, Hoff- 
mann's anodyne should always be given in capsules or in cold water, 
preferably ice-cold, in order to prevent too rapid volatilization of the 
ether and consequent difficulty in swallowing the liquid. 

The dose is 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0) to an adult. 



HOMATROPINE. 

Homatropine is an artificial alkaloid obtained by prolonged and 
gentle heating of a solution of equivalent quantities of tropine 1 and 
toluic acid in hydrochloric acid. The hydrobromate of homatropine 
(Homatropince Hydrobromidum, B. P.) is a crystallizable salt of hom- 
atropine soluble in 10 parts of distilled water. The B. P. recognizes 
discs of homatropine. 

Hydrobromate of homatropine, properly applied by frequent instil- 
lations, is a reliable mydriatic for the correction of anomalies of refrac- 
tion in healthy eyes. Experience is not at hand to determine its value 
for this purpose in eyes affected with retinal-choroidal disturbance. 
Atropine and hyoscyamine are preferred under such circumstances, 
for the obvious reason that their prolonged action is desirable as a 
method of treatment. The danger of systemic disturbance from hom- 
atropine is far removed, even when repeated instillations have been 
made, and its temporary action upon the pulse causes no inconvenience 
to the patient. Slight hyperemia of the conjunctiva almost invaria- 
bly follow its use, but true conjunctivitis, if it occurs at all, must be 
excessively rare. According to the studies of Dr. de Schweinitz and 
the writer, the drug has a physiological action closely allied to that of 
atropine, from which it is derived. Homatropine mydriasis generally 
lasts from thirty-six to forty-eight hours, that of hyoscyamine eight 
to nine days, and that of atropine ten to twelve days. For the pro- 
duction of ordinary mydriasis the drug should be used in solution of 
the strength of 4 grains (0.20) to the ounce (32.0) of distilled water, 
which is to be dropped into the eye every five or ten minutes. As 
the drug is expensive, only a few drachms of the solution of the 
strength named should be ordered for a patient. 

HONEY. 

Honey, or 3fel, U. S., is the saccharine fluid deposited in combs 
by the honey-bee, or Apis meUifica. It is used to cover the taste 
of disagreeable medicines. When it is abstracted from a particular 
variety of flowers, it frequently has the odor of the flower, and when 
taken internally may even produce the physiological effects of the 
plant from which it is gathered. This accident occurs commonly 

1 Tropine is a product obtained by splitting up atropine into tropine and tropic 
acid. 



218 DEUGS. 

in those parts of the country where the bees have had access to moun- 
tain laurel and similar plants. 

Therapeutics. — Honey is used as a vehicle in gargles and to relieve 
cough and dryness of the mouth and fauces. When used as a gargle 
it very distinctly increases the secretion of the mucous membrane, and 
so relieves the congestion. 

Under the name of Oxymel the B. P. recognizes a mixture of 8 
parts of honey, 1 of acetic acid, and 1 of water. This is generally used 
as a vehicle for more active remedies in gargles or even for expectorant 
mixtures. Melted and strained honey, to which a small proportion of 
glycerin is added, is known as Mel Bespumatum, TJ. S., and Mel De- 
puratum, B. P. There are also a honey of roses {Mel Rosa?, TJ. S.) 
and a confection (Confectio Rosce, TJ. S.), used as vehicles for other 
drugs. 

HOPE'S CAMPHOR MIXTURE. 

This is a mixture originally made with nitrous acid, but largely 
used at present with nitric acid, owing to the fact that nitrous acid 
is changed into nitric acid when water is added to it. The nitrous 
acid is, however, more efficacious than nitric acid in the serous or 
choleraic diarrhoeas which it is used to combat. The formula is as 
follows : 

R. — Acidi nitrosi f^j (4.0). 

Aquse camphorae £3 viij (256.0). 

Et adde 

Tinct. opii ^ . # gtt. xl (2.65).— M. 

S. — One-fourth of this in water every three or four hours. 



HOPS. 

Humulus, TJ. S., is the strobiles of ordinary hops, or Humulus 
Lupulus. These contain a liquid volatile alkaloid, lupuline, and a bitter 
principle, lupulinic acid. Hops are known under the name of Lupulus 
in the B. P. Much confusion has arisen in regard to the preparations 
of this drug, partly because Humulus is the official name in the 
TJ. S. P. and Lupulus in the B. P. This confusion has been increased 
by the fact that the alkaloid of hops is called lupuline, while the 
powder which is found on the strobiles is called lupulin. Those 
preparations in the TJ. S. P. having the word " humulus " in their 
name are made from the hops themselves, those with "lupulin" in 
their name from the powder of the strobiles. 

Therapeutics. — Hops are used as antispasmodics and nervous seda- 
tives in cases of hysteria and nervousness. In priapism, vesical irrita- 
bility, and renal irritation they are of service. Even in delirium 
tremens they seem to be of value. For local application a hop poul- 
tice may be made by placing the powdered strobiles in the mass, and 
employed in this way they are a favorite home remedy for local pain- 
ful inflammations. Hops have been used in the form of a hop pillow 
in nervous insomnia, but the soporific influence is largely imaginary 



HYDRASTIS. 219 

or depends on the fumes of the alcohol with which the pillow is 
moistened. 

Administration. — The tincture (Tinctura Hamuli, U. S.) is given 
in the dose of \ to 3 ounces (16.0-96.0). Lupulin (Lupidinum, U. S. 
and B. P.), which is the powder found on the strobiles of hops, is 
given in the dose of 2 to 5 grains (0.1-0.35) or more; the oleoresin 
of lupulin (Oleoresina Lupulini, U. S.) is given in dose of 10 to 40 
drops (0.65-2.65) in capsules; and the fluid extract (Extractum Lupu- 
lini Fluidum, U. S.), in the dose of 30 to 120 drops (2.0-8.0). The 
preparations of the B. P. are the infusion (In fusion Lupuli), dose 
1 to 2 fluidounces (32.0-64.0); and the tincture (Tinctura Lupuli), 
dose \ to 2 fluidrachms (2.0-8.0). 



HYDRASTIS. 

Hydrastis, U. S. and B. P., is .the rhizome of the Hydrastis cana- 
densis, containing two alkaloids, known as hydrastine and berberine, 
and, perhaps, xanthopuccin. 

Physiological Action. — In poisonous doses hydrastis may cause con- 
vulsions followed by paralysis, according to the quantity of berberine 
or hydrastine present. The latter is more convulsive in its effects 
than the former. Upon the circulation hydrastine, when injected into 
the jugular vein, causes a primary fall of arterial pressure, succeeded 
by a decided rise, and the studies of Cerna have proved that it is an 
active poison producing spinal convulsions followed by paralysis. 

Therapeutics. — Hydrastis is of service in chronic g astro-intestinal 
catarrh, particularly that following the abuse of alcohol, and may be 
used as a stomachic and tonic after malarial fever and similar depress- 
ing diseases. Wherever membranes exist in a condition of lowered 
tone this drug is indicated. Thus in catarrhal jaundice of a subacute 
type, in uterine catarrh, in leucorrhoea dependent upon a relaxed state 
of the vagina, and in chronic nasal inflammations and irritations it 
will be found useful. 

Tincture of hydrastis is said to possess a distinct antimalarial 
influence. 

One of the best remedial measures that we have in the later stages 
of gonorrhoea, when the acute period has passed, is the local and 
internal use of hydrastis. If it is used as an injection, 5 grains 
(0.3) of the commercial hydrastine to each ounce (32.0) of water 
should be employed twice a day. If this is not used, the following 
infusion will be found of service : Take 1 drachm of the powdered 
root and add it to 8 ounces of boiling water ; \ to 1 drachm of the 
fluid extract may also be added to a pint of water and used as a w T ash 
in vaginal gonorrhoea and leucorrhoea. In chronic dyspepsia hydrastis 
seems to act as an antiseptic and as a curative agent upon the mucous 
membranes of the stomach. 

Administration. — The fluid extract (Extractum Hydrastis Fluidum, 
U. S. ; Liquidum, B. P.) may be given in the dose of 5 to 30 drops 
(0.30-2,0), while the dose of the tincture (Tinctura Hydrastis, U. S. 



220 DBUGS. 

and B. P.) is from 30 drops to 2 drachms (2.0-8.0). The Glyceritum 
Hydrastis, U. S. 9 is used as a healing application to mucous membranes. 
Much doubt exists as to the dose of hydrastine. This arises from 
the fact that two forms of it are sold. The most commonly seen is 
a dark -brown mass which is very impure, and contains berberine and 
other substances. Its dose is 3 to 10 grains (0.15-0.65). The pure 
hydrastine, as made by Merck, is given in the dose of \ to \ grain 
(0.016-0.03). Hydrastinine hydrochlorate, an artificial alkaloid of 
hydrastine, has become official in the U. S. P. of 1890. 



HYDROBROMIC ACID. 

(See Bromides.) 

HYDROCHLORIC ACID. 

Acidum Hydrochloricum ( U. S. and B. P.) is a clear, colorless 
liquid, possessing an acid odor and taste, devoid of astringency, but 
in concentrated form decidedly caustic. It should be kept in dark- 
colored bottles. In the strength of two-tenths of 1 per cent, it is 
normally present in the gastric juice, and aids the pepsin in the con- 
version of proteids into peptones and in the formation of pepsin from 
pepsinogen. 

Therapeutics. — Hydrochloric acid is a much overrated remedy in 
dyspepsia. With new methods of studying gastric secretions we have 
learned that proper dieting and the use of lavage will do great good in 
ordinary dyspepsias, and this acid now. finds comparatively rare and far 
more rational uses. These are its employments : to aid digestion dur- 
ing and after fevers, when this acid is apt to be absent from the gastric 
juice, particularly in typhoid fevers. In cases of gastric cancer, when 
this acid is always absent from the gastric secretion, and in the sick 
stomach following an alcoholic debauch, it is of great service. In some 
cases of chronic gastric catarrh in which there is atrophy of the gastric 
tubules, it should be used freely. The dose of the dilute acid (Acidum 
Hydrochloricum Bilutum, U. S. and B. P.) is 5 to 10 drops (0.36-1.3). 

This acid is combined with nitric acid to form dilute nitro-hydro- 
chloric acid (Acidum Nitro -hydrochloricum Bilutum, U. S. and B. P.), 
the dose of which is 10 to 30 minims (0.65-2.0); also the pure acid 
(Acidum Nitro -hydrochloricum, TJ. S.), dose 1 to 5 minims (0.05-0.35). 

Hydrochloric acid causes, when taken in poisonous doses, violent 
g astro-enteritis and corrosion of the gastric walls, and its action should 
be combated by alkalies, soap, oils, and white of egg, and the use of 
opium to relieve pain and irritation. 

HYDROCYANIC ACID. 

Hydrocyanic or Prussic Acid is a transparent, colorless, very volatile 
liquid, giving rise to vertigo when inhaled in minute amounts and 
capable of producing death if the fumes be concentrated. If the 



HYDROCYANIC ACID. 221 

bottle containing the pure drug be opened, it should be done where 
there is sufficient draught between windows to prevent any contamina- 
tion of the atmosphere of the room by the acid. 

Pure hydrocyanic acid is never used in medicine ; the form employed 
is the dilute acid (Acidum Hydrocyanicum Dihttum, U. S. and B. P.), 
which contains about 2 per cent, of the drug. It must be kept in dark, 
tightly-stoppered bottles. 

Physiological Action. — This is one of the most rapid (if not the most 
rapid) of the lethal poisons, only being approached by carbolic acid and 
nitrobenzole in the violence of its effects. Owing to its volatility, it is 
absorbed with great rapidity, and acts upon the respiratory centre and 
the heart, being eliminated almost immediately afterward. Because of 
its fleeting character, the survival of a patient twenty or thirty min- 
utes after the ingestion of a poisonous dose is a favorable sign for his 
recovery. 

The drug is an active paralyzant and exerts a lethal influence over 
every part of the body. The nervous system, heart, respiration, brain, 
and all vital parts are killed at once if much of it is present. 

Poisoning. — When a lethal dose of hydrocyanic acid is taken, death 
either comes at once, so that the person drops dead to the floor with a 
gasp, is for a moment convulsed, the face cyanotic, the eyes wide open, 
with the teeth tightly shut, and the lips covered by a bloody froth, or 
three stages of poisoning may ensue if the dose has not been large 
enough to result in immediate death. In the first of these stages there 
are difficult respiration, slow cardiac action, and disturbed cerebration. 
In the second stage, which is convulsive, we find wild cries, dilated 
pupils, unconsciousness, vomiting, spasmodic urination and defecation, 
erections of the penis, and ejaculations of semen. In the third stage 
there are asphyxia, collapse, and paralysis, ending in death. The blood 
is found to be dark and venous-looking, but does not give the spectrum 
bands of cyano-hsemoglobin. These bands only appear when the drug 
is shaken with the blood outside the body. 

The diagnostic signs of death from prussic acid are the odor on the 
body, the wide-staring eye, the clinched teeth covered with froth, and 
the livid, cyanosed face. If the body be opened, the odor of hydro- 
cyanic acid is marked, but this rapidly passes away, owing to the vol- 
atility of the drug. 

The only poisoning producing symptoms resembling those which 
have just been described is that produced by nitrobenzole or essence 
of mirbane, which has a somewhat similar odor, but which is, however, 
more permanent, the odor remaining in the opened body for hours. 

Therapeutics. — Hydrocyanic acid is useful in cases of gastralgia of 
purely nervous origin, and in some cases of nervous vomiting, and in 
irritable stomach, where, owing to a hyperesthesia of the mucous mem- 
branes, the taking of food produces discomfort. 

In irritable coughs, due to tickling in the throat and bronchi, it is 
very extensively used, and has received high praise by those best 
qualified to judge. On the other hand, it has been claimed that owing 
to the extreme volatility of the drug it only acts for the moment, and 
that a dose every ten or fifteen minutes is necessary to produce any 



^22 DfiUGS. 

real effect. However this may be in theory, practically the acid cer- 
tainly does aid in relieving cough. In these states the following pre- 
scription will be found of service : 

R. — Acid, hydrocyan. dil f £j (4.0). 

Syrup, pruni virg f'Jiij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every four or five hours to an adult. 

In enteralgia or neuralgia of the intestines dilute prussic acid is 
often a very useful remedy. 

Externally, the drug is useful in pruritus and other forms of itch- 
ing shin diseases, and the following formula will be found of service 
in pruritus vulvce : 

R. — Hydrarg. chlor. corros gr. jss (0.09). 

Acid, hydrocyanic, dil f.^j (4.0). 

Aquee amygdal. amarse f ^vj (192.0). — M. 

S. — Apply to the itching surface with a small rag. 

The same prescription may also be employed in pruritus without 
the bichloride, if so desired. The dose of dilute hydrocyanic acid is 
1 to 5 drops (0.05-0.35). In certain forms of irritable cough inhala- 
tions of the vapor (Vapor Acidi Hydrocyanici) are recommended; 
this is prepared by adding 10 to 15 minims (0 65-1.0) of the diluted 
acid to 1 fluidrachm (4 0) of water, which is then placed in a suitable 
apparatus, from which is inhaled the vapor that arises. 

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE. 

Peroxide of Hydrogen is a clear, odorless, syrupy fluid of a 
specific gravity of 1.452, possessing a harsh, bitter taste. It is 
readily soluble in water, and its chemical formula is H 2 2 . Pure 
peroxide of hydrogen is never used in medicine, but in solutions 
of varying strength. The ordinary solution, as found in the shops 
and that now official (Aqua Hydrogenii Dioxidi, U. S., Liquor 
Hydrogenii Peroxidi, B. P.), is about 3 per cent., or, as it is gen- 
erally called, a 10-volume solution. This term, "10 volumes," sig- 
nifies that it can yield 10 volumes of available oxygen ; and it is 
upon this yield of oxygen that its activity depends. The specific 
gravity of this official solution is 1.006 to 1.012 at 59°. The reaction 
is acid, but this is due to a small amount of acid added to the solution 
to preserve it. The official solution of peroxide of hydrogen, while 
the most stable that can be prepared, is nevertheless readily deterio- 
rated by exposure to heat, sunlight, or prolonged shaking. If placed 
in an absolutely clean, smooth glass vessel, it may be concentrated for 
immediate use by exposing it to a temperature of 140° P. ; but 
exposure to a temperature above this point may result in its decompo- 
sition with explosive violence. Practically, this means of concentra- 
tion is not convenient for the practitioner, and the ordinary official 
solution fulfils all ordinary requirements unless it has deteriorated by 
age. The great difficulty in the use of the solution of the peroxide 
is its liability to undergo change and become practically worthless. 
Wallian states that as a rough test for the value of a given solution a 



HYOSCYAMUS. 223 

few crystals of permanganate of potassium may be placed in a test- 
tube, and 1 or 2 drachms (4.0-8.0) of the solution added. The vio- 
lence of the resulting effervescence is in direct ratio to its value as 
a remedial agent. 

Therapeutics. — The most valuable use of the peroxide-of-hydrogen 
solution in medicine is in the treatment of diphtheria. So far as we 
know, it is the best application for the destruction and removal of the 
false membrane. There is no injury to the normal tissues, nor is there 
the danger of poisoning which sometimes follows the use of such drugs 
as carbolic acid. Applied to the false membrane, there is at once an 
active effervescence with some local tingling of the part. The mem- 
brane can afterward be removed in shreds. The solution should 
be applied by means of a swab or spray, but if the latter is used a 
glass atomizer must be employed, as the peroxide is decomposed by 
coming in contact with metals. 

In the treatment of abscess-cavities, tubercular or septic in cha- 
racter, the peroxide of hydrogen is a very valuable application, and 
its use will often decide the presence of pus, since when it meets with 
this material active effervescence ensues. Similarly, it is a valuable 
preparation' for cleansing ulcers and malignant growths which have 
ulcerated. The employment of the peroxide internally, with the idea 
that it will yield oxygen to the body in cases where this gas is lack- 
ing, is futile. Even if the oxvgen entered the blood, the amount 
disengaged from a possible dose would be too small to be of any 
value. 

It is stated that the application of this liquid to the spot suffering 
from a hornet's sting will give instant relief. 

Where the peroxide is used as a gargle it may produce pain through 
its attacking cavities in the teeth or the metallic substances with which 
they are filled. Taken internally, the peroxide of hydrogen is not 
poisonous. 

The internal dose of the Aqua Hydrogenii Dioxidi of the U. S. P. 
is from 1 to 4 drachms (4.0-16.0), well diluted with water, and taken 
from a porcelain, not a metal, cup or spoon. It possesses no distinct 
value in internal medication. 



HYOSCYAMUS. 

Hyoscyamus, V. $., or Henbane, is a plant of the Northern United 
States and Europe. The leaves {Hyoscyami Folia, B. P.) only are 
used, and from them are obtained two alkaloids — one known as hvos- 
cyamine, the other as hyoscine. The first has practically the same 
physiological action as atropine, save that it is much more sedative in 
its effects on the nervous system. (See Belladonna.) The second is 
quite different in its influence over the body. The only marked differ- 
ence in the action of hyoscyamine and atropine is in the mydriasis pro- 
duced by each. While that of atropine lasts, in man, from twelve to 
fourteen days, hyoscyamine generally remains for only seven to nine 
days. Sometimes the development of mydriasis is preceded bv violent 
pain in the eye due to a cramp of the ciliary muscle. If so, the drug 



224 DR UGS. 

must be pushed to overcome the spasm. The strength of the solution 
to be used is 2 grains (0.1) to the ounce (32.0). Owing to the presence 
of hyoscine in hyoscyamus, it is more quieting and depressing to the 
nervous system than is belladonna. 

Therapeutics. — Hyoscyamus is used in every condition indicating 
the employment of belladonna; or, in other words, wherever local 
spasm or arterial relaxation exists or where pain is due to spasm. 
It has been particularly recommended in nervous cough, in whooping 
cough, and in colic, and probably is better in its influences in these 
states than is belladonna. In combination with nitrate of silver the 
extract may be used with advantage in chronic gastric catarrh. In 
urinary incontinence due to irritable bladder it is very serviceable, and 
particularly is this true of this affection in children and old persons. 

Administration. — The drug itself is official in four forms and as 
hyoscyamine sulphate and hydrobromate. The dose of the tincture 
(Tinctura Hyoscyarni, U. S. and B. P.) is 30 drops to 1 drachm 
(2.0-4.0) ; the alcoholic extract (Extractum Hyoscyarni, U. S. 9 and 
Viride, B. P.), dose 1 to 3 grains (0.05-0.15) ; the alkaloid (Hyoscya- 
mince Sulphas, U. S. and B. P., vel Hydrobromas, U. #.), dose -^ to ^ 
of a grain (0.001-0.0015); and the fluid extract {Extractum Hyoscyarni 
Fluidum, U. S.), dose 5 to 30 drops (0.35-2.0). The B. P. prepa- 
ration, besides those given, is the juice (Succus Hyoscyarni), dose 30 
minims to 1 fluidrachm (2.0-4.0). 

Hyoscine. 

This is one of the alkaloids derived from hyoscyamus, and is a 
powerful nervous sedative in some cases. Much if not all the so-called 
hyoscine of the stores is in reality scopolamine, derived from Scopolia 
atropoides. 

Physiological Action. — Hyoscine quiets the cerebrum and produces 
deep sleep in a certain class of patients. In the lower animals or in 
man it may cause sleep or wild delirium. It causes loss of reflex 
action in overdose, which is due to paralysis of the spinal cord and 
not of the nerve-trunks. Upon the circulation it has little effect, but 
it is worthy of note that it does influence the vagus nerves, as does 
atropine, stimulating them at first, and finally paralyzing them, 
although the contrary has been asserted. In any event, the circu- 
latory effect is a minor one. In cases where hyoscine has acted in 
excess, or where an overdose has been given, pilocarpine may be used 
as a physiological antidote in full doses if the heart is sound. 

Therapeutics. — Hyoscine is of value as a hypnotic in a very lim- 
ited class of cases, but in this class generally acts most favorably. 
These cases consist of those who, from acute mania, alcoholic mania, 
hysteria, or similar cause, suffer from insomnia, and perhaps use vio- 
lent struggles against proper control or refuse to swallow or retain 
food. 

The drug may be given to such persons, hypodermically, in the 
dose of yj-g- to -g 1 ^ of a grain (0.0006), or by the mouth in the dose 
of -^Q to g^ of a grain (0.0008). The fact that it possesses no 
taste and is small in bulk renders it readily employed. In some 



HYPNAL—ICHTHYOL. 225 

persons it utterly fails even in this particular type of cases. 1 In 
delirium tremens it may cause evidences of cerebral congestion and 
Cheyne-Stokes breathing. Some patients are not quieted by the 
drug, but pace up and down in a semi-sane condition until its action 
wears off. In the opinion of the writer the applicability of the drug 
is very limited indeed, and untoward effects are common. 

Hyoscine is certainly of great value in spermatorrhoea and noc- 
turnal emissions. 

The drug is contraindicated in the sore throat of scarlet fever, as 
it may cause glottic spasm. In the insomnia of heart disease with 
nervousness it will cause sleep, but may also produce death by respi- 
ratory failure or cardiac arrest, and it is to be remembered that the 
drug will produce asthma rather than relieve it. The breathing in 
some persons may become under its influence croupy or rasping. 

Hyoscine is an uncertain remedy in nervous affections, sometimes 
acting very well, at others producing very alarming symptoms in 
cerebration, circulation, and respiration. 

Hyoscine is official in the form of Hyoscine Hydrobr ornate (Hyos- 
cince Hydrobromas, U. S.) and in the B. P. as Hyoscine Hydrobro- 
mide (Hyoscince Hydrobromidi). 

HYPNAL. 

The chemical name of this substance is monochloral-antipyrine, 
and it is, as its name indicates, a compound of chloral and antipyrine. 
There is also a dichloral-antipyrine, which contains more chloral. The 
compound is employed in treating those patients who suffer from pain 
and insomnia combined, the antipyrine relieving the pain and the 
chloral producing sleep. Opium is the only drug known which can 
be relied upon to act in this double manner, and the disadvantages of 
that medicament are often so prominent as to prevent its use. In 
cough arising from bronchitis or phthisis, and causing by its con- 
stancy loss of sleep, and in neuralgic insomnia, hypnal will be found 
of service. The dose is from 5 to 20 grains (0.35-1.3), best given 
with simple syrup and water or with syrup of orange-peel, or it may 
be used as follows : 

R— Hypnal gr. xv (1.0). 

Chartreuse • f^j (4.0). 

Distilled water fgss (16.0).— M. 

S. — The entire amount to be taken in one dose. 



ICHTHYOL. 

The substance sold in the shops and employed in medicine under 
the name of ichthyol is really a salt formed by the bibasic acid, 
ichthyo-sulphuric or sulpho-ichthyolic acid with ammonium. In other 

1 The writer has given one-tenth of a grain of Merck's hyoscine in twenty-four 
hours, obtained from two different and reliable stores, without producing sleep, 
although the respirations were much quickened. 
15 



226 DRUGS. 

words, it is ammonium ichthyol, which is a semi-solid substance. The 
ichthyo-sulphuric acid itself is derived from a crude oil, which in turn 
is obtained by destructive distillation from a deposit of fossil fish found 
in the Tyrol Mountains. When combined with sodium, forming sodium 
ichthyol, a more solid substance than ammonium ichthyol is formed, 
which can be employed if it is desired to use the drug in pill form. 
Both the ammonium and sodium ichthyol contain about 10 per cent, 
of sulphur, and it is largely upon this that their therapeutic activity 
depends. They are both soluble in water, and have a dark-brown, 
tarry appearance. Their disagreeable odor depends upon an inseparable 
volatile oil. 

Therapeutics. — Ichthyol is without doubt one of the most remark- 
able substances introduced for medicinal purposes within the last few 
years, both because of its curious origin and its therapeutic value in a 
large variety of ailments. In the author's hands it has proved most 
efficacious in the treatment of the inflamed areas in acute articular 
rheumatism. When used in this disease an ointment composed as fol- 
lows is to be smeared over the inflamed part, and then spread on lint, 
which is wrapped about the limb. This usually relieves the pain and 
tenderness of the part to a great extent. The same application, accom- 
panied by rubbing or applying massage to the joint, is of value for the 
pain and stiffness met with after the acute manifestation of the disease 
has passed by : 

R.— Ichthyol #j (8.0). 

01. citronellse gtt. xv vel xxx (1.0-2.0). 

Adipis gj (32.0).— M. 

Sometimes the quantity of ichthyol in this prescription can be in- 
creased to three or four drachms with advantage. The same prescrip- 
tion is also the best external treatment of erysipelas that we have. 
The skin should be carefully and gently washed, and then anointed 
with the ointment and covered by lint smeared with this ointment. If 
the disease be in the skin of the face, holes are to be cut in the lint for 
the mouth, nose, and eyes. Ichthyol is also a very useful drug in the 
treatment of chronic skin diseases associated with atony and induration 
of the deeper layers of the skin, such as acne, eczema, and even lupus 
and keloid in their chronic stages. It is always better to use ichthyol 
in ointment form, but some practitioners have employed it by painting 
it on in watery solution with a camel's-hair brush. In frost-bites, 
chilblains, and in burns it is of service, and Agnew has recommended 
it highly when rubbed into lymphatic enlargements. Ichthyol has 
proved remarkably efficacious in removing peri-uterine and other pel- 
vic exudations when used as a salve or in a vaginal suppository. 

For acute sprains, and for the removal of the swelling following 
such injuries, its influence is extraordinary if it be well rubbed into 
the part affected. 

In severe cases of cracked nipples, with much induration, an oint- 
ment of ichthyol, 1 drachm to 4 (4.0-16.0) of lanolin, will prove of 
value, but it must be wiped off before each nursing or the child will 
not take the breast. Often the odor remains and prevents nursing. 



IODIDE OF POTASSIUM. 227 

The dose of ichthyol internally is 1 to 10 grains (0.05-0.65), given 
in pill. 

IODIDES OF AMMONIUM AND ETHYL. 
(See Ammonium Iodide and Ethyl Iodide.) 

IODIDE OP POTASSIUM. 

The physiological effects of iodide of potassium (Potassii Iodidum, 
U. S. and B. P.) are entirely comparable to those of iodine itself 
(see Iodine), but it is employed for somewhat different purposes, is 
less irritant, more readily given, and perhaps more readily absorbed. 
When it is given in very large doses or for a long period of time, the 
fact that the potassium base is a depressant poison is to be remembered, 
and it is well to use iodide of sodium instead. 

Physiological Action. — Circulation. — Upon this part of the sys- 
tem when in health iodide of potassium produces effects differing very 
slightly, if at all, from those caused by potassium itself. Small 
amounts raise the blood-pressure, and large quantities lower it (Prevost 
and Binet), but if atheroma of the blood-vessels be present with high 
arterial tension in association with it, iodide of potassium acts as a valu- 
able remedy in reducing the vascular spasm. It therefore lowers arte- 
rial pressure. 

Absorption and Elimination. — Iodide of potassium is very 
rapidly absorbed and eliminated, appearing in the urine, according to 
Doux, in thirteen minutes after it is ingested, and the daily amount 
excreted equals about 80 per cent, of the dose taken. Some of the 
drug tends to accumulate in the body. It is evident, therefore, that 
in the use of iodide of potassium we should give it freely and fre- 
quently at first until the residual amount has reached its limit, when 
smaller doses maybe given, and given less frequently, for the purpose 
of maintaining the iodine influence. That is to say, the drug should 
be given up to the point of tolerance, whatever that may be, and then 
a smaller dose will be sufficient to maintain its influence by replacing 
the albuminoid compounds of iodine as they are slowly eliminated. On 
the other hand, if the iodide is being given for the purpose of elimi- 
nating some poison, as lead, for example, here the dose cannot be greatly 
decreased, because in addition to the ordinary quantity eliminated 
a portion is passed out as a double soluble iodide of lead. This 
theoretical deduction seems to find support in the fact that after the 
syphilographer reaches the full effect of the drug he often cuts the 
dose down to what he calls the "tonic dose," and so maintains the 
constant alterative effect without disordering the functions of the 
body. If he does not do this, the drug accumulates and causes 
chronic iodine cachexia, a state which it is important to avoid in 
grave diseases, like syphilis, which depend for their relief so largely on 
the maintenance of great vitality in the patient. All traces of the 
iodine in the urine disappear four or five days after the last dose is 
administered (Elhers). 



228 DRUGS. 

Therapeutics. — The medicinal uses of iodide of potassium may be 
divided into three great divisions, each of which is important. It is 
also employed for many conditions not included in these classes : 

1. Syphilis. — The use of iodide of potassium in syphilis is recog- 
nized as a part of all treatment for its relief. Elsewhere Dr. Martin 
has, in his excellent article (see Syphilis), treated of this question, 
and it is only necessary to call attention to the fact that the drug 
is generally well borne in large amounts by advanced syphilitics, 
although this is not always the case. The term "therapeutic test" 
is applied by one eminent teacher to signify a state of the system 
produced by syphilis in which a diagnosis may be made by the fact 
that large doses of the iodide are borne without inconvenience. This 
resistance does not always prove the presence of syphilis, nor does the 
absence of this resistance prove the absence of this disease. Persons 
having hereditary asthma, gout, rheumatism, or some similar diathetic 
malady often resist the iodide, and, on the other hand, some syphilitics 
are affected with " iodism " after very small doses. In treating syphilis- 
the drug should be used in the dose of 10 grains (0.65) three times a 
day, and this amount gradually increased a grain a day until symp- 
toms of "iodism" occur. 

The quantity borne often amounts to from 100 to 200 grains 
(6.0-13.0) a day, and as much as 400 grains may be taken by some 
persons. The best way to use the iodide of potassium is to order for 
the patient a saturated solution of the drug, which contains in each 
drop about 1 grain, and at the same time a bottle of the compound 
syrup of sarsaparilla. To a tablespoonful of the latter the patient is 
to add the iodide solution, beginning with 10 drops (0.65) three times. 
a day, and increasing a drop every twenty-four hours. 

The iodide acts more slowly as an antisyphilitic than does mercury.. 

In tertiary syphilis the iodide is invaluable. 

In nervous syphilis, be its manifestations what they may, iodide of 
potassium is the standard remedy, only being supplanted by mercury 
when it is necessary to break down a growth whose existence is a daily 
r^enace to the patient's life, as, for example, a brain tumor which causes 
pressure near vital areas. It is not of value in sclerotic post-syphilitic 
changes nor in locomotor ataxia due to syphilis, except in the earliest 
stages. 

2. Metallic Poisoning. — Owing to the fact that iodide of potas- 
sium forms double soluble salts with all the metals in the tissues in 
chronic poisoning, thereby aiding in their elimination, it should always- 
be employed in chronic lead, zinc, arsenic, or mercurial poisoning. 

3. Antirheumatic. — Iodide of potassium is best suited, not to 
the acute sthenic stages of rheumatism, when the joints are very hot 
and painful, but to the secondary or subacute periods, when the joints 
are large and the case "hangs on" — now better, now worse. It acts 
best, under these circumstances, if combined with wine of colchicum- 
root. (See Rheumatism.) It is also to be tried in sciatica, lumbago, 
and rheumatic neuralgia, and it may be employed in chronic pleurisy, 
pericarditis, and hydrocephalus to cause absorption of the fluids. In 
these conditions, however, it often fails and cannot be relied upon. 



IODIDE OF POTASSIUM. 229 

In aneurism, particularly that of the aorta, the drug often does 
good, but its value rests largely upon the cause of the disease. If it 
is due to syphilis, the aneurism may yield very rapidly to the drug, and 
the pain, swelling, and pulsation gradually decrease. 

In asthma iodide of potassium is valuable if the disease is of the 
pure bronchial type, but it ought not to be employed if the cause is 
associated with gastric irritation or indigestion, as it makes the condi- 
tion of the stomach worse. In bronchitis and intestinal catarrh where 
the condition of the mucous membranes is semi-chronic, and not relieved 
by chloride of ammonium, iodide of potassium should be used. If the 
bronchitis is chronic and the secretion profuse (bronchorrhoea), iodide 
of potassium will make it worse. The dose for an adult in all these 
instances should be about 3 to 5 grains (0.15-0.30) three times a day, 
for small doses tend to increase secretion far more than large ones, 
which often seem to decrease it. In pulmonary emphysema iodide 
of potassium is often of great value. 

In chronic interstitial nephritis small doses (5 grains (0.35) t. i. d.) 
ar«3 thought by some to check the disease, but it is to be remembered 
that the drug may produce untoward symptoms if the kidneys do not 
eliminate it, so that, if used at all, it must be given with great care. 
If the drug is well borne in chronic parenchymatous nephritis, it will 
cause an extraordinary increase in the urinary flow, and will relieve 
very rapidly any dropsy which may be present. 

In broncho cele the employment of iodide of potassium internally 
and tincture of iodine externally is the best treatment we can use, 
and in acute coryza, or " cold in the head," 10 grains (0.65) taken at 
the beginning of the trouble will often abort the attack. 

In hepatic cirrhosis, in its early stages, the iodide often does good, 
and in arteriosclerosis or atheroma of the blood-vessels it is of great 
service. Thus in the latter conditions a combination of iodide of 
sodium or potassium with a little digitalis will relieve vascular spasm 
and support a feeble heart. 

A very important use of iodide of potassium is for the removal of 
enlargements of the cervical glands and those occurring in other parts 
of the body. In enlargements of the spleen, malarial or otherwise, 
external paintings with iodine and the internal use of the iodide in 
small doses are of service. In the later stages of pneumonia the 
iodides are useful to aid in the absorption of any exudates, but they 
are contraindicated in phthisis, except in the fibroid form and in 
those cases which are dependent upon syphilis as an underlying dys- 
crasia, as they aid in the breaking down of the lung. 

Untoward Effects. — In some persons, after the use of the iodide, 
coryza comes on, so tfrat the edges of the lids become reddened and 
the nose runs constantly ; and it is a curious fact that small doses 
are more apt to produce such a result than large ones. This is fol- 
lowed, if the drug is pushed, by the more positive signs of " iodism " 
spoken of under Iodine. 

In other cases acne breaks out on the face and disorders of diges- 
tion and gastric irritability come on. The acne can nearly always be 
prevented by giving arsenic at the same time with the iodide. In 



230 DRUGS. 

sonie cases petechial rashes break out on the legs, while in others great 
mental and physical depression appears, so that listlessness or melan- 
cholia may develop. Sometimes iodide of potassium causes diarrhoea. 

In persons susceptible to iodide of potassium care should be exer- 
cised when it is first administered lest sudden and dangerous oedema 
of the glottis occur. Eisner has reported a case in which death due to 
this cause followed the administration of 30 grains of the iodide of 
potassium. Multiple hemorrhages from the skin and mucous membrane 
occurred. 

If bullae or blebs follow the use of the iodides or other rashes 
appear, it is said that atropine will afford relief. 

Sometimes the iodide of ammonium -or iodide of sodium will be 
borne when the iodide of potassium will not. 

Administration. — The iodide of potassium, owing to its exceed- 
ingly disagreeable taste, should be given with the compound syrup 
of sarsaparilla, extract of liquorice, or in milk. Large amounts of 
these vehicles are to be used. A good way to give it is to acid the 
drug to one of the liquid pepsins, and then to add this to warm milk, 
as in the directions for the preparations of junket given in Part III. 
The curd completely covers the taste of the drug. The dose usually 
varies from 5 to 60 grains (0.35-4.0) three times a day, according to 
the condition of the patient. It is best given an hour after meals, 
so that it will not disorder digestion by irritating the stomach or 
interfere with the gastric juice. 

One of the best ways to take the drug is in capsule, but if this is 
done a drink of milk or water or other fluid should precede or follow 
it, in order to prevent the drug from coming in contact with the 
stomach in concentrated form. The preparations of the iodide of 
potassium are — Unguentum JPotassii Iodidi, U. S. and B. P., and the 
liniment (Linimentum Potassii Iodidi cum Sapone, B. P.). The 
former should always be freshly prepared. 

IODIDE OF SODIUM. 

Sodii Iodidwn, U. S. and B. P., is used in the same doses and for 
the same purposes as the iodide of potassium, and is less irritant than 
the latter salt, as well as less depressant to the general system. 

IODINE. 

Iodum, IT. S. and B. P., is a non-metallic element found largely 
in seaweed and in mineral iodates and iodides. It is soluble in ether 
and alcohol, but slightly so in water, and possesses an acrid, burning 
taste and a neutral reaction. 

Physiological Action. — The physiological action of iodine, so far as 
its alterative powers are concerned, is absolutely unknown. Applied 
to the skin, it stains it yellow, brown, or black according to the free- 
dom of its application, and it acts without pain if the skin is intact. 
If very large amounts are used, it produces vesication. Upon mucous 
membranes iodine acts as a powerful irritant. Germain-Sde believed 
it to be a stimulant to the nutritive processes of the body and to the 



IODINE. 231 

circulatory system, and he was certainly correct in regard to the influ- 
ence it exercises over nutrition. 

Absorption and Elimination. — The drug is rapidly absorbed, 
escapes from the body chiefly through the kidneys, the skin, the sali- 
vary glands, and it even appears in the milk of nursing women to such 
an extent that the nursing infant may be affected by iodism and suffer 
from gastro-intestinal disturbance in consequence of ingesting it. 

Poisoning. — The symptoms of acute poisoning by iodine are those 
of acute gastro-enteritis, such as severe pain in the oesophagus, stomach, 
and abdomen, accompanied by violent vomiting and purging. An early 
symptom is the persistent strong metallic taste in the mouth, with 
markedly increased salivation. The pulse becomes rapid, running, and 
feeble, the face deathly pale, total arrest of urinary secretion takes 
place through renal irritation, and death occurs by failure of respira- 
tion, which is accompanied by loss of all vital power. 

If the poisoning is not severe enough to cause death at once, a 
fatal result is, nevertheless, reached after a few days by reason of 
a widespread fatty degeneration of the tissues which iodine often 
produces. 

The 'treatment of the poisoning consists in the use of large amounts 
of starch in any of its forms as the antidote, the employment of 
emetics and the stomach-pump, the application of heat to the body 
and extremities, and, finally, the employment of hypodermic injections 
of alcohol, digitalis, and atropine or strychnine for the purpose of 
maintaining the strength of the circulatory and respiratory systems. 

Untoward Effects. — Under the name of "iodism" the profession 
recognizes a state of the body brought on by the prolonged and 
excessive use of iodine in any of its forms. The earliest notable 
signs of this state are a peculiar metallic taste in the mouth, par- 
ticularly before breakfast, slight tenderness of the teeth and gums, 
increase of salivary secretion, a little morning nausea and a lack of 
appetite for breakfast, and perhaps some coryza or evidence of gastric 
irritation. Acne rosacea often comes on very early during the use of 
full doses of iodine. If the drug is continued, all these symptoms 
become more marked and the coryza becomes intense. Headache 
under the frontal bone and sore throat often appear, and the pustu- 
lar and bleb-like changes in the skin go on to active suppuration. 
Sometimes large boils appear or purpura hemorrhagica comes on. 
Slight catarrhal fever may develop. 

In other cases the nervous system chiefly suffers. Twitchings of 
muscles, neuralgic pains in the trunk and extremities, and wasting 
of the testicles, mammae, and all other tissues occur as the result of 
trophic disturbances. Anaemia amounting to an actual cachexia is 
commonly produced. Loss of vision and paralysis may ensue in 
extreme cases. Soullier asserts that albuminuria may be developed 
in children after tincture of iodine is applied to the skin by reason 
of its absorption and irritation of the kidneys. 

Therapeutics. — In all cases where the system is in a state of 
chronic perverted functional activity, as in those diseases associated 
with disorder of the processes of nutrition, and often included under 



232 DRUGS. 

the single name of scrofulosis, iodine is of service. In enlargement 
of the lymph-glands it is, in its various forms, one of the best rem- 
edies we possess, but it ought not to be employed in those cases where 
rapid changes are going on in the gland, such as the formation of 
pus, since under these circumstances it will increase the size of the 
slough. The drug ought never to be used in rapid phthisis, because 
it tends to disintegrate the tissues, and this is precisely what the dis- 
ease is doing. In the exceedingly chronic form of pulmonary disease 
known as fibroid phthisis iodine may be used. When inhaled in fumes 
it may be of service as a stimulant to the mucous membranes, but is 
never of value in phthisis so far as combating the true pathological 
change is concerned. In countries where exophthalmic goitre is very 
prevalent iodine ranks as a most efficient but a dangerous remedy. In 
cystic or vascular enlargement of the thyroid gland it is valueless, but 
in simple hypertrophy of the gland iodine is of great value. To accom- 
plish the best results it must be injected by means of a hypodermic 
needle into the gland. The usual dose is 10 to 15 drops (0.65-1.0) 
every second or third day till twenty or more injections have been used. 
Meltzer states that while this treatment is sometimes efficacious, it is 
not by any means devoid of danger, for at least thirty deaths have 
resulted from it. 

In chronic bone disease iodine applied about the affected joint in 
the form of the ointment diluted one-half with lard, or in the pure 
tincture, will be found of service, and if anazmia exists the syrup of 
the iodide of iron should be given internally. 

The other uses of iodine externally are many and important. As 
a slow counter-irritant, which does not produce pain if properly em- 
ployed, it is particularly useful in children, and may be employed in one 
to three coats, and no more, applied by means of a camel's-hair brush. 

The proper way to use the tincture of iodine as a local counter-irri- 
tant is to give one good black coat at one sitting, and not to repeat it 
until the skin has desquamated and become well renewed. If iodine is 
applied soon after one good effective coat, it will cause agonizing burn- 
ing pain, which nothing will relieve except the removal of the iodine 
by the use of cologne-water, alcohol, whiskey, or gin. The application 
of any of the latter liquids causes such an increase in the pain as to be 
almost useless after the skin is broken. The best lotion for its removal 
is one of iodide of potassium, which should be followed by a starch 
poultice. A good rule to follow is never to cause pain by the use of, 
iodine, as the drug acts equally well if applied in such a way as to avoid 
suffering. 

Iodine in the form of the tincture is applied as a counter-irritant 
paint to the skin of the chest in pleurisy, both to abort an attack and 
to aid in absorption of the fluid after it is passed out into the chest. In 
harassing irritative cough it may be painted over the supraclavicular 
spaces, and it will lessen the secretion in chronic bronchitis if used in 
this way. In chronic rheumatism affecting the joints and muscles it 
does good when locally applied. Often in synovitis the local applica- 
tion of iodine causes increased swelling for some days. This should 
not cause alarm, for ultimately the swelling decreases very greatly, and 



IODINE. 233 

the cases in which this occurs are generally the best from a prognostic 
point of view. 

In the course of j^hthisis every now and then a "spot" in the 
chest will become "sore," probably due to a limited area of pleurisy, 
and under these circumstances tincture of iodine locally applied will 
give relief. In lupus the tincture may be painted around the edges 
of the growth, and even over its surface, with the object of retarding 
its spread. In chilblains an application of iodine ointment gives the 
greatest relief if diluted one-half with lard, and its use is probably the 
most efficacious measure at our disposal. In certain individuals who 
have "pains in the chest" iodine ointment may do good if rubbed 
in over the affected spot. As has been pointed out by others, iodine 
does good if muscular tenderness is present, while it fails if pleuro- 
dynia or intercostal neuralgia is the cause of the suffering. The lat- 
ter troubles should be removed by the use of belladonna. In certain 
forms of skin diseases, such as tinea tonsurans and circinata, tincture 
of iodine may be applied with a camel's-hair brush, and even the 
entire scalp may be painted. A better way is to apply it to different 
spots each day. When erysipelas is present, the tincture may be painted 
around the edges of the inflammation in order to prevent its spread. 

In old persons or those in middle life retraction of the gums from 
the teeth sometimes comes on, and Stille' recommends for this dis- 
order the use, by means of a camel's-hair brush, of a watery solution 
of iodine of the strength of 1 grain to the ounce (0.05 : 32.0), to be 
followed at once by a thorough rinsing of the mouth with pure water. 
In hydrocele iodine in the form of the tincture is the best remedy for 
effecting a permanent cure that we have. The sac should first be 
emptied by the use of a trocar and canula, and the iodine alone or 
mixed with glycerin injected with a syringe, and then allowed to 
escape. As the pain is most atrocious, the patient should first be put 
partly or entirely under the influence of ether or other anaesthetic. 

In white sivellings and ovarian tumors as much as 10 ounces (320.0) 
of the tincture may be injected, but it is to be remembered that certain 
dangerous symptoms may arise. After the injection of tincture of iodine 
into the pleural cavity in hydrothorax symptoms of poisoning have 
come on in some cases, the most common complication being con- 
vulsions. These are epileptiform in character and are followed by 
coma or collapse. 

In empyema a solution of iodine 6 grains (0.37), iodide of potas- 
sium 6 grains (0.37), and water 1 pint (500 cc), may be used daily 
as an irrigating fluid with good results ; but this practice is not 
entirely devoid of danger, as too much of the iodine may be absorbed 
or the irritation produced in the chest by its injection may cause 
reflex and severe nervous symptoms. Iodoform is better. 

The tincture of iodine may be used, according to Ringer, as an 
inhalation with signal benefit in the following three instances : 

1. In the chronic forms of phthisis [fibroid lung). When the 
expectoration is abundant and when the cough is troublesome, its 
inhalation, used both night and morning, will generally lessen the 
expectoration and allay the cough. 



234 DRUGS. 

2. In children six to ten years of age, who after meals, or, inde- 
pendently of them, on exposure to cold, are seized with hoarseness, a 
hoarse, hollow cough and some wheezing at the chest. This affection, 
involving the larynx, trachea, and larger bronchial tubes, and often 
proving very obstinate, is apt to return and to persist a considerable 
time. 

3. Some persons suffer with itching of the nose, of the inner canthus 
of one or both eyes, sneezing, running at the nose of a watery fluid, 
weeping of the eyes, and severe frontal headaches ; and these patients 
of various ages are greatly troubled, often for many years, with daily 
attacks of this character, lasting, it may be, several hours. Iodine 
inhaled often removes this affection at once, lessening the headache 
and discharge from the nostrils. Its effect is most marked in respect 
to the itching. 

Ringer generally adopts the following simple, handy, cleanly, and 
effectual plan of inhalation : Heat well a jug capable of holding about 
2 pints, by rinsing with boiling water, then partly fill with boiling 
water, into which pour 20 to 30 drops (1.3-2.0) of the tincture of 
iodine, then direct the patient to put his face over the mouth of the 
jug and breathe the iodized steam, covering the head to prevent the 
escape of the vapor. This inhalation should be used night and morn- 
ing for five minutes or a little longer. Occasionally an excess of 
iodine will temporarily produce a sensation of soreness in the chest 
and throat, accompanied with redness of the conjunctiva, running 
from the nose, and pain in the head. 

In some cases of acute coryza much relief may be obtained by sniff- 
ing the fumes of tincture of iodine from a bottle, as in the use of 
"smelling salts." The heat of the hand is sufficient to disengage the 
vapor in proper quantity. 

Administration. — Iodine is never used in solid form, and it has 
been taught that the tincture {Tinctura Iodi, TJ. S. and B. P.) should 
not be given internally, on the ground that it is precipitated in the 
stomach. Whether this be true or false, it is a fact that the tincture 
has recently been largely used in the vomiting of pregnancy "with very 
good results. The dose is 5 to 10 drops (0.35-0.65), well diluted. 
Under the name of Lugol's solution (Liquor Iodi Compositus, TJ. S.) 
iodine is frequently used internally ; the dose is 5 to 10 drops (0.35- 
0.65), in water. 

TJnguentum Iodi, TJ. 8. and B. P., is used locally over enlarged 
glands. In the case of children or adults who have delicate skins the 
ointment should be diluted one-half with lard. This ointment should 
always be freshly made. 

Contraindications. — Iodine is contraindicated in renal diseases, 
except in small doses, during the progress of acute inflammation, 
and whenever tissues are rapidly undergoing degenerative changes. 

IODOFORM. 

Iodoform (lodoformum, TJ. S. and B. P.) occurs in small saffron- 
colored crystals which possess a powerful characteristic, penetrating 



IODOFORM. 235 

odor and strong taste. It is soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform,, 
benzol, and in fixed and volatile oils, but is insoluble in water. 

Physiological Action. — The effects of iodoform upon the circulation, 
respiration, and other vital functions are very slight when the drug is 
used as a surgical dressing in ordinary amounts or when it is given by 
the mouth in average doses. It acts as an anaesthetic upon mucous 
membranes, and produces those changes ^vhich we are wont, for want 
of a better term, to call "alterative/' in the tissues with which it 
comes in contact. Iodoform is eliminated in the urine as iodine or as 
alkaline iodides, chiefly iodide of sodium. The drug also escapes by 
the saliva. 

Poisoning. — If applied to an absorbing surface in susceptible indi- 
viduals, iodoform may cause general systemic poisoning. This poison- 
ing may be mild, in which case we have a general feeling of malaise, 
with nausea and the perception of various odors which are in reality not 
present. There may be headache and vomiting. If the system is still 
more impressed by the drug, these symptoms are followed by cerebral 
excitement, insomnia, loss of memory, loss of appetite, and a rapid 
pulse. In very grave cases convulsive movements and maniacal delir- 
ium, alternating with coma, may be the dominant symptoms. The 
pulse is small and rapid, and there is often retention of urine or heema- 
turia. Loebisch asserts that the mental excitement cannot be quieted 
by narcotics. If death occurs, the heart and respiration fail simultane- 
ously. In addition to the fatty degeneration which such poisoning pro- 
duces in all the vital organs, there is sometimes found an cedematous 
condition of the pia mater or a low-grade leptomeningitis. These 
symptoms seem to occur more commonly in the aged. In the graver 
cases the onset of the poisoning is apt to be sudden, though from 
twenty-four hours to several days usually elapse between the appli- 
cation of the drug and the onset of the symptoms of poisoning. 

Treatment of the poisoning by iodoform consists, according to Soul- 
lier, in the administration of bicarbonate of sodium to unite with the 
iodine and so aid in its elimination ; the use of alcoholic stimulants to 
support the system ; the employment of diuretics, and wrapping the 
patient in hot blankets to encourage free sweating, so relieving the 
kidneys. Kocher advises saline transfusion in such cases. 

Untoward Effects. — It is not to be forgotten that iodoform when 
applied as a dressing may produce less violent symptoms than those just 
described, and capable, because of their aberrant character, of seriously 
misleading the physician. Thus a scarlatinal rash may develop with 
fever, malaise, and nervous disturbances. 

Therapeutics. — Iodoform is used chiefly as a surgical dressing. It 
is antiseptic, but not germicidal. Germs may be found in powdered 
iodoform, and will even grow in it. When used locally, the drug does 
good by absorbing the liquids of the wound, and thereby removing the 
nidus for germ-growth, and when applied to large moist surfaces gives 
off free iodine and acts as well as a protective. There can be no doubt 
that iodoform when applied to a wound does good, not by destroying 
the bacteria directly or indirectly, but by inducing chemical changes 
in their toxines. 



236 DRUGS. 

In syphilitic sores the following dressing will be found of great 
service: Iodoform, 20 grains (1.3); oil of eucalyptus, \ iluidounce 
(16.0); or a powder of iodoform \ an ounce (16.0), camphor 75 
grains (5.0), and essence of roses 2 drops (0.1), may be employed. 
In eczema, with tingling and itching, the following application will 
give relief (Ringer) : 

R. — Iodoformi gr. iv (0.2). 

Olei eucalypti f^j (4.0). 

Petrolati %] (32.0).— M. 

S. — Apply locally. 

Internally, iodoform is used in tertiary syphilis in all its forms in 
the dose of from 1 to 5 grains (0.05-0.35). Bartholow recommends 
it most highly in catarrhal jaundice and in the early stages of hepatic 
cirrhosis ; indeed, he thinks its persistent use in small dose will cure 
the latter affection. 

The influence of iodoform upon the tubercle bacillus is very great, 
and it is now largely used in the treatment of tubercular disease of the 
joints and pleural. The pus is allowed to escape under antiseptic pre- 
cautions ; the cavity is washed out with warm boric-acid or carbolic-acid 
solutions of low strength, and from 1 to 6 drachms (4.0-24.0) of an 
emulsion of iodoform and sterilized sweet oil are injected and allowed 
to remain. The strength of the iodoform-and-oil emulsion should 
usually be 10 per cent. Should the abscess-cavity fail to heal after 
these injections have been repeated every few days for some time, it 
must be reopened, scraped, and injected again or packed with iodoform 
gauze. The iodoform also promotes healing through its alterative influ- 
ence, which aids in the absorption of the inflammatory exudate. Should 
tubercular glands be present, injections may be made into them even if 
pus has not formed. 

Used by means of a powder-blower, iodoform will often relieve the 
hoarseness and discomfort of laryngeal phthisis, but it must be pulver- 
ized most minutely. Sometimes a spray may be used, which should 
consist of spirits of turpentine and sweet oil, half-and-half, and contain 
2 grains (0.10) of iodoform to each ounce (32.0). This mixture may 
also be used in chronic bronchial catarrh to lessen the cough and foetid 
discharge. In the early stages of phthisis several clinicians claim to 
have reached very good results by the daily hypodermic injection into 
the back of 30 minims (2.0) of a 1 : 100 solution of iodoform in oil of 
sweet almonds, but this treatment has not generally found favor, in this 
country at least. 

For fissure of the anus and irritated hemorrhoids 5 grains (0.35) 
of iodoform in a suppository may be placed in the rectum, and after it 
has remained there a few minutes defecation may he had without pain. 
The pain following operations on the female perineum may also be much 
relieved in this manner. In the tenesmus of cholera infantum an injec- 
tion of 1 ounce (32.0) of sweet oil with 5 grains (0.35) of iodoform will 
give great relief if used after or before enteroclysis. 

Administration. — The ointment of iodoform ( Vnguentum Iodoformi, 
U. S. and B. P.) is useful when applied over foetid sores. It should 
always be freshly made. The drug itself may be given in 1- to 5-grain 



IODOL—IPECA CUANHA. 237 

(0.05-0.35) doses three times a day. The suppositories (Suppositoria 
Iodoformi) are official in the B. P. ; each one contains 3 grains (0.15) 
of iodoform. 

IODOL. 

This is a dark, dirty-yellowish-looking powder, soluble in alcohol, 
ether, and oils, but only slightly so in water. Its uses in medicine 
are identical with those of iodoform, and it possesses the advantage 
of being not so penetrating in odor as the latter drug. 

In tubercular laryngitis the powder may be blown into the larynx 
without disagreeable results and with a favorable effect on the dis- 
eased process. Cerna has found iodol of very great service in dia- 
betes when given internally, in the dose of from 2 to 6 grains (0.1- 
0.3) three times a day, and it is said to be of value in tertiary syph- 
ilis in the same quantity. 

A very useful antiseptic dressing for small wounds and abrasions 
is made by adding 1 part of iodol to 10 parts of ether and 5 of gun- 
cotton, thereby preparing an iodol collodion. 

Ingalls recommends the following prescription in cases of eczema 
or abrasions of the upper lip and nostrils : 

R .—Acid, carbolic. . . rr\,vj (0.3). 

01. rosae .' . . T^v (0.3). 

Iodol gr. xxv (1.65). 

Lanolin §ss (16.0).— M. 

IPECACUANHA. 

Ipecacuanha, U. S. and B. P., or Ipecac, is the root of Cephaelis 
Ipecacuanha, a small shrub of Brazil. It contains an alkaloid, eme- 
tine, and ipecacuanhic acid. 

Physiological Action. — Locally applied to mucous membranes, ipe- 
cac acts as an irritant, and if applied for a long period to the skin 
produces vesicles and irritation. Very minute doses have little notice- 
able effect, but large ones produce nausea, relaxation, vomiting, free 
secretion into the bronchial tubes, and a profuse flow of saliva. The 
emesis is due both to the irritation of the stomach and to an effect 
upon the vomiting centre in the medulla. The drug acts as a depres- 
sant to the spinal cord (Pecholier), and it also depresses the heart if 
given in large doses and retained by the stomach. Ipecac is elimi- 
nated by the kidneys, the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane, and the 
skin (Binz). 

If emetine is given in lethal dose to one of the lower animals, death 
is due to failure of respiration. 

Therapeutics.— Ipecac is used as an emetic where a fairly rapid 
action is required. It is particularly useful in cases where the stom- 
ach of a child is overloaded with food. In cases of poisoning it is 
hardly active or rapid enough as an emetic, and is not as good as 
mustard or sulphate of zinc. In babies and young children an attack 
of bronchitis often causes digestive disorders, by reason of the mucus 
coughed up from the lungs being at once swallowed instead of spit 



238 DEUGS. 

out of the mouth. In these cases the stomach may be relieved and 
the state of the lungs improved by the use of an emetic dose of 
syrup of ipecac, 2 to 3 drachms (8.0-12.0). Often if the dose be 
not large enough to produce emesis it will purge the child and remove 
the mucus by the bowel. 

In obstinate vomiting small doses of ipecac will act as a most suc- 
cessful cure, provided that the vomiting is due not to inflammation 
and excitement, but to depression. The irritant effect of the ipecac 
stimulates the depressed stomach up to a normal tone. The proper dose 
of ipecac for this purpose is J to J a grain (0.016-0.03) or less every 
half-hour until five or six doses are taken. 

In some cases of the vomiting of pregnancy it is very useful, in 
others it utterly fails. 1 drop of the wine or -J- to \ grain of the pow- 
dered ipecac, repeated for six or seven doses, is all that should be used-. 
In vomiting with flatulence either ipecac or nux vomica is of service. 
In the morning vomiting of drunkards ipecac is of service, but it is 
not so good a remedy as are small amounts of arsenic or hydrochloric 
acid. ) 

Ipecac is also said to possess marked oxytocic properties, similar to 
quinine, when given in small doses, 10 to 15 drops (0.65-1.0), of the 
wine every two or three hours. 

In true acute dysentery ipecac is the best remedy we possess. 
When the passages are large and bloody and the disease is malignant, 
as it occurs in the tropics, ipecac should be given in the following 
manner : The powdered ipecac is to be administered in the dose of 
60 grains (4.0) at once to produce vomiting. After vomiting has 
taken place small doses of 3 grains (0.2) are to be given every hour, 
and continued until a profuse black stool is passed. The passage of 
this stool is a most favorable prognostic sign, and its non-appearance 
is equally significant of danger. Vomiting is to be controlled with 
opium, and stimulants are to be freely used to avoid great depression. 

In choleraic diarrhoeas and cholera morbus ipecac is often of great 
service in the dose of 3 grains (0.2) every two hours. No less a per- 
son than the great Trousseau asserted that ipecac was a hemostatic, 
and it is said to be a most effective remedy in haemoptysis in small 
doses. 

As an expectorant ipecac is to be used in the early stages of bron- 
chitis, to act as a sedative to the inflamed mucous membrane and to 
promote secretion. Under these circumstances it is best combined 
with citrate of potassium. (See Bronchitis). 

Ringer and Murrell have found that inhaling ipecac spray is very 
useful in chronic winter cough or bronchitis, particularly when there 
is present shortness of breath. The pure wine may be used in a 
spray apparatus or be diluted one-half with water. While the throat 
may seem temporarily worse, the shortness of breath rapidly decreases 
and a great improvement takes place in the cough. In order to pre- 
vent the wine which collects in the mouth from being swallowed, and 
nausea and vomiting thereby induced, the patient should be directed 
to rinse his mouth thoroughly every few minutes. The inhalation 
should not last at first over three or four minutes, and, until it is 



IRON. 239 

known how well the patient will bear the application, the wine should 
be diluted twice or thrice w T ith water and alcohol, equal parts. 

It is stated that powdered ipecac made into a paste and smeared on 
the skin will greatly relieve the pain and swelling produced by the 
stings of bees. 

Administration. — The syrup (Syrupus Ipecacuanha?, U. S.) is given 
in the dose of ^ to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0) as an expectorant, or in the 
same dose as an emetic to an infant. The wine ( Vinum Ipecacuanha?, 
B. P.) is given in the same dose as the syrup, and the fluid extract 
(Extr actum Ipecacuanha? Fluidum, U. S. ; JSxtr actum Ipecacuanha? 
Liquidum, B. P.) in the dose of 30 drops (2.0) as an emetic to an 
adult. The troches {Trocldsci Ipecacuanha?, U. S. and B. P.) con- 
tain 1 of a grain (0.016) each. Trochisci Morphince et Ipecacuanha 3 , 
U. S. and B. P., each of which contains -^ of a grain (0.002) of mor- 
phine and y^- of a grain (0.006) of ipecac, are used in sore throat, dis- 
solved in the mouth. Dover's powder (Pulvis Ipecacuanha? et Opii, 
XI. S.; Pulvis Ipecacuanha? Compositus, B. P.) is g ; ven in the dose of 
5 to 15 grains (0.35-1.0). It contains 1 grain (0.05) of opium, 1 grain 
(0.05) of ipecac, and 8 grains (0.5) of sugar of milk. (See Opium.) 

Emetine may be given in the dose of ■£■$ to -J- grain (0.006-0.012) 
as an emetic, but is very rarely so employed. 

The British preparations are the pill of ipecac and squill (Pilula 
Ipecacuanha? cum Scilla, B. P.) w T hich is given in the dose of 5 to 10 
grains (0.35-0.65) and the vinegar of ipecac (Acetum Ipecacuanha?, B. 
P.), which is given in the dose of 5 to 30 drops (0.3-2.6) as expec- 
torants. 



IRON. 

Iron {Ferrum, U. S. and B. P.) is a metal which is used both as a 
medicine and a food — a food because it forms part of the body when 
taken into the organism and is used by the system in the making of 
blood. The number of its official salts and compounds is far in excess 
of the needs of practical physicians, and half the preparations are 
rarely, if ever, used. 

Physiological Action. — Iron has little or no effect upon the system 
when given in a single dose, but repeated doses cause an increase in 
the number of red blood-corpuscles, and plethora, or an increase in 
the quantity and quality of the blood. Much discussion has arisen as 
to whether iron when given as a drug in the form of one of the inorganic 
salts is absorbed. One theory has been that only the organic iron of 
the food is absorbed, and that metallic iron when given freely allows 
this absorption to go on both by stimulating the bowel and by enter- 
ing into combination with the sulphuretted hydrogen in the intestine, 
thus permitting the organic iron to escape into the system. That both 
forms of iron are absorbed and eliminated is now certain. (For a 
discussion of some of these view T s see article on Anaemia.) If, however, 
iron is given in excessive doses, much of it remains unabsorbed, is 
changed into the sulphide of iron in the bowels, and escapes with the 
faeces. Careful studies have shown that the iron, when once absorbed, 



240 DRUGS. 

escapes from the body very slowly, and that its pathway of escape is 
not by the bile or in the urine, but by the walls of the intestine which 
excrete it, so that it may be recovered from the faeces. It has been 
asserted that it is never released from the body, but this is untrue. 
Whether it acts as a stimulant to blood-manufacture or simply supplies 
the glands with blood-making material we do not know, but the latter 
is probably the correct view. Iron causes oxidation to go on more 
rapidly by reason of its peculiar power of converting oxygen into 
ozone, and in this manner acts as a stimulant to nutrition and bodily 
activity. 

The preparations of iron consist in the soluble and insoluble salts 
or forms. Of these the insoluble are better than the soluble, because 
nearly all the soluble salts of iron are precipitated by the gastric juice 
and have to be slowly redissolved. Nearly all iron preparations are 
capable of acting as more or less poweful astringents, and so are apt 
to cause constipation and to disorder digestion if given in large doses. 
The most astringent of all of these preparations are Monsel's salt (the 
Ferri Subsulphas, U. S., B. P.) and the sulphate . (Ferri Sulphas, 
U. S. and B. P.) Closely following these in astringency are the am- 
monio-ferric alum, (Ferri et Ammonii Sulphas, U. S.) and the chloride 
of iron [Ferri Chloridum). The least astringent preparations are 
Quevenne's iron, or iron by hydrogen (Ferrum Reclactum, U. S. and 
B. P.), and carbonate of iron (Ferri Carbonas Saccharatus, U. S. and 
B. P.), and Basham's Mixture (Liquor Ferri et Ammonii Acetatis, 
U. S.), and the citrates, tartrates, and the lactate and phosphate of 
iron. 

Therapeutics. — The chief indications for the administration of iron 
are those forms of anosmia (see Anaemia) characterized by a decrease in 
the normal quantity of haemoglobin in the blood as determined by the 
haemoglobinometer, as, for example, chlorosis, and its chief contraindica- 
tion is plethora. When used in small dose (J to \ grain — 0.016-0.03), 
it is quite as efficacious as in large amounts, and less apt to disorder the 
stomach, but the doses given in this article are the classical ones 
usually prescribed by physicians. In some cases of anaemia of a semi- 
pernicious type large doses of iron are really needed, probably because 
the system is deranged in such a manner that an excessive loss or 
elimination of iron is constantly present. Large doses compensate for 
this leakage and afford the quantity needed for physiological purposes. 
It should not be used as a tonic unless some direct indication for its 
employment is present, and no drug is more abused in this respect than 
iron. As every preparation possesses some peculiarity, the use of each 
will be considered separately. 

Ammonio-ferric Alum. 

Ammonio-ferric Alum (Ferri et Ammonii Sulphas, U. S.) is often 
given in cases in atonic leucorrhoea associated with chlorotic tendencies 
in the dose of 2 to 5 grains (0.1-0.35). It is quite astringent, and 
should not be given in cases of gastric irritability, as it is not suited to 
such a condition. 



IRON. 241 

Aromatic Mixture of Iron. 
The Aromatic Mixture of Iron (Mistura Ferri Aromaticd) con- 
tains so littlo iron that it should not be administered in cases where 
a very marked chalybeate influence is desired ; it is, however, a useful 
tonic for cases of debility and slight anaemia following long illnesses, 
given in the dose of 1 to 2 fluidounces (32.0-64.0) after meals. Aro- 
matic mixture of iron contains cinchona-bark, calumba, cloves, iron, 
compound tincture of cardamoms, tincture of orange-peel, and pepper- 
mint-water. 

Arsenate of Iron. 

Arsenate of Iron (Ferri Arsenas, B. P.) is used in the dose of 
T6" to T2" g ram i n anaemic subjects who are suffering from the dry, 
scaly forms of skin disease which indicate the use of arsenic. (See 
Arsenic.) It is also of value in the anaemia of chronic diarrhoea, as 
both iron and arsenic are useful, not only for the anaemia, but for the 
control of the intestinal disorder. 



Basham's Mixture. 

Under the name of Basham's Mixture (Liquor Ferri et Ammonii 
Acetatis, U. S.) a very useful and elegant preparation of iron is 
employed. It is particularly useful in the ancemia of BrigMs dis- 
ease, and it acts as a diuretic and diaphoretic. It is made up as 
follows : 

Tincture of chloride of iron 2 parts. 

Dilute acetic acid . 3 

Spirit of Mindererus 20 

Elixir of orange 10 

Syrup 15 

Water 50 

The dose is from 1 to 8 drachms (4.0-32.0), well diluted. 



Bromide of Iron. 

Bromide of Iron (Ferri Bromidum) is said by DaCosta to be use- 
ful in anosmia, when this state is associated with chorea, in the dose 
of 5 to 20 grains (0.35-1.3) given in syrup. In other nervous dis- 
eases accompanied by anaemia and insomnia the syrup of the bromide 
of iron (Syrupus Ferri Bromidi) is useful in the dose of J to 1 fluid- 
drachm (2.0-4.0), but its sedative properties are not sufficiently marked 
to render it of much value in overcoming true insomnia unless it is 
fortified by one of the other bromides. 

Carbonate of Iron. 

The Carbonate of Iron (Ferri Carbonas Saecharatus, U. S. and 
B. P.) is very slightly astringent, and may be used in pill form under 
the name of Pilulo? Ferri Carbonatis, IT. S., sometimes called 
'•Blaud's pill," or in Griffith's pill, which also contains myrrh. The 

16 



242 DRUGS. 

dose is about 3 grains (0.15), and this preparation of iron is largely 
used for the treatment of amenorrhoea dependent upon anaemia. Under 
the name of Mistura Ferri Composita, TJ. S., or Griffith's mixture, and 
B. P., we have a liquid preparation used for the same purposes as the 
pills just named, in the dose of 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls (16.0-32.0). 
Massa Ferri Carbonatis, TJ. $., sometimes called Vallet's mass, is 
given in pills in the dose of from 1 to 10 grains (0.05-0.65). 

Chloride of Iron. 

Tincture of the Chloride of Iron (Tinctura Ferri Chloridi, TJ. S.), 
often called Tincture of the Muriate of Iron, is one of the best and 
most useful preparations of iron that we have. It is the most diuretic 
preparation of iron. This diuretic effect does not depend upon the 
presence of a muriatic ether, as has heretofore been taught, since 
hydrochloric ether is not present, and is hard to prepare except there 
js' an excess of chlorine present. According to some researches of 
Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, the only ether present is nitrous ether, and 
this is devoid of power and in small quantity. As chloride of iron 
itself is diuretic, it is probably upon this that the diuresis produced 
by it depends. The dose of the chloride of iron (Ferri Chloridum, 
TJ. S.) is 1 to 3 grains (0.06-0.18). Tincture of the chloride of iron 
is considered;a specific in erysipelas, and should be given in very full 
dose and frequently repeated if it is to be of any service. (See Ery- 
sipelas.) 10 drops (0.65), well diluted, every hour is not too much if 
the stomach of the patient does not rebel. In chronic Bright' s disease 
it is of value and decreases the albuminuria. In anosmia it is useful, 
and owing to its acid is a doubly effective tonic. In cases of slight 
anaemia in which very great arterial pressure exists Dr. Mitchell 
uses a purely milk diet, and an ounce of an old tincture of iron in 
the twenty-four hours. While he recognizes the fact that iron prepa- 
rations are generally supposed to raise blood-pressure, he asserts that 
iu this instance the blood-pressure is lowered. The dose of Liquor 
Ferri Chloridi, TJ. S., is 4 to 10 drops (0.2-0.65). It is rarely used 
internally, but chiefly as an astringent of great power. Liquor Ferri 
Chloridi is identical with Liquor Ferri Perchloridi, B. P. Tinctura 
Ferri Perchloridi, B. P., is used internally in the dose of 10 to 20 
minims (0.65-1.3). 

As a local application tincture of the chloride of iron is useful in 
diphtheria and membranous croup, and even in tonsillitis. In each 
of these maladies large doses of the tincture internally, with counter- 
irritation over the neck, are most useful. When used internally it 
should be well diluted with water and taken through a glass tube to 
protect the teeth. The strong solution of perchloride of iron (Liquor 
Ferri Perchloridi Fortis, B. P.) is a powerful styptic. 

Citrates and Tartrates of Iron. 

The four citrates of iron are soluble in water and very useful for 
this reason, because they are readily added to liquid prescriptions, and 



IRON. 243 

they are also of value because they are very slightly irritant and astrin- 
gent and do not disorder the alimentary canal. Ferri Citras, TJ. S., 
and Ferri et Ammonii Citras, TJ. S. and B. P., occur in garnet-red scales 
and are given in the dose of 5 grains (0.35). The solution of the 
citrate of iron [Liquor Ferri Citratis, TJ. S.) is given in the dose of 
10 minims (0.65). The Ferri et Quinince Citras, B. P., and the Ferri 
et Strychnince Citras, TJ. S., and B. P., are given in the dose of 5 to 
15 grains (0.35-1.0) and 1 to 3 grains (0.05-0.15), respectively. The 
new official Ferri et Quininw Citras Solubilis, TJ. $., is given in the 
dose of 1 to 2 grains (0.05-0.10). 

Besides these citrates there are three tartrates — (Ferri et Ammonii 
Tartras, TJ. S., and Ferri et Potassii Tartras, TJ. S., and Ferrum Tar- 
taratum, B. P., all given in the dose of 5 grains (0.35). 



Dialyzed Iron. 

Dialyzed iron [Ferrum Dialysatum) is a very feeble preparation 
of iron, lacking in astringency, easily precipitated from the solution 
in which it occurs, but largely used in anosmia by some practitioners. 
The dose is 10 to 20 drops (0.35-1.3) in water three times a day. 
Sometimes river-water, if it contains much inorganic or organic 
matter, will precipitate it. Owing to the instability of dialyzed 
iron, it may be used without any further preparation as an antidote 
to arsenic. 

Hydrated Sesquioxide of Iron. 

Hydrated Sesquioxide of Iron (Ferri Oxidum Hydratum, TJ. S.) is 
the antidote to arsenic, but to be efficacious it must be freshly prepared. 
It is to be made by precipitating any liquid preparation of iron by 
the addition of an alkali, such as ammonia, or by the addition of mag- 
nesia. The resulting precipitate is the antidote, and the supernatant 
liquid is to be poured off. If ammonia is used, the precipitate must 
Ibe washed with water several times to get rid of the alkali, which will 
render the antidote too irritant to be swallowed if it is allowed to 
remain with the precipitate. Magnesia is an antidote in itself, and 
should be preferred under all circumstances. The antidote should be 
given in excess, and as much as a pint of the iron solution should be 
precipitated. The magnesia should be freely added, as too much of it 
cannot be given. The official antidote to arsenic is Ferri Oxidum 
Hydratum cum Magnesia, TJ. S. In the Prussian Pharmacopoeia this 
is known as the Antidotum Arsenici. (See Arsenic, Poisoning by, for 
official method of preparing antidote.) 



Iodide of Iron. 

The Syrup of the Iodide of Iron (Syrupus Ferri Iodidi, TJ. S. and 
B. P.) is a transparent liquid of a sweet, iron-like taste. It should 
contain no free iodine, and if it strikes a blue color with starch should 



244 DRUGS. 

be discarded. It is largely used in anoemia associated with scrofulosis 
and struma, and is useful in the eczema of young children when this 
is dependent upon lack of vitality or anaemia. The dose to a child 
of two years is 2 to 3 drops (0.1-0.15), well diluted, and to an adult 
30 to 40 drops (2.0-2.65) in water, to be taken through a glass tube 
to protect the teeth. 

The saccharated iodide of iron (Ferri Iodidum Saccharatum, U. S.) 
is used in place of the syrup in the dose of 2 to 5 grains (0.1-0.3). 
The official pills (Pilula Ferri Iodidi, U. S.) each contain ^ of a grain 
(0.01) of reduced iron and -|- of a grain (0.075) of iodine, and are 
given in the dose of one to three pills. 

Lactate of Iron. 

The Lactate of Iron (Ferri Lactas, U. S.) is soluble in 48 parts 
of water, and is given in the dose of 5 grains (0.35). It is used for 
the same purposes as the other preparations of iron. Lactate of iron 
is one of the ingredients of Syrupus Hypop>hosphitum eumFerro, U. S. y 
the dose of which is J to 1 fluidrachm (2.0-4.0). 

Ferri Subsulphas, or Monsel's Salt. 

Monsel's Solution {Liquor Ferri Subsulphatis, U. S.), sometimes 
wrongly called the Solution of the Persulphate of Iron, is one of the 
most powerful styptics or haemostatics that we have. It is never to 
be employed where a hemorrhage is to be attacked through the circu- 
lation, but only when the solution can come in direct contact with the 
bleeding spot. The objection to its use is the hard, black, and dirty 
clot which it forms on coming in contact with the blood. In harniop)- 
tysis Monsel's solution should be used in fine spray consisting of from 
10 to 60 drops (0.65-4.0) to the ounce of distilled water. In uterine 
hemorrhage from any cause the dilution may be half-and-half, or if 
the hemorrhage be from a polypus or the cervix uteri, the pure solu- 
tion should be used, locally applied. In nose-bleed Monsel's solution 
may be employed diluted one-half or pure, but its use is not to be 
commended, because of the hard, black clot which is formed and the 
uncomfortable sensations and pain produced in the nasal chambers. 
Plugging the nostrils, and if need be the posterior nares, with pledgets 
of cotton is generally sufficiently efficacious. 

For the intestinal hemorrhage occurring during or after typhoid 
fever Monsel's solution has been given, but ought not to be so employed, 
as it is decomposed in the stomach before it reaches the intestine. In 
its stead Monsel's salt (Ferri Subsulphas, U. S.) should be given in 
pills of 3 grains (0.15) each, the pills being made hard enough to 
escape into the intestine before the stomach breaks them down. One, 
two, or three pills may be given and repeated in an hour in pressing 
cases. Hcematemesis due to bleeding in the stomach may be treated by 
3-drop (0.15) doses of the solution in a little water. It must be 
remembered, however, that the drug is irritating. 

In tonsillitis and pharyngitis a most efficient application is pure 



IRON. 245 

Monsel's solution applied by means of a pledget of cotton or camel's- 
hair brush, or equal parts of the solution and glycerin may be used. 
This application is often as painful as it is efficient. In diphtheria 
this method of treatment is often of great service. 
The antidote to Monsel's solution is common soap. 

Oxalate of Iron. 

Oxalate of Iron (Ferri Oxalas) is given in the dose of 2 to 3 
grains (0.1-0.15). It possesses no advantages peculiar to itself. 

Phosphates of Iron. 

There are two phosphates of iron — Ferri Phosphas Solubilis, TJ. S. 
and B. P., and Ferri Pyrophosphas Solubilis, TJ. S. Phosphate of 
iron itself is very insoluble and is rarely used. The official forms 
are, however, quite soluble, and useful in the dose of 2 to 5 grains 
(0.1-0.35). Syrupus Ferri Phosphatus, B. P., is given in the dose 
of 1 fluidrachm (4.0). Phosphate of iron is one of the ingredients of 
the syrup of iron, quinine, and strychnine {Syrupus Ferri, Quinince 
et Strychnince Phosphatum, TJ. S. ; Syrupus Ferri Phosphatum cum 
Quinina et Strychnino, B. P.), which is given in the dose of 1 
fluidrachm (4.0). 

Reduced Iron. 

Quevenne's Iron (Ferrum Beductum, TJ. S. and B. P.) is an iron- 
gray or reddish powder which is frequently adulterated with lamp- 
black. If it is pure it should burn in sparks when dropped into a 
flame, but if lampblack is present this will not occur. It should also 
yield no sulphuretted hydrogen on adding sulphuric acid to it. It is 
tasteless, and may be given to children for this reason in pills or 
gum-drops, or placed inside of small chocolate creams, or in the form 
of troches (Trochisci Ferri Bedacti, B. P.), each lozenge containing 
1 grain (0.05) of the reduced iron. It is used solely in anaemia, and 
is one of the least astringent of the iron preparations. 

Sulphate of Iron. 

Sulphate of Iron (Ferri Sulphas, TJ. S. and B. P.) is used inter- 
nally in the dose of 5 grains (0.35) in pill form in chronic diarrhoea. 
Externally, in a solution of the strength of 5 to 25 grains to the 
ounce (0.35-1.65 : 32.0), it is used as an astringent lotion. Two 
other forms of the sulphate are also employed — namely, the dried 
(Ferri Sulphas Fxsiccatus, TJ. S. and B. P.) and the granulated 
(Ferri Sulphas Grranulatus. TJ. S.), each of which is given in the 
dose of 3 grains (0.18). 

Valerianate of Iron. 

Valerianate of Iron (Ferri Valerianas, TJ. S.) is sometimes useful 
in hysteria with ancemia, given in the dose of 1 grain (0.06) or 
more. 



246 BR UGS. 



Wines of Iron. 



The Bitter Wine of Iron ( Vinum Ferri Amarum, U. S.) is useful 
as a bitter tonic in ancemia in both children and adults, and mav be ad- 
vantageously accompanied with cod-liver oil. It is given in a dose of 
1 to 2 fluidrachms (4.0-8.0) or more. This wine is composed of soluble 
citrate of iron and quinine, tincture of sweet orange-peel, syrup, and 
stronger white wine. 

Wine of the Citrate of Iron, or Vinum Ferri Oitratis, TJ. S. and 
B. P., is composed of the citrate of iron and ammonium, tincture of 
sweet orange-peel, syrup, and stronger white wine. The dose is identi- 
cal with that of the bitter wine, and it is used for the same purposes. 

The plaster of iron (Emplastrum Ferri), official in the U. S., is 
prepared from the hydrated oxide of iron. 

The following preparation of iron is also official : Liquor Ferri 
Acetatis, TJ. S. and B. P., dose 15 minims to 1 fluidrachm (1.0-4.0). 

Untoward Effects of Iron. — Iron is apt to cause gastric distress and 
frontal headache in persons who are susceptible to its use. Even one 
dose will cause this trouble in some persons. In many instances the 
frontal headache will be found to be due to the constipation which 
has been brought on by the iron, and will be relieved if mild laxa- 
tive or purges are used. The state of the bowels should always be 
inquired into when iron is being used, and laxatives given whenever 
constipation is present and iron is being administered. In rheumatic 
and gouty persons frontal headaches are a common symptom when iron 
is given, and purgatives will not generally give relief. Garrod and 
Haig have shown that iron decreases the elimination of uric acid, which 
may account for the production of headache in the case of rheumatic 
patients under its influence. Sometimes salts of iron produce vesical 
irritation and a constant desire to urinate, causing mucus to form in 
abnormal amount in the bladder. In children its use may result in 
nocturnal incontinence of urine. 



JALAP. 

Jalap (Jalapa, U. S. and B. P.) is the root of Ipomoea Jalapa, 
a native of Mexico. It contains two resins, jalapin and convolvulin, 
neither of which is used in medicine by itself, though both of them 
enter into the Resin of Jalap of the TJ. S. P. In overdose jalap or 
its resin causes vomiting and purging, with gastro-enteritis. 

Therapeutics. — Jalap is used in medicine as a hydragogue purge 
to relieve dropsy of any origin. It may be used to deplete in cases 
of general plethora with cerebral congestion, and owing to its tasteless- 
ness is a useful active cathartic in children if given in the proper dose 
— namely, 1 to 2 grains (0.05-0.10) in \ an ounce of syrup of rhubarb. 
Combined with calomel, it is preferred to all other purges by some 
practitioners, particularly if the liver is torpid. 



JEQ UIRITY-JUNIPEE. 247 

Administration. — Jalap may be given in the form of the compound 
powder (Pulvis Jalapce Compositus, U. S. and B. P.), dose 15 to 40 
grains (1.0-2.65), which is composed of 35 parts of jalap and 65 
parts of bitartrate of potassium ; and the resin (Resina Jalapce, 
U. S. and B. P.), dose for an adult 2 to 4 grains (0.1-0.2). Owing 
to the small size of the dose of the resin and its lack of taste, this 
preparation is to be preferred for children in the dose of J to J a 
grain (0.016-0.03). The tincture (Tinctura Jalapce, B. P.) is given 
in the dose of J to 1 fluidrachm (2.0-4.0); the extract (Extraction 
Jalapce, U. S. and B. P.) is used in the dose of 5 to 15 grains 
(0.35-1.0). 



JEQUIRITY. 

This is a plant known as Abrus precatorius, the seeds of which 
are poisonous when applied to a wound. An active principle, abrin, 
is composed of paraglobulin and a-phytalbumose, which closely resem- 
ble snake-venom in their action. Jequirity is never used internally 
in medicine in this country. An infusion of the powdered seeds, 
made by adding \ a drachm to an ounce (2.0 : 32.0) of water at 140° 
F. may be painted with a brush on the inside of the eyelids in cases 
of chronic granular conjunctivitis, in order to produce an acute diph- 
theritic inflammation which will so change the chronic process present- 
as to permit of a cure. If an excessive action is developed, it may 
be controlled by hot compresses made of very dilute solutions of cor- 
rosive sublimate. The solution of the drug undergoes decomposition 
with great rapidity, and should be freshly prepared each time it is used, 
or 4 to 8 grains (0.2-0.5) of boric acid should be added to preserve it. 
The drug is a powerful cardiac depressant poison when injected into the 
circulation. Whether the seeds produce poisoning when swallowed is 
doubtful, some asserting that they cause gastro-enteritis, others that 
they are harmless. Probably much depends on the activity of diges- 
tion at the time of ingestion. 



JUNIPER. 

Juniperus is the fruit or berry of Juniperus communis, an ever- 
green of Northern Europe and America. It contains a volatile oil 
and an amorphous principle, juniperin. 

Physiological Action. — Juniper acts as a gastric stimulant and 
tonic, as a mild diaphoretic if combined with alcohol, and as a 
marked stimulating, exciting diuretic. It escapes from the body by 
the kidneys. 

Therapeutics. — Juniper is valuable as a stimulant to the genito- 
urinary tract whenever it is depressed or chronically diseased, as in 
chronic pyelitis, nephritis, and chronic catarrh of the bladder. In con- 
gestion of the kidneys, if not accompanied by active tissue-changes, it 
relieves these organs and does away with albuminuria. Used after an 



248 DRUGS. 

attack of acute Bright' 8 disease when reaction has set in and the secre- 
ting epithelium of the kidney is atonic, it is of value, but care should 
be taken that all inflammation has passed by or it will make the patient 
worse. In the later stages of scarlet fever, in which the renal con- 
dition corresponds to that just described, juniper is also useful. In old 
persons a sensation of iv eight across the lumbar region is often quickly 
removed by the use of juniper if the kidneys are inactive. 

Administration. — Juniper is used in the form of the compound 
spirit (Spiritus Juniperi Oompositus, TJ. $.), composed of the oils of 
juniper, caraway, and fennel, combined with alcohol and water, in 
the dose of 1 to 4 drachms (4.0-16.0). Gin is virtually identical 
with the compound spirit. The infusion of juniper is made by add- 
ing an ounce (32.0) of the berries to a pint (J a litre) of boiling water 
and allowing it to stand in a warm place for an hour. The entire 
quantity is to be taken in twenty-four hours, and the infusion is often 
combined with acetate of potassium or an ounce (32.0) of the bitar- 
trate of potassium in the treatment of dropsy. The spirit (Spiritus 
Juniperi, TJ. S. and B. P.) is given in the dose of 30 minims to 1 
drachm (2.0-4.0). The oil {Oleum Juniperi, TJ. S. and B. P.) is 
used in the dose of 1 to 4 minims (0.06-0.3). 



KAMALA. 

Kamala, TJ. $., or Rottlera, as it is sometimes called, is the 
glands and hairs from the capsules of Mallotus philippiensis, a 
plant of Abyssinia, India, China, and Australia. It contains an 
active principle, rottlerin, which is not official. Given in the dose 
of 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0), kamala acts as a drastic and as a remedy 
for tape-worm, and is sometimes used for the removal of the ascaris 
lumbricoides. It should be administered in syrup in which is placed 
some hyoscyamus to prevent griping, and the dose is to be repeated in 
eight hours if no effect is produced. (See Worms.) 



KAOLIN. 

Kaolin (B. P.) is a soft white powder, a decomposition-product of 
mineral deposits containing feldspar. It is used externally as a dust- 
ing powder in eczema. 

KINO. 

Kino is the inspissated juice of the Pterocarpus Marsupium, a 
tall tree of India. It contains kino-tannic acid, and is used as an 
astringent in the treatment of serous diarrhoea. It is official in the 
form of the tincture {Tinctura Kino, TJ. S. and B. P.), and is given 
in the dose of 1 fluidrachm (4.0). Kino may be used as a gargle in 
sore throat and fur relaxation of the uvula. Under the name of Com- 
pound Powder of Kino (Pulvis Kino Compositus, B. P.) an efficient 
and pleasant antidiarrhoea powder is used. This powder is not official 



KOLA— LEAD. 249 

in the IT. S. P. The formula for each powder is 15 grains (1.0) of 
powdered kino, 4 (0.2) of powdered cinnamon, and 1 (0.05) of pow- 
dered opium. 

KOLA. 

This drug is the nut of Kola acuminata, a tree growing in certain 
parts of Africa. The nut depends for its chief medicinal activity 
upon the caffeine which it contains. In addition to this alkaloid it 
contains some theobromine and kolatannic acid, w T hich latter ingredi- 
ent may explain the good results which have followed the use of kola 
in cases of diarrhoea. 

Physiological Action. — The physiological action of kola is, as far as 
we know, nearly identical with its near relatives coffee and coca. 

Therapeutics. — In cases of feeble heart associated with general debil- 
ity kola often proves a valuable stimulant to the heart and general sys- 
tem, as well as to the kidneys. It has also been used with asserted 
success in sea-sickness and to sober drunken persons, although the 
latter power is to be doubted. Its use will sometimes relieve sick 
and neuralgic headache. Recently a large number of semi-proprietary 
articles have been introduced to the laity with the statement that they 
increase muscular strength. Except for their temporary stimulating 
power they are useless for this purpose. The drug is, however, of 
value in cases of uterine inertia during labor in the dose of 30 drops 
(2.0) of the fluid extract. 

Administration. — Kola is not official. It may be given in the form 
of the fluid extract (Extractum Kolce Fluidum), dose 10 to 30 
minims (0.65-2.0), or in an elixir. 

LANOLIN. 

Lanolin, which is practically the Adeps Lanoe Hydrosus of the 
U. S. and B. P., is a fat derived from the wool of the common sheep, 
and is a whitish substance of peculiar stability, very difficult of 
saponification, and incapable of becoming rancid. Unna states that 
ointments of acids, hydrogen peroxide, and other substances may be 
made by it. One great objection to lanolin is its stickiness, which is 
avoided by adding one-third of vaseline. Lanolin is supposed to 
possess very remarkable penetrating powers "when applied to the skin 
in cases where much infiltration is present, particularly if it is com- 
bined with resorcin or some similar medicament. In itself it has 
little curative power, and is but little better than lard, suet, or any 
common fat as a basis for ointments. In some cases, which are rare, 
it will cause irritation of the skin. 



LEAD. 

Plumbum, or Lead, is a metal possessing more or less power over 
the organism according to the salts w T hich are employed. It is not 
official as lead itself. 



250 DRUGS. 

Physiological Action. — Lead, in one of its soluble salts, if applied 
to a mucous membrane, by reason of its astringent effect, produces a 
blanching which is particularly noticeable where the redness of inflam- 
mation has previously been present. It has little effect when given in 
a single close, except by an indirect influence over the circulation, 
nervous system, or respiration. (For a description of the effects of 
lead in overdoses see "Poisoning," below.) 

The most irritant and poisonous of the soluble salts is the nitrate, 
the next the subacetate, and the least poisonous of the soluble salts is 
the acetate. 

The insoluble salts rarely cause acute poisoning, but frequently 
produce chronic plumbism. 

Acute Poisoning. — When the acetate of lead is taken in poisonous 
amounts, it produces a sweet metallic taste in the mouth, followed by 
pain in the epigastrium and the vomiting of white, milky-looking 
liquids or white curds mixed with food. The white color is due to the 
presence of chloride of lead formed by the acid of the gastric juice. 

The pain rapidly increases in severity, and diarrhoea due to gastro- 
enteritis may be set up, or, in other cases, obstinate constipation is 
present. The passages are generally black, this color being due to the 
presence of the sulphide of lead. At the same time the pulse becomes 
rapid, tense, and cord-like, but after a time weak and compressible. 
The face is anxious and pale or livid. The thirst is excessive, and 
cramps in the calves of the legs or muscular twitchings may ensue. It 
is said that the characteristic blue line on the gums may occur in acute 
poisoning, but this is rarely if ever seen. If coma comes on in the 
course of acute lead poisoning, death is almost certain. 

The treatment consists in the use of the chemical antidote, a sol- 
uble sulphate, in large quantity, in the administration of emetics, and 
the use of the stomach-pump if the vomiting produced by the drug is 
not sufficient to rid the stomach of all the poison. The best soluble 
sulphates to employ are Epsom and Glauber salts, because they are 
always at hand, are readily soluble, and, in excess, act as purges 
which will wash out the intestinal canal. Hot applications should be 
applied to the belly and feet, and the pain and irritation which are 
present should be relieved by opium. 

Chronic Poisoning. — Chronic lead poisoning is rarely produced by 
the soluble salts of lead, nearly always being clue to the insoluble salts. 
The symptoms of chronic lead poisoning, or plumbism, are as various as 
it is possible to find variety in the signs of disease of every kind. There 
is no train of symptoms which may not occur, and the occurrence of 
rare, anomalous symptoms in a given case should at once bring to 
the mind of the physician the thought of lead poisoning or syphilis. 
Chronic poisoning occurs in painters, manufacturers of lead salts, and 
every one who is largely thrown in contact with the metal in the arts. 
It occurs from the use of hair-dyes containing the acetate of lead, 
from drinking water which has passed through new lead pipe, and 
even from the biting of silk threads loaded with lead to increase their 
weight. Chromate of lead has been used to color sponge-cake when 
eggs were thought too dear, and has killed many persons. Millers 



LEAD. 251 

who have filled the holes in grindstones with lead have caused wide- 
spread epidemics of what has been called "dry cholera," and many 
persons have suffered from lead poisoning from eating apple-butter 
kept in jars glazed with lead. 

One of the most prominent, but by no means the most constant, 
symptoms of chronic plumbism is bilateral wrist-drop, due to palsy 
of the extensor muscles of the forearm. The short extensor of the 
thumb generally escapes the drug's influence, as does also the supi- 
nator longus. Sometimes internal squint arises from paralysis of the 
external rectus muscles by the lead. Another very common symptom 
is colic centering around the umbilicus and radiating through the belly 
and loins. Obstinate constipation often accompanies these symptoms, 
and the faeces, when passed, are white and clay-colored, owing to a 
deficient secretion of bile. 

During an attack of lead colic the arterial tension is increased very 
markedly, the tongue is coated and whitish, and the bowels are obsti- 
nately confined. 

If these early warnings are disregarded and the exposure to the 
lead is continued, cerebral symptoms may come on, the result of 
encephalopathia saturnina, or saturnine cerebri tis. Saturnine epi- 
lepsy is not very rare. If convulsions come on, death generally 
ensues. The convulsions in some cases are not due to a cerebral 
effect of the lead, but to uraemia due to the renal changes which it 
has caused. 

Renal disease is very commonly produced by lead, and it is not 
uncommon for chronic contracted kidney to be found at the autopsy 
of a sufferer from chronic lead poisoning. If a patient with chronic 
lead poisoning have a urine with a persistent low specific gravity, the 
prognosis is grave, as evidencing advanced kidney involvement. 

Asthma due to the inhalation of lead-dust is sometimes met with. 

The most important confirmatory evidence of chronic lead poisoning 
is a blue line on the gums just where they join the teeth. Its absence is 
not a negative sign, however, as poisoned persons cleanly in respect to 
their mouths often do not have it. Marked cachexia or anaemia is 
commonly seen in chronic lead poisoning. 

After prolonged lead-poisoning the nerve-trunks are found atro- 
phied, and finally changed into fibrous cords. Anterior poliomyelitis 
may be present, but true locomotor ataxia is rarely caused. If ataxic 
symptoms exist, they are most probably dependent on pseudo-tabes 
produced by a plumbic multiple neuritis, and can be separated from 
true tabes dorsalis by the absence of several of the important true 
tabetic symptoms — such as slow onset, the Argyll-Robertson pupil, etc. 
— while the presence of marked wasting and loss of power, with ten- 
derness over the nerve-trunks, points to neuritis. 

In some cases trophic changes in the joints ensue, and plumbic 
gout is not rarely seen, or even lead arthralgia, with deposits of urates 
in the joints. This condition is due to the fact, pointed out by Gar- 
rod and Haig, that lead forms insoluble salts with uric acid. 

Lead escapes from the body in the urine, the faeces, and all the 
secretions. It is chiefly eliminated by the liver in the bile. 



252 DRUGS. 

Teeatment of Chronic Poisoning. — The treatment consists in 
three classes of remedial measures : 1st, the removal of the cause ; 
2d, the removal of the poison in the body; and, 3d, the treatment of 
the lesions produced by the poison. 

In lead colic hepatic purges, such as jalap and calomel, combined 
"with opium to prevent pain, are indicated, and alum and opium or 
morphine are said to be almost specifics, the alum in 2-grain doses, 
the others in full amounts. In many cases purges fail to move the 
bowels of a person suffering from chronic lead poisoning, and succeed 
only when morphine is given to overcome the intestinal inhibition 
produced by the irritation caused by the lead. 

In the cerebral inflammation of lead-poisoning a blister to the back 
of the neck, revulsives, and a pilocarpine sweat may be resorted to. 

To aid in the elimination of the lead, iodide of potassium, which 
forms double soluble salts in the tissues with the metal, is to be used, 
10 to 20 grains (0.65-1.3) three times a day. 

If progressive paralysis is present, Wood insists on the use of 
large doses of strychnine at the same time that the iodide is given. 
The strychnine should not, of course, be given in the same mixture as 
the iodide, as it is incompatible. 

Electricity should be used as a remedy to restore lost function. If 
the faradic current makes the muscles contract, it should be employed, 
and, if not, the galvanic current should be used. Curiously enough, 
partial voluntary power sometimes returns before the muscles will react 
at all to electricity. 

It is said that baths of sulphuret of potassium do good in chronic 
plumbism, 5 or 6 ounces (160.0) of the salt to each bath, which is to be 
given in a wooden tub. The patient should afterwards be well soaped, 
then thoroughly rinsed off, and rubbed down with a rough towel. 

As the salts of lead are used for different purposes, the therapeu- 
tics of each one will be taken up separately. 



Acetate of Lead. 

Acetate of Lead (Plumbi Acetas, U. S. and B. P.), or Sugar of 
Lead, has a sweet, astringent taste, and is soluble in water, although 
the solution formed is slightly milky in appearance. 

Therapeutics. — Acetate of lead may be used, and is largely 
employed, in the following pill in the treatment of serous diarrhoea : 

R .—Plumbi acetat gr. xl (2.65). 

Pulv. opii gr. x (0.65). 

Camphorse gr. xl (2.65). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One every four hours. 

This pill may also be given in cases of dysentery. 

The acetate of lead in proportion of 1-8 grains (0.06-0.5) to the 
ounce of water may be used as an injection for gonorrhoea. 

Lead acetate is also a useful application for the dermatitis produced 



LEAD. 253 

by poison ivy, as this drug precipitates the sticky, non-volatile oil of 
Rhus toxicodendron, recently studied by Pfaff. The acetate of lead 
should be dissolved in alcohol in the proportion of half a grain to the 
ounce (0.03-30.0) and used as a wash. After this the inflamed parts 
should be treated by cooling applications, but ointments are not to be 
used, as they dissolve the poisonous oil and spread the irritation. 

Administration. — The B. P. recognizes the following preparations 
of lead acetate: Pilula Plumbi cum Opio, dose 3 to 5 grains (0.1— 
0.3); Suppositoria Plumbi Composita, each suppository containing 1 
grain (0.06) of opium to 3 grains (0.18) of lead acetate; and an oint- 
ment ( Unguentum Plumbi Acetatis). 

Carbonate of Lead. 

Carbonate of Lead {Plumbi Carbonas, U. S. and B. P.), or White 
Lead, is insoluble, and is used as a coating or dressing for burns, 
scalds, or ulcers Avhen rubbed up with linseed or other oil, or in the 
form of the ointment {Unguentum Plumbi Carbonatis, IT. S. and 
B. P.). If a wide surface is covered with this ointment, it may 
cause lead poisoning by absorption. 

Carbonate of lead may be used in the treatment of sunburn in the 
following prescription : 

R. — Plumbi carbonat £j (4.0). 

Pulv. amyli . £j (4.0). 

Unguent, aquae rosse %] (32.0). 

Olei oliva? f^ij (8.0).— M. 

S. — Apply to the inflamed skin. 

Iodide of Lead. 

Iodide of Lead {Plumbi Lodidum, U. S. and B. P.) is occasion- 
ally employed in medicine; the dose is \ to 2 grains (0.03-0.1). 
Emplastrum Plumbi Lodidi, P. B., and Unguentum Plumbi Lodidi, 
U. S. and B. P., are useful as external astringent and alterative 
applications, but are rarely used. 

Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis. 

Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis, U. S. and P. P., or Goulard's Extract, 
is a colorless liquid, much used externally, when diluted with lauda- 
num, for sprains, bruises, and local inflammations, under the name of 
"lead-water and laudanum." "L. and L.," as it is often called in 
the hospitals, is a useful application in the dermatitis produced by 
poison ivy. The proportion should be 1 parts of the pure lead-water, 
diluted with 16 parts of water, to 1 of laudanum, but this is varied 
as the inflammation or pain is the more severe. The oflicial liquor 
is also official in a dilute solution {Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis Lilutus, 
U. S. and B. P.), and as such is too weak for ordinary use, although 
it is commonly employed. The strong solution should be used in the 
strength of from 1 to 4 ounces (32.0-128.0) to the pint (500 cc.) of 
water. This solution should never be employed if the skin is broken, 



254 DRUGS. 

as absorption may occur, and, what is more important still, the drug 
prevents healing by constringing and whitening the edges of the 
wound. 

If some bread-crumbs be saturated with the solution just named 
and applied to an inflamed finger, a felon can often be aborted in the 
early stages. The official dilute solution is useful as a lotion in eczema 
which itches and tingles and is not dry in character. It should be 
applied once or twice a day, and it is well to follow the application of 
lead with a weak sulphur bath or alkaline wash. (See Eczema.) 

Lead-water is also useful in pruritus pudendi. The cerate {Cera- 
tum Plumbi Subacetatis, TJ. $.), the liniment {Linimentum Plumbi 
Subacetatis), and the glycerin {Grlycerinum Plumbi Subacetatis, B. P.) 
may be used for the same purposes as the Goulard's extract. 

Litharge. 

Litharge {Plumbi Oxidum, TJ. S. and B. P.) is used for the prep- 
aration of lead plaster {Emplastrum Plumbi, TJ. S. and B. P.), some- 
times called " Diachylon," and this is in turn employed for the manu- 
facture of resin plaster {Emplastrum Besince, TJ. S. and B. P.). It 
is also used in the preparation of the solution of subacetate of lead. 

Hebra recommended for siveating of the feet an application of equal 
parts of lead plaster and linseed oil, applied on linen and wrapped 
around the feet every third day. 

Nitrate of Lead. 

Nitrate of Lead {Plumbi Nitras, TJ. S.) is never used internallv, 
but as a powder, in the treatment of cases of onychia maligna and in 
the formation of Ledoyen's disinfecting solution. The latter dis- 
colors the paint in water-closets, dissolves the solder in drain-pipes, 
and is not a good preparation for general use. 



LEPTANDRA. 

The medicinal portion of Veronica virginica is the rhizome and 
rootlet, from which are made the official extract of leptandra {Extrac- 
tum Leptandra?, TJ. S.) and the fluid extract {Extractum Leptandra* 
Fluidum, TJ. S.). The dose of the former is from 1 to 8 grains 
(0.06-0.5) and of the fluid extract 5 to 40 minims (0.3-2.6). 

Physiological Action. — Very few experiments have been made as 
to the action of this remedy, and the only ones of importance are 
those of Rutherford and Yignal, who found that it possesses a mod- 
erate influence in increasing the flow of bile. In overdose it causes 
violent purging. 

Therapeutics. — In the official preparations of leptandra, which are 
not as active as is the fresh drug, we have excellent substitutes for 
calomel, according to many clinicians. Those who have used leptan- 
dra also believe it to be of the greatest value in the indigestion of the 



LIP A NIN—L1Q UORICE. 255 

intestinal type sometimes called "duodenal atony." (See also Podo- 
phyllin.) The following pill is a good method of using the drug in 
these cases : 

R.— Ext. chiratae gr. xx (1.3). 

Ext. leptandrae gr. xx (1.3). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. x. 
S. — One pill after each meal. 

Under the name of leptandrin we have an impure resin which is 
given in the dose of 2 to 5 grains (0.1-0.3). An alkaloid of doubtful 
existence is called leptandrine. 



LIPANIN. 

Lipanin is an artificially prepared mixture devised by von Mering 
as a substitute for cod-liver oil, and consists in 6 parts of oleic acid 
added to 100 parts of olive oil. The advantages possessed by it are 
its lack of disagreeable odor and taste and its ready emulsification 
and digestibility. The commencing dose is 1 drachm (4.0) which 
may be increased to 4 drachms (16.0). This mixture has been found 
of value in most of the wasting diseases in which cod-liver oil is em- 
ployed, and in the opinion of von Mering its efficacy is greatly increased 
if the hypophosphites of lime and sodium are used at the same time in 
the dose of 10 grains (0.65) three times a day. Iodine or one of its 
compounds may also be given if it is desired to exert an alterative 
influence. 

LIQUORICE. 

Liquorice {G-lycyrrhiza, TJ. S. ; Glycyrrhizce Radix, B. P.) is the 
root of Glycyrrhiza Glabra, a plant of Southern Europe and Asia. 
It is used to increase secretion in the mouth in the form of a solid 
extract, and when dissolved in water to form a vehicle for other drugs, 
particularly if they have a disagreeable taste. The powdered solid 
extract is a very mild and useful laxative. 

Administration. — The solid extract {Extractum G-lycyrrMzce, TJ. S. 
and B. P.) is used in a dose anywhere from 5 to 120 grains (0.35- 
8.0). The pure extract {Extractum Glycyrrhizce Purum, TJ. S.) is 
used in the same quantities as the ordinary extract. The fluid extract 
•{Extr actum Grlycyrrhizce Fluidum, TJ. S.) or the liquid extract {Extrac- 
tum Grlycyrrhizaz Liquidum, B. P.) is used in 1- to 2-drachm (4.0-8.0) 
doses. Under the name of Brown Mixture or " Compound Liquorice 
Mixture " a very efficient expectorant solution is official {Mistura 
G-lycyrrhizoB Composita, TJ. S.), which contains as its most important 
ingredients 12 parts of paregoric, 6 parts of wine of antimony, and 
3 parts of sweet spirit of nitre. The dose of Brown Mixture is 1 to 4 
drachms (4.0-16.0). Pulvis Glycyrrhizce Oompositus, TJ. S. and B. 
P., or compound licorice powder, contains, according to the TJ. S. P., 
18 per cent, of senna, 23.6 per cent, of liquorice, 4 per cent, of oil of 
fennel, 8 per cent, of washed sulphur, and 50 per cent, of sugar. Ac- 



256 DRUGS. 

cording to the B. P., it should contain 2 parts of senna, 2 of liquorice- 
root, 1 of fennel-fruit, 1 of sublimed sulphur, and of sugar 6 parts. 
The dose is 1 to 4 drachms (4.0-16.0). It is largely used as an 
efficient laxative after childbirth and in cases which suffer from 
constipation chiefly due to the inactivity consequent upon beino- 
in bed. The troches (Trochisci Glycyrrhizce et Opii, TJ. S. and 
B. P.) contain ¥ V grain (0.003) of opium and 2 grains (0.1) of extract 
of liquorice. Finally we have Gflycyrrhizinum Ammoniatum, TJ. S., 
which is the sweet principle of liquorice rendered soluble and easily 
tasted by the addition of ammonia. The dose of this preparation is 
5 to 15 grains (0.3-1.0). 



LIQUOR POTASS^E. 

Liquor Potassce, TJ. S. and B. P., is a solution of potassa contain- 
ing about 5 per cent, of potassium hydrate, and is a" clear, odorless 
liquid of caustic taste and strongly alkaline reaction. It is used in 
medicine as an antacid and for the purpose of decreasing the acidity 
of the urine. 

In cases of ingroiving toe-nail it is often used to soften the nail 
prior to packing with cotton or partial evulsion. Its dose is 5 to 30 
drops (0.35-2.0) well diluted with water. 

bo 

LITHIUM. 

Lithium is used in several forms, but its salts may be divided into 
two classes — those which act as lithium and those which act as the 
acids forming them. In the first class we have the carbonate (Lithii 
Carbonas, TJ. S. and B. P.), dose 2 to 10 grains (0.1-0.65), the citrate 
(Lithii Citras, TJ. S. and B. P.), dose 5 to 20 grains (0.3-1.3), and 
the effervescent citrate (Lithii Citras Effervescens, TJ. 8. and B. P.), 
dose 1 to 4 drachms (4.0-16.0). In the second class we find the 
benzoate (Lithii Benzoas, TJ. S.), dose 5 to 30 grains (0.3-2.0) ; 
Lithii Bromidum, TJ. S., dose 10 to 40 grains (0.65-2.65), and 
Lithii Salicylas, TJ. $., dose 10 to 30 grains (0.65-2.0). 

The carbonate and citrate are used in gout and rheumatoid arthritis 
for the purpose of entering into combination with the uric acid in the 
body to form soluble urates and prevent deposits in the joints. They 
have been said to dissolve calculi, but this is untrue, though they 
are used when it is desired to render the urine alkaline. Haig has 
pointed out that although lithia forms salts with uric acid in the 
test-tube, in the body it has a greater affinity for the acid sodium phos- 
phate in the blood, and practically leaves the uric acid to itself. 
This is an important point, since it proves that the large amount of 
water generally taken with lithia has more to do with relieving 
gout than has the lithia. The carbonate is not soluble in water, 
and should be given in capsule or freshly-made pill, but the citrate is 
soluble. The latter may be made from the former by taking 50 grains 



LOBELIA. 257 

(3.3) of the carbonate, 90 grains (6.0) of crystallized citric acid, and 
warm distilled water 1 fluidounce (32.0). The acid should be dissolved 
first, and the carbonate added to the solution. The solution should 
then be kept hot until effervescence ceases. 

In cases of diabetes depending upon a gouty taint remarkable 
results are often obtained from the use of the citrate or carbonate of 
lithium and arsenic. The dose should be ^j of a grain (0.002) of 
arsenite of sodium and 10 grains (0.65) of the lithium salt three times 
a day. 

It is worthy of note that in some cases citrate of lithium will dis- 
order the stomach and produce vomiting. 

(For the use of other salts of lithium see the articles on the Bro- 
mides, Salicylic Acid, and Benzoic Acid.) 

(See also article on Mineral Springs.) 

LOBELIA. 

Lobelia, U. S. and B. P., is the leaves and tops of Lobelia inflata, 
a common weed of the United States. It contains an alkaloid, lobe- 
line, and lobelic acid. 

Physiological Action. — When taken in overdose lobelia causes erne- 
sis, intense prostration, a feeble pulse, pale skin, livid face, muscular 
relaxation, and a cold sweat. Violent purging may be present. It 
is said to paralyze the motor nerve-trunks, and it causes a fall of 
arterial nressure, followed by a rise, the latter change being due to 
the asphyxia which it finally produces. Ultimately it paralyzes the 
respiratory centre and the peripheral vagi. The treatment of the 
poisoning is to administer opium to stop irritation and vomiting, 
to give alcohol and ammonia to support the heart, and the use of 
external heat. 

Therapeutics. — Lobelia is used chiefly as an antiasthmatic, and has 
been equally praised and condemned by eminent authorities. The 
reason for this lies in the fact that it is generally useless in asthma 
unless given in almost poisonous dose. Wood teaches that it should 
rarely if ever be used, because of its poisonous effects even in doses 
medicinally active, while Sydney Kinger says that the drug is erro- 
neously thought to be dangerous. In asthma both of the gastric and 
bronchial form lobelia is undoubtedly of service. In some cases it 
fails as signally as it succeeds in others. If the asthma is due to or 
associated with cardiac disease, lobelia should never be employed. 
The drug should be taken in the dose of \ a drachm (2.0) to 1 drachm 
(4.0) of the tincture at the first sign of an attack, or in 10-drop (0.65) 
doses every fifteen minutes until distinct nausea occurs or relief is 
obtained. If the heart is feeble, its use is contraindicated. 

In atonic constipation with great dryness of the faeces 10 drops 
(0.65) of the tincture of lobelia at bed-time are often of service, 
particularly if it is combined with cascara sagrada. (See Cascara 
Sagrada.) 

Administration. — Lobelia is given in the form of the tincture (Tinc- 

17 



258 URUGS. 

tura Lobelice, U. S.), in the dose of 10 to 30 drops (0.65-2.0), or 1 
to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0) as an emetic. The vinegar (Acetum Lobelice) 
is no longer official, but is given in the dose of 20 to 30 drops (1.65- 
2.0), and the fluid extract (Extraction Lobelice Fluidum, U. S.) in 
the dose of 1 to 5. drops (0.05-0.35), or as an emetic in the dose of 
15 drops (1.0). 

In the form of the infusion lobelia is useful as a lotion in the treat- 
ment of the dermatitis produced by poison ivy. The proportion used 
should be an ounce (32.0) to the pint (J litre) of water. 

The preparation of the B. P. is Tinctura Lobelias jFtherea, dose 
10 to 30 minims (0.65-2.0). 



LYCOPODIUM. 

Lycopodium, TJ. S., is a pale-yellow powder derived from Ly co- 
sodium clavatum, a species of moss. It is used by pharmacists as a 
powder in which to roll pills, and by physicians and nurses to prevent 
the intertrigo or chapping of the skin of infants and adults. 



LYSOL. 

This is a preparation made by dissolving in fat and saponifying 
with alcohol that part of tar oil which boils between 190° and 200° 
C, and is a brownish, clear, oily fluid, smelling somewhat like creo- 
sote. It is used for the same antiseptic purposes as creolin (see Creo- 
lin), but possesses the advantage of forming a clear, soapy fluid when 
mixed with water, in which instruments can be seen. If small instru- 
ments are used, the solution is so soapy that it renders them too slippery 
for ready use. Those who have used lysol claim that it does not affect 
the skin of the operator's hands except to render it soft and flexible. 
Experiment shows it to be possessed of marked antiseptic power, and 
it is far less poisonous than carbolic acid. Used upon mucous mem- 
branes, a solution of lysol should not be stronger than 2 per cent. 



MAGNESIA. 

Magnesia is the oxide of magnesium, made by exposing the car- 
bonate of magnesium to a red heat. It is used in the form of the 
light magnesia (Magnesia Levis) as a dusting powder. The troches 
(Trochisci Magnesice) each contain 3 grains (0.015). 

Magnesia is an antidote to arsenic, and when employed to precip- 
itate a soluble preparation of iron it forms the Antidotum Arsenici 
(Ferri Oxidum Hydratum cum Magnesia, TJ. S.). 

It is important that the student should not confuse magnesia and 
magnesium. The first is the oxide of the second, and is sometimes 
called calcined magnesia or " Husband's Magnesia." Magnesia is of 
little value in internal medicine except as a feeble antacid. Magnesia 
and the carbonate of magnesium may be used interchangeably. 



MAGNESIUM. 259 



MAGNESIUM. 

Magnesium is a metal never used as such, but always in the form 
of one of its salts, which are the sulphate, citrate, carbonate, and 
sulphite. The sulphite is a natural salt found in sea-water and in 
caves or in the water coming from the latter. The citrate and car- 
bonate are derived from the sulphate. The carbonate is insoluble in 
water and alcohol. The others are soluble. 

Magnesium Carbonate. 

The Carbonate of Magnesium (Magnesii Carbonas, TJ. S.) is official 
in the form of the heavy and light powder (Magnesii Carbonas Pon- 
derosus vel Levis, B. P.), and these two substances do not differ in 
respect to their effects. The light magnesium is never given internally, 
because of its bulk, but it is used as a dusting powder in intertrigo, 
and in the form of white cubes rubbed on the skin to prevent ex- 
cessive perspiration and as a cosmetic. The heavy magnesium is 
used as an antacid, and is not, as has been thought by some, in 
any sense a laxative, as it possesses no such power. When the stom- 
ach or intestines contain much acid from fermentative changes, these 
acids may, however, unite with the magnesium and form a slightly 
laxative salt. 

In sick headaches due to great gastric acidity carbonate of magne- 
sium is often of service. The dose of the carbonate is from 5 to 60 
grains (0.3-4.0). It should not be used constantly, as there is danger 
that it will accumulate in the intestines. 

Liquor Magnesii Carbonatis, B. P., is given in the dose of 1 to 
2 ounces (32.0-64.0) as a laxative. 

Magnesium Citrate. 

The Citrate of Magnesium {Magnesii Citras) is a much more irri- 
tating purge than the sulphate, but it is more agreeable to the taste. 
It is official in tw T o forms, one of which is the solution (Liquor Mag- 
nesii Citratis, TJ. S.), which is effervescent and should never be used 
unless freshly prepared. It is made by adding bicarbonate of potas- 
sium to a syrupy solution of the citrate of magnesium containing an 
excess of acid, and corking the bottle tightly, the cork being tied 
down with a strong cord. Care should be taken that the bottle is a 
strong one, as the development of large amounts of carbonic acid gas 
may burst it if it be weak. The dose is half to one bottle, which 
contains about 12 ounces (360 cc). It is too irritating to be used 
where inflammation of the alimentary canal exists, but is useful in 
the treatment of sick and bilious headache. 

The Granulated Citrate (Magnesii Citras Bffervescens, TJ. S.) is 
less agreeable to take than the solution just named. It should be 
dissolved in water, about 1 to 3 drachms (15.0-45.0) of the salt being 
used in each dose, and swallowed while the solution is effervescing. It 
must be kept in bottles tightly corked. 



260 DRUGS. 

Magnesium Sulphate. 

Sulphate of Magnesium (Magnesii Sulphas, TJ. S. and B. P.) is a 
white granular powder of neutral reaction and salty taste, and is sol- 
uble in water. It is generally known as "salts," although in some 
parts of the country this term also includes the sulphate of sodium. 

According to the studies of Hay and others, sulphate of magnesium 
is a purge by reason of its abstraction of water from the intestinal 
blood-vessels. All strong saline solutions above the strength of 7 
per 1000 abstract liquids from the tissues when brought in contact 
with them. The recollection of these facts readily makes clear the 
mode of action of magnesium sulphate. Whenever a thorough pur- 
gative action is required — that is, where depletion of the intestine or 
absorption of exudations is to be attained — the magnesium should be 
given in concentrated form, so as to make its solution as of high a 
percentage as possible. 

Magnesium sulphate may be given by enema with the double 
purpose of unloading the bowels and acting as a depletant. The 
best mixture for this purpose seems to be that of Watkins — namely, 
2 ounces (64.0) of magnesium, 1 ounce (32.0) of glycerin, and 4 
ounces (128.0) of water. 

In cases of dropsy the use of concentrated solutions is particularly 
necessary if free watery evacuations are desired, and from 1 to 2 
ounces should be given before breakfast or on an empty stomach in as 
little water as will dissolve the salt. (See Dropsy.) Generally it is 
better to give this quantity divided into small doses every fifteen 
minutes till it is all taken. 

In enteritis and peritonitis the use of magnesium is widely recog- 
nized as a proper measure for its depletant effects, and it is claimed 
to be better than ipecac in the treatment of tropical dysentery. 
When used for the latter purpose it should be given in drachm (4.0) 
doses of a saturated solution with 10 to 15 drops (0.65-1.0) of aromatic 
sulphuric acid every two hours. The sulphate is not irritating, and 
may be given freely when inflammation exists. (See Peritonitis.) It 
forms a large part of most of the natural purgative waters. 

MANGANESE. 

Manganum, or Manganese, is official in the TJ. S. Pharmacopoeia 
in the form of the black oxide (Mangani Dioxidum) and the sul- 
phate (Mangahi Sulphas). Jhe first of these, under the name 
binoxide of manganese, has been highly praised in amenorrhoea 
dependent upon functional disturbance and anaemia. The dose is 3 
to 5 grains (0.15-0.3) three times a clay, in pill form, and the drug 
should be taken for a few days before the expected or proper date for 
menstruation. The sulphate is rarely if ever employed, but may be 
tried in malarial jaundice. The dose is 1 to 2 grains (0.05-0.1) . 

MANNA. 

Manna, TJ. S., is the concrete saccharine exudation of Fraxinus 
Ornus, a tree of Europe. It occurs in roundish masses of varying 



MATRICARIA— MERCURY. 261 

size, looking somewhat like a gray-colored gum arabic. It has a 
sweet taste and odor. Sometimes the taste is a little bitter. 

Therapeutics. — Manna is the most feeble of the laxatives, and 
causes a slight flatulence in some persons. In children fed by the 
bottle one of the most frequent disorders is obstinate constipation, and 
for its relief 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0) of the sweet variety of manna 
may be dissolved in the milk of each bottle. When given to older 
children or adults, manna is always combined with other more power- 
ful drugs, chiefly to cover their taste. It may be combined with 
advantage with rhubarb and senna, and it enters into the official 
Infusum Sennas Compositum, U. S., the dose of which is from 1 to 4 
fluidounces (3.20-64.0). 

MATRICARIA. 

Matricaria, U. S., German Chamomile, consists in the flower-heads 
of Matricaria Chamomilla, a European plant, possessing mild bitter tonic 
properties when given in moderate dose. In larger amounts it acts as 
an emetic and anthelmintic. In the form of an infusion of the strength 
of 1 to 2 ounces to the pint (32.0-64.0 : J litre) it has been largely 
used as a diaphoretic, and, in small doses, to prevent colic in teething 
children. 

MENTHOL. 
(See Peppermint.) 

MERCURY. 

Hydrargyrum, U. S. and B. P., Mercury or Quicksilver, is a 
heavy fluid metal of a peculiar color and appearance. As mercury 
it is used in medicine in the form of the ointment, the plaster, gray 
powder, and blue mass. 

Physiological Action. — When mercury is taken into the body in 
one of its insoluble and mild preparations, it may cause no evidence 
of its presence until by frequent dosage the system in general begins 
to feel its influence. The first evidences of this are to be found in 
the mouth, and consist in tenderness of the teeth when the jaw T s are 
firmly and quickly closed, foetid breath, sponginess of the gums, 
which finally may bleed at the slightest touch, swelling of the tongue, 
and, most prominent of all, excessive salivation, a condition some- 
times called ptyalism. If the use of the drug is persisted in, all 
these symptoms grow worse. Eczema, and finally sloughs of the chin 
and chest develop as the result of the constant dribbling of saliva 
and the direct depressing effect of the drug on the tissues. The teeth 
drop out, the maxillary bones undergo necrosis, and amid a general 
melting down and decomposition of the tissues the patient dies. The 
blood is affected, and becomes very thin, fluid, and poor in its corpus- 
cular elements. These symptoms ensue on the use of mercury in 
continued doses, and rarely follow exposure to the drug in the pro- 
cesses of the arts. In the arts — as, for instance, in the making of 



262 DRUGS. 

looking-glasses — workmen are often affected by various trains of 
symptoms varying very widely in their course. In some cases the 
nervous system becomes chiefly affected. Tremors of all sorts arise, 
paralysis agitans is developed and degenerations in the spinal cord 
ensue ; but it is worthy of note that the ocular muscles are rarely 
involved in mercurial tremor, while in disseminated sclerosis nystagmus 
is not rare. Similarly the tremors of mercurial poisoning often affect 
the head and neck alone, while in paralysis agitans this is rarely the 
case. Chorea often comes on in chronic mercurial poisoning, and the 
occurrence of choreic movements in an adult should cause inquiry as to 
any possible exposure to mercury. In other cases brownish discolor- 
ation of the skin, resembling Addison's disease, appears. Blindness, 
deafness, sensory disturbances, such as hyperesthesia and anaesthesia, 
may be developed, and localized wasting of muscles or groups of muscles 
may assert itself. In still other cases the blood becomes impoverished 
and mercurial cachexia is developed. 

It is worthy of note that children under three years are rarely sali- 
vated by the use of mercury, but this is no reason for using this drug 
carelessly in this class of cases, since the other changes in the organ- 
ism nevertheless occur. 

Absorption and Elimination. — The rapidity of absorption and 
elimination of mercury depends to a very great extent on the variety 
of it which is given. The drug in some forms is so insoluble that 
very great delay in its elimination must often ensue because it is 
slowly absorbed. Several opinions are held as to the form in which 
mercury is absorbed. It is usually taught in France that the 
theory of Miahl is correct; this is that the mercurial preparations 
are transformed in the stomach and intestine into the bichloride, 
which in turn unites with the sodium chloride in the blood and 
circulates as a double chloride of mercury and sodium, In Ger- 
many it is taught that it forms an albuminate of mercury and so 
circulates (Henoch's theory), or that it forms a chloro-albuminate 
(Voit's theory). All these theories as to its absorption are open 
to grave criticism. As to the elimination of mercury, it is known 
to escape by every excretion of the body — the urine, feces, sweat, 
tears, milk, and saliva. After a single dose the drug begins to be 
eliminated in about two hours according to Byasson, and is entirely 
gotten rid of in twenty-four hours. If, however, the doses are per- 
sisted in, it gradually accumulates in the body and is so slowly elimi- 
nated as to remain for almost indefinite periods of time, and is found 
deposited in all the organs. In other words, the doses of mercury 
ordinarily given are always large enough to produce cumulative 
effects. Thus while Balzer and Klumpke agree with Byasson as to 
the rapidity of elimination of a single dose, they find from an experi- 
mental study that the amount of mercury which can be eliminated by 
the kidneys for many weeks when the body is saturated with the 
drug is only one-sixteenth of a grain a day. It is evident, therefore, 
that after a full mercurial effect is produced it is well to decrease, as 
do most syphilographers, the dose of mercury and give only enough 
to maintain the effect. It is also evident that the plan of using 



MERCURY. 263 

iodide of potassium every now and again to aid in the elimination of 
the residual mercury is advisable. 

Therapeutics. — Ihe employment of mercury in medicine centres 
around four great points — viz. : 1st, its value in syphilis and kindred 
states ; 2d, its use as a purge ; 3d, its power as an antiseptic and germ- 
icide ; and 4th, its action as an antiphlogistic : the first and fourth 
points are fulfilled by all the mercury salts more or less perfectly, the 
second only by blue mass and calomel, the third by the bichloride and 
biniodide of mercury. 

As an Axtisyphilitic. — In syphilis mercury is to be given, not 
because the patient shows symptoms of this or that stage of the dis- 
ease, but because the conditions present call for its employment. Many 
writers have insisted that it ought only to be employed in the second- 
ary stages, and, while this is, as a general rule, correct, certain condi- 
tions may call for it at any time. (See Syphilis.) 

Of all the preparations of mercury used in the treatment of syphilis, 
the protoiodide is the most popular, and deservedly so. (See article on 
Syphilis.) 

Mercury is often administered by means of fumigations or inhala- 
tions both for the removal of local and general syphilitic disorders. 
The best apparatus for either purpose is one devised by Bumstead, and 
it is both simple and inexpensive. It consists of a sheet-iron cup so 
bent that the bottom of the vessel, instead of being flat, projects up- 
ward into the centre of the cup, thereby forming a raised centre with 
a little ditch about it. The top of this projection is flattened, and on 
its apex, is placed the calomel which is to be sublimed. The sur- 
rounding ditch is then filled with hot water, and the cup placed over 
an alcohol flame, which disengages the vapor of the calomel and 
water. 

When inhalations are used the face should be held some six or 
eight inches away from the cup to permit the fumes to pass through 
the air. Under these circumstances the quantity of calomel used 
should not exceed 4 or 5 grains (0.3), and the mouth should be rinsed 
out to prevent mercurial stomatitis unless a local action on the buccal 
mucous membrane is desired. Not more than eight or ten inspira- 
tions should be taken at one sitting. 

If general fumigations are to be practised, the patient places the 
lamp and cup with 30 grains (2.0) of calomel on it under a chair, on 
which he sits wrapped in a heavy blanket. (See Fig. 2.) 

We believe that the ultimate conclusion of the profession in regard 
to the hypodermic injection of mercurials in syphilis will certainly 
be identical with that governing its use of quinine in malarial fever. 
There can be no doubt that a certain number of instances do arise in 
which, by reason of severe infection, susceptibility of the patient, or 
inability to take mercury by the ordinary means, hypodermic injec- 
tions are absolutely necessary. In the same way that we give qui- 
nine by the mouth, the rectum, and hypodermically in pernicious 
malarial fever, so do we give mercury by the mouth, by inunctions, 
by sublimation, and by the hypodermic needle in malignant syphilis. 
The reasons for believing that hypodermic injections of mercurials 



;264 



DRUGS. 



are not to be resorted to as a routine treatment of syphilis are several. 
In the first place, all forms of hypodermic medication possess disad- 

Fig. 2. 




A patient prepared for the use of mercurial sublimations. A blanket having been pinned 
tightly around the neck after the patient is stripped, the fumigator shown at his feet is 
placed under his chair and the calomel placed on the central disc, as shown in the illus- 
tration. Water is in the little ditch around it and an alcohol lamp under it. The patient 
should be given a full, warm bath beforehand to cleanse and prepare the skin for absorption. 

vantages not possessed by the use of drugs by the mouth. There is 
always some danger of entering a vein, of producing an abscess, or 
of causing local pain. When mercurials are so employed, the danger 
of abscess, of pain, or of milder inflammatory manifestations is 
greatly increased, and the presence of an indurated spot where the 
hypodermic injection has been given proves that it is not the simplest 
form of medication in syphilis. Of the mercurial preparations which 
are best administered hypodermically in syphilis, the two which sur- 
pass all others are undoubtedly the bichloride of mercury, in the 
dose of -\ grain, dissolved in 10 or 15 drops of distilled water, every 
second or third day, or gray oil (Oleum Cinereum), which was first 
introduced into medicine by Lang of Vienna. (See Gray Oil, under 
Mercury.) 



MERCURY. 265 

In all cases the injection should be given slowly and deeply into some 
portion of the body in which the tissues are loose, as the buttock or the 
broad of the back, and the skin of the part where the injection is to be 
made should be carefully washed and sterilized by green soap and alcohol. 

The intravenous injection of bichloride of mercury has been proved 
so dangerous as to be properly considered unjustifiable. 

As a Purge. — The employment of mercury as a purge or laxative 
having a special action on the liver' is constantly resorted to. The two 
preparations used are blue mass and calomel, but the latter is more 
active. They both cause soft or watery stools, according to the dose in 
which they are given, but the blue mass is rarely, if ever, used except 
for the production of a laxative effect. 

Much discussion has arisen as to whether mercury affects the liver, 
and whether the peculiar greenish or brownish-yellow stools produced 
by it are due to the presence of bile or mercury. 

If there is one point firmly fixed in the mind of the average 
practitioner of medicine, it is that the mild chloride of mercury 
increases the quantity of bile in the intestine. If such a believer 
is questioned as to whether this increased amount of biliary fluid 
is due to a true increase in secretion or simply to an increase in 
the flow of bile from the gall-bladder, he will either state that he 
is unable to answer the question or that he believes that it is an 
increased secretion. 

Practically, the position of the profession in general in regard to 
the purgative influence of calomel is that the drug exercises a stim- 
ulating effect upon the biliary gland. Careful experimentation upon 
the lower animals by several competent observers, and careful studies 
made by physiological chemists, fail, however, to give us very much 
light upon this subject. It is held by some that calomel never acts 
as calomel, but is converted by the hydrochloric acid of the gastric 
juice into corrosive sublimate, and that this drug then stimulates the 
liver to increased activity. 

On the other hand, the best chemical investigations show positively 
that the feeble acidity of the gastric juice and the temperature to 
which the calomel is exposed are not favorable to the conversion of a 
sufficient quantity of calomel into corrosive sublimate to account for 
any hepatic influence. Thus it was found by Rutherford and Vignal, 
in their well-known series of studies upon the influence of drugs upon 
the secretion of bile, that if 5 grains of calomel are subjected, at 
100° F., for seventeen hours to the action of normal gastric juice, not 
more than -^ of a grain of mercuric chloride is produced. As calomel 
does not remain in the human stomach for more than a night at the 
utmost, and generally but a very few hours, it is not likely that as 
much as -^ of a grain of mercuric chloride is produced from the 
moderately large dose of 5 grains. 

In contradiction of this, Bucheim, Winkler, and others assert that 
no conversion whatever takes place at the temperature of the body, 
and Jaennel's later studies support this view. 

The other theory as to the change which takes place in calomel 
prior to its action upon the liver is that it escapes into the intestine, 



266 DRUGS. 

where it is decomposed and the gray oxide of mercury precipitated, 
which may, however, be held in solution by any fatty materials, which, 
being mixed with alkaline liquids, practically form soaps. It is thought 
by Wood and others that this is the more probable result, particularly 
in view of the fact that calomel acts more like blue mass than cor- 
rosive sublimate. Further than this, these opinions are confirmed by 
the fact, with which all of us are familiar, that the hepatic influence 
of calomel is much more positively asserted if at the same time small 
doses of the bicarbonate of sodium are administered. Under these 
circumstances the bicarbonate of sodium naturally diminishes, to some 
extent at least, the acidity of the gastric contents, and also directly 
or indirectly tends to increase the alkalinity of the contents of the 
duodenum. 

As if to increase the complexity of the problem, the studies of 
Rutherford and Vignal seem to prove conclusively that in the dog, 
at least, mercuric chloride has a direct stimulant effect upon the 
hepatic cells; whereas, calomel, while producing purgation by increas- 
ing the secretion of the intestinal glands, in no way increases the true 
secretion of bile ; and this would seem to indicate that, after all, the 
influence of calomel upon the liver is clue to a very minute portion 
of it being changed into corrosive sublimate. Probably the truth of 
the matter is, that we have as yet no definite scientific explanation of 
how calomel really does act. It may be that the solution of the problem 
lies in the hepatic influence exercised by the presence of minute quan- 
tities of corrosive sublimate, and the purgative effect produced by that 
portion of the calomel which has not been converted into the strong 
chloride of mercury. This is rendered the more likely in view of the 
fact that the corrosive sublimate has been found a feeble intestinal 
stimulant, while the calomel has been found to produce active purga- 
tion in dogs, without producing an increase in biliary flow, when the 
drug has been introduced into the duodenum. 

It has been suggested, too, that calomel itself may stimulate the 
bile-expelling mechanism, while the minute portion of corrosive sub- 
limate increases the secretion of the liquid ; and, again, that by means 
of the purgative effect that it produces certain substances which have 
been in the intestine are immediately removed, and, as a consequence, 
a depressant influence upon the hepatic cells no longer exists. 

While, at first sight, the argument seems a forcible one that a vast 
clinical experience in regard to calomel is far superior to any series 
of experiments on dogs, it is only just to remember that in the entire 
series of remedies supposed to produce an hepatic effect calomel is the 
only one which failed to influence the liver of the dog as the others 
influenced the liver of man. 

Quite a number of physicians have studied the effect of the various 
so-called cholagogue drugs upon the flow of bile in human beings 
who have had biliary fistula. The most recent and perhaps the best 
study is that of Pfaff and Balch upon a woman with a biliary fistula. 
Calomel and the bichloride of mercury seemed invariably in her case 
to decrease rather than increase the biliary flow. Ox-gall was the only 
drug which did increase it. 



MERCURY. 267 

This subject also is of interest to the practical physician in rela- 
tion to the administration of calomel in compressed tablets or other 
preparations when mixed with what might be called excipients. Under 
these circumstances, if one of the excipients is bicarbonate of sodium, 
the tablet almost always undergoes a change and becomes of a gray 
color. Those who have used pills or tablets of calomel which have 
been kept for a long period of time seem to be universally in accord 
with the statement that they have lost the hepatic effect which a 
recently-prepared powder always possesses. Thus it has been fre- 
quently found that no biliary flow occurs under the use of stale tab- 
lets, whereas free bilious purging follows the administration of freshly- 
prepared powders. 

Calomel and blue mass are largely used in the condition known as 
biliousness, and undoubtedly give relief. (See Biliousness.) If the 
tongue is heavily coated, the breath foul, the conjunctiva a little icte- 
roid, and headache is present, either of them should be employed. 
In remittent malarial fever the use of small repeated doses of calomel 
will often bring relief from the vomiting, and it should always be 
given in the treatment of malarial disease before quinine is used if a 
thorough action of the antiperiodic is required. 

As a Disinfectant. — The disinfectant and germicidal power of 
bichloride of mercury and of the biniodide is very well established by 
clinical experience and experimental investigation. The strength of 
the bichloride in solution for antiseptic purposes may vary from 1 to 
2000 to 1 to 20,000 of water, and for disinfectant use from 1 to 500 
to 1 to 1000. (See Antiseptics.) 

In using the bichloride of mercury as an antiseptic it is necessary 
to add a few grains of tartaric acid to the solution to prevent its unit- 
ing with the albumin of the tissues to form an insoluble and useless 
albuminate. The same is true of the use of mercury biniodide. 

As an Antiphlogistic. — The antiphlogistic or anti-inflammatory 
action of mercury is very marked indeed, but its employment is abso- 
lutely limited under these circumstances to one variety of inflamma- 
tion — namely, the sthenic or dynamic form. In inflammation arising 
during the course of some exhausting disease mercury is not only con- 
traindicated, but harmful. Thus, if a man in health is stricken with 
pleurisy or peritonitis or meningitis or any acute inflammation of a 
serous membrane, be the cause what it may, the exudate poured out 
will probably be fibrinous, and capable of undergoing organization, 
thereby causing adhesions of the pleural surfaces, of the intestines, or 
of the meninges of the brain. On the other hand, if a man be taken 
with pleurisy or meningitis during the course of phthisis or typhoid 
fever, the exudate will be serous and large in quantity. It is in the 
first case that mercury should be used to prevent the fibrinous exudate 
or to make it serous. In the second instance it will do harm by increas- 
ing the exudation. 

When mercury is given as an antiphlogistic, opium is often combined 
with it to relieve the pain and irritation and to prevent purging. In 
meningitis arising from head injuries this is a routine treatment, and 
may be carried out by the use of powders containing \ grain (0.015) 



268 DRUGS. 

of calomel and J grain (0.015) of powdered opium every hour till 1 or 
1J grains (0.05-0.07) of each are taken. The simultaneous use of 
the ice-bag to the head and perfect quiet will often bring relief very 
rapidly. 

Mercury is also the best remedy in sthenic endocarditis, and should 
be given in full dose. The bichloride may be used in small doses in 
place of the calomel, and does not, of course, produce the same tend- 
ency to laxity of the bowels. On the other hand, it often seems to be 
less efficacious. 

Mercury in myocarditis and pericarditis is also of service, and cer- 
tainly exerts distinct prophylactic power in the early stages of diphtheria 
and membranous croup. (See Diphtheria.) 

One of the best ways to employ any of the various forms of mer- 
cury is in the form of triturates, which may be prepared by triturating 
10 parts of the drug with 90 parts of milk-sugar. The minute sub- 
division of the medicament aids in its efficiency, because of its more 
ready absorption. 

Leaving the general subject of mercury, we may now consider each 
individual preparation. 

Ammoniated Mercury. 

White Precipitate, or Ammoniated Mercury of the strength of 10 
per cent, with lard [Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum, U. S. and B. P.), is 
used in an ointment ( Unguentum Hydrargyri Ammoniati, U. S. and 
B. P.) in various skin affections, when a stimulating application is 
needed, as, for example, in psoriasis and chronic dry eczema. It is also 
sometimes employed as a parasiticide in cases of tinea. The official 
ointment should generally be diluted with lard, as it is far too strong 
and will often induce a dermatitis if used undiluted. 

In ozarna, whether syphilitic or not, Trousseau has recommended the 
employment of the following powder as a snuff : 

R. — Hydrargyri ammoniati gr. iv (0.2). 

Pulv. sacchar. alb _ .fss (16.0).— M. 

S. — To be used as a snuff, after thoroughly blowing the nose. 

The red precipitate may be used instead of the white. The treat- 
ment removes the stench and may cure the complaint. It may, how- 
ever, irritate the mucous membrane, in which case it should be used in 
the strength of 2 grains to the f ounce (0.1 : 16.0). It is never used 
internally. 

Bichloride of Mercury. 

The Bichloride of Mercury, or Corrosive Sublimate (Hydrargyrum 
Chloridum Corrosivum, U. S. ; Hydrargyri Perchloridum, B. P.), as 
it is called, is an exceedingly poisonous and irritating substance when 
taken internally in concentrated form. 

Taken internally, it causes violent pain in the stomach, vomiting, 
purging of mucus, blood, and the contents of the intestine, collapse, 
syncope, and death. If taken in poisonous amount, the patient should 
be made to swallow large quantities of the antidote, white of egg, the 



MERCURY. 269 

stomach should be washed out with the stomach-pump, heat should 
be applied about the body, and the proper stimulants be given if 
the pulse or respiration fail. If death does not occur at once, the 
patient generally has a protracted convalescence or else dies from the 
organic changes produced in the gastro-intestinal tract, such as stric- 
tures, sloughs, destruction of the peptic glands, and ulcerations. 

The bichloride of mercury is an exceedingly useful preparation 
of mercury for hypodermic injection in syphilis, and is better than 
calomel for this purpose. About -J- grain (0.012) may be injected 
deeply and gently into the cellular tissues every two or three days. 
When the injections are made the greatest possible cleanliness should 
be obtained. The needle should be aseptic and the hands of the 
operator well disinfected. The best place for the injection is in the 
gluteal region or between the shoulder-blades. 

Mercury bichloride, aside from its antiseptic use (see Antiseptics), 
is of great value when given internally, not only in syphilis, but in 
other states not associated with any such depraved condition, as in 
chronic BrigMs disease. In diphtheria it may be used to prevent 
fibrinous exudation as readily as calomel (see Diphtheria), and in ton- 
sillitis, where the inflammation is severe, it is often used with great 
service. 

In small amounts — that is, in fa to fa of a grain (0.0015-0.0017) 
three times a day — the bichloride is one of the best remedies which we 
possess for the treatment of anosmia depending upon a deficient num- 
ber of blood-cells. If the anaemia is syphilitic in origin, it is, of course, 
peculiarly useful. 

Bichloride of mercury is of value in minute doses of fa-$ to fa of 
a grain (0.0003) for the ill-smelling green stools of summer diarrhoeas 
in adults and children, and it has been recommended that a solution 
be made of J a grain (0.03) in 5 ounces (160.0) of water, and a tea- 
spoonful given every hour until relief is obtained. The water used 
in making the solution should be distilled, and it may be well to add 
to it a little tartaric acid to prevent precipitation of the bichloride by 
organic matter which may have gotten into the water. This treat- 
ment is particularly useful in mucous diarrhoea in which blood and 
mucus are thoroughly mixed. Patients in the dispensaries often speak 
of these passages as containing " corruption," and others think they 
consist of "lumps of flesh," owing to the masses of blood and mucus. 
Whether the disease be acute or chronic, the bichloride, used in the 
way just described, will be found of service. In dysentery and the 
diarrhoea of adults the same treatment may be resorted to, using 2 
teaspoonfuls of the solution instead of 1. It is hardly necessary to add 
that the greatest care must be bestowed upon the diet and clothing. 
The author has treated a child suffering from persistent diarrhoea for 
months with varying success, only to succeed when, it being found 
that the abdomen was exposed to the air, the mother was forced to 
apply and keep on the child a flannel binder. 

In some cases in which an obstinate syphiloderm is present \ an 
ounce (16.0) of corrosive sublimate and 1 ounce (32.0) of chloride of 
ammonium may be added to a warm bath, which should be taken 



270 DRUGS. 

every few days. J a grain (0.03) of the bichloride of mercury in 6 
ounces (192.0) of water is said to be most efficient as an injection in 
gleet, if used every three or four hours. (See Gonorrhoea.) 

In all parasitic affections of the skin a solution of 2 grains (0,1) 
of bichloride to the ounce (32.0) of water may be sopped on the part 
three times a day. A solution of perchloride of mercury {Liquor 
Hydrargyri Perchloridi) is official in the B. P. : it is prepared by 
adding ^ grain (0.03) of the perchloride of mercury to 1 ounce (32.0) 
of water, with \ grain (0.03) of ammonium chloride to hold it in solu- 
tion. 

(For the antiseptic uses of the bichloride of mercury see Antiseptics 
and Disinfectants.) 

Biniodide of Mercury. 

Mercury Biniodide {Hydrargyri Iodidum Ruhr urn, U. S. andi?.P.) 
is a bright-red powder, possessing irritating powers equal to or above 
those of the bichloride, and causing symptoms, when taken in over- 
dose, closely resembling those produced by the latter drug. Owing 
to the formation of the salt, it is thought to be particularly useful in 
the later stages of syphilis. The dose is -fa to fa of a grain (0.003- 
0.006). (See Syphilis.) An ointment (JJnguentum Hydrargyri lodidi 
Bubri, B. P.) is useful as an application in goitre and obstinate skin 



At one time it was thought that biniodide of mercury was a better 
antiseptic than the bichloride, but recent researches have proved that 
this is not a fact. 

Black Wash. 

Black Wash (Lotio Hydrargyri Nigra, B. P.) is made by adding 
1 drachm of calomel to a pint (4.0 : J litre) of lime-water. It is used 
as a stimulant application for washing syphilitic sores and wounds and 
in various forms of eczema. 

Blue Mass. 

Blue Mass (Massa Hydrargyri, U. S. ; Pilula Hydrargyri, B. P.) 
is made by rubbing up metallic mercury with liquorice and other 
excipients, and is often called Blue Pill. Each grain of the mass 
contains J grain (0.02) of mercury, and it may be given in the dose 
of from J to 20 grains (0.03-1.3) for the same laxative purposes for 
which we use calomel. Blue mass is rarely used to produce systemic 
effects. 

Calomel. 

Calomel (Hydrargyri Chloridum Mite,U. S. ; Hydrargyri Subchlo- 
ridum, B. P.), or the Mild Chloride of Mercury, is an insoluble salt 
which is, nevertheless, freely absorbed. 

Calomel when used as a laxative purge should be given in the dose 
of i to J grain (0.01-0.03) every half-hour or every fifteen minutes until 
1 or 2 grains (0.05-0.1) are taken, as it will act as efficiently in this 
way as if 10 grains (0.65) are given at one dose, and there is no dan- 



MERCURY. 271 

ger of producing ptyalism. The reason that small doses are as efficient 
as large ones lies in the fact that only the calomel -which is changed 
into the gray oxide is active, and, as the amount of alkaline juice in 
the intestine is small, only a minor part of a large dose of calomel 
acts, the major portion escaping unchanged. This is the reason that 
bicarbonate of sodium is added to calomel powders, to aid the intes- 
tinal juice in the reduction of the salt. If purgation does not occur 
after a dose of calomel, a saline purge may be given at the end of 
twenty-four hours, and this must always be used if large doses of the 
mercurial are employed, to avoid possible mercurialization. 

Mercury in the form of calomel is very largely used hypodermic- 
ally, being held in solution by a mucilage, or, better still, by fluid 
cosmoline. Best of all, however, is the employment of chloride of 
sodium in water with the calomel, in the proportion of 5 parts each 
to 50 parts of water. It should be injected deeply into the tissues, 
not immediately underneath the skin, the greatest cleanliness being 
necessary to avoid abscesses. The best place for these injections is 
in the fold of the buttocks, but sloughing, tetanus, and even gan- 
grene, has followed its employment in this way. (See also Salicylate 
of Mercury and Bichloride of Mercury.) 

In dysentery of the acute form calomel and ipecac are the two 
best remedies. (See Dysentery and Ipecac.) The calomel should be 
given in small doses, repeated every hour or half-hour until a favor- 
able change in the number and character of the stools appears. Cal- 
omel is not to be used if great asthenia complicates the disease. 

In children who seem constantly "under the weather" and never 
quite well, who have flatulence, foetid breath, and ill-smelling, pasty 
stools, calomel often gives great relief in the dose of -^ of a grain 
(0.003) every half-hour until four doses are taken, this treatment 
being pursued every fourth or fifth morning. 

In jaundice due to exposure to cold and to slight hepatic conges- 
tion J of a grain (0.01) of calomel every half-hour until 1 grain 
(0.06) is taken will often bring relief. 

Calomel is generally prescribed in conjunction with sugar of milk, 
white sugar, or bicarbonate of sodium, which are added to increase 
the bulk and wieldiness of the powder, and, in the case of the latter 
ingredient, to increase its activity. Owing to its lack of taste, calomel 
is often placed on the tongue in children, but for this class of patients 
white sugar is to be used in small quantity, as the other vehicles are 
less agreeable. The most agreeable form of administration is by means 
of triturates. 

It is important to remember that calomel, when used as an anti- 
syphilitic, produces salivation very much earlier than the other mer- 
curials. 

Sometimes calomel is of value when dusted into the eye in cases 
of phlyctenular conjunctivitis which are strumous. This practice 
must not be resorted to if iodine or iodides are being taken inter- 
nally, as the iodine is eliminated by the tears and forms a compound 
which burns the conjunctiva. 

A very important use of calomel, and one which has been brought 



272 DRUGS. 

forward very recently as new, but which is really many years old, is 
its employment in dropsy as a diuretic, either alone or combined with 
squills or digitalis, or with opium to prevent purging. The dose is 
small, about 1 grain (0.05) thrice a day, and if a diuretic influence 
does not assert itself in forty-eight hours it should not be continued. 
How calomel acts to produce the increased urinary flow under these 
circumstances we do not know. Some suppose that it aids the absorp- 
tion of liquid from dropsical tissues, and so increases urinary secre- 
tion ; others think that it stimulates the renal epithelium to greater 
activity. The latter seems the least probable of the two, but neither 
theory has been proved correct, although experimentation supports 
the view first named. The full urinary effect of the drug is not felt 
till the second or third day of its use, and speedily passes away, par- 
ticularly as purging is often induced very early. Still another use 
of calomel is in typhoid fever, in which disease it has been highly 
recommended in small repeated doses, particularly if constipation is 
present. In the opinion of the author this is disadvantageous as a 
routine measure and entirely uncalled for, although in the very early 
stages of the disease, when the bowels are confined and the tongue 
coated, a dose of 1 grain (0.05) in fourths with a little bicarbonate 
of sodium is useful. 

Sydney Ringer has called attention to the fact that in constipa- 
tion or in "biliousness" podophyllin does more good than calomel, 
provided that the stools are dark in color, whereas if the same signs 
are present, but the stools light and clayey in color, calomel is more 
efficient. The author has proved the correctness of this assertion so 
frequently that he is convinced of its truth. 

Calomel has been recommended in the condition of anorexia and 
depression following acute diseases, and when the tongue is covered 
by a thick yellow coat it is the remedy for the gastro-intestinal tor- 
por always present. While purgative doses of calomel certainly are 
of value, the use of freshly-prepared nitro-muriatic acid is, however, 
highly preferable to the mercurial salt in many such instances. 

Calomel is often given in small doses to "settle the stomach." 
Sometimes it will act in this way, but in other cases it will seem to 
increase the nausea and bring on vomiting. This is true of both 
adults and children, and it is impossible to tell beforehand which will 
occur. Ringer asserts that in a peculiar form of vomiting occurring 
in very young children, which comes on immediately after the food is 
swallowed, the rejection of milk being forcible, and perhaps so sudden 
that it is not even curdled, and which is not accompanied by much 
straining, calomel will often give relief when all other remedies fail. 
It should not be resorted to until some evidences of wasting occur, as 
this action of the stomach in many children only rids that organ of 
that part of the milk which is in excess, and is a purely physiological 
regurgitation. The calomel may be given in the dose of -^ of a 
grain (0.005) every hour, or, if preferred, gray powder in the dose 
of -J- of a grain (0.02) every hour for three doses is equally efficient 
in these cases. 

Calomel in a fine powder will often remove sypJiilitic condylomata 



MERCURY. 273 

if dusted over them for some time, and an ointment made of 1 drachm 
(4.0) of calomel to 1 ounce (32.0) of lard is very useful in pruritus. 

Calomel ointment ( Unguentum Hydrargyri Subehloridi, B. P.) is 
often useful in the treatment of small patches of eczema, or the fol- 
lowing prescription may be given for its use : 

R. — Hydrarg. chlor. mit gr. xl (2.65). 

Magnesia? carbonatis gr. xl (2.65). 

Unguent, aquae rosse 3J (30.0). — M. 

Gray Oil. 

Gray Oil is prepared as follows: 2 drachms (8.0) of lanolin is 
rubbed up with enough chloroform to emulsify it. The rubbing 
process is continued until most of the chloroform is evaporated, and 
while the mixture is still in a fluid state metallic mercury, in double 
the amount of lanolin, 4 drachms (16.0) is added and the tritu- 
ration continued. By this means an ointment of mercury is left 
which equals 2 parts of mercury and 1 of lanolin. This is some- 
times called Strong Gray Ointment. For hypodermic injection 3 
parts of this gray ointment are added to 1 part of olive oil, or it may 
be still further diluted by adding olive oil in the proportion of half- 
and-half. Of this mixture 1 to 2 minims (0.05-0.1) may be injected 
every second or third day. 

With some practitioners this preparation is considered much better 
than any other for hypodermic use in syphilis. 

Mercury with Chalk. 

Mercury with Chalk [Hydrargyrum cum Creta, U. S. and B. P.), 
or Gray Powder, is slightly purgative, but is chiefly employed in the 
treatment of infantile syphilis, as it will not freely purge. It is com- 
posed of 38 parts of mercury, 12 parts of sugar of milk, and 50 parts 
of prepared chalk. The dose is 1 to 10 grains (0.06-0.65). Chil- 
dren suffering from syphilitic marasmus seem fairly to fatten on it. 
This preparation is also of service in the syphilis of adults, and may 
be employed whenever the laxative effect of mercury is not desired. 

In the treatment of infantile diarrhoea with watery, colorless stools 
containing undigested food gray powder in small doses is often very 
useful. 

Mercury Ointment. 

The Ointment of Mercury, Mercurial Ointment ( Unguentum 
Hydrargyria U. S. and B. P.), sometimes called Blue Ointment, is 
made by rubbing up mercury with suet and lard until the mercury is 
extinguished, or, in other words, until the globules of mercury cannot 
be seen with a magnifying power of ten diameters. 

The ointment of mercury is used externally in certain skin affec- 
tions and for the purpose of influencing the general system in cases 
where the drug cannot well be taken by the mouth. In syphilis where 
a mercurial effect is to be reached the ointment in small amounts 
is 



274 DRUGS. 

should be thoroughly rubbed into the skin in various parts of the 
body — one evening in the left groin, the next in the right groin, the 
next evening in the left axilla, and the fourth evening in the right 
axilla, beginning on the fifth evening in the left groin once more. 
This avoids local irritation of the skin by means of too frequent 
applications, places the drug on spots where it is readily absorbed, 
and very rapidly influences the system of the patient. In infantile 
syphilis this method may be employed, or a flannel binder covered 
with the ointment may be placed about the belly. The clothes should 
not be changed too frequently, as their saturation with the drug aids 
in producing the impression upon the system, and the wearing of an 
undershirt saturated with the ointment after a few days' wear is a 
very valuable, though somewhat dirty, method of producing mercu- 
rialization. The ointment of mercury is sometimes rubbed into the 
skin over enlarged glands. Under the name of Oleate of Mercury 
(Oleatum Hydrargyria TJ. S.; Hydrargyri Oleas, B. P.), a very efficient 
and more agreeable application than the ointment is used in the same 
manner or still further diluted with lard. It is made from the yellow 
oxide of mercury. (See Oxides of Mercury.) 

For pedieulus pubis, or in any case where parasites, such as the 
flea or louse, infest the region of the genitals or any spot covered by 
a hairy growth, mercurial ointment may be used as a remedy, owing 
to its lethal influence over these troublesome pests. Care should be 
taken that it does not cause salivation of the patient, and it must not 
be allowed to remain on the parts, but be wiped off in the course of 
an hour or two or less. The following words from the pen of Dr. 
Joseph Leidy are sufficiently interesting to demand a place at this 
juncture : " We may here say that if it is once understood that all 
insects, including lice, are destroyed quickly by the application of 
any fixed or volatile oil, physicians will see there is no necessity of 
employing remedies of a noxious character to the patient. The fat 
of mercurial ointment is probably more active than the mercurial 
oxide." 

Linimentum Hydrargyri, B. P., and Emplastrum Hydrargyri, 
TJ. S. and B. P., are used for the same purposes as is the ointment 
of mercury. The plaster is made with olive oil, resin, and lead plas- 
ter instead of ordinary suet or lard. 

Nitrate of Mercury. 

The Solution of Mercuric Nitrate (Liquor Hydrargyri Nitratis, 
TJ. S. and B. P.), Acid Nitrate of Mercury, is an exceedingly active, 
penetrating caustic, so rapid in its effects that it seems to drop through 
the tissues. It may be employed for the removal of epitheliomata and 
large warts, and should be applied by means of a glass rod. This 
treatment may also be resorted to with advantage in lupus until the 
surface of the growth is level with the skin. The surrounding parts 
should be protected by lard or oil. 

As this treatment is very painful, the spot may be first cocainized 
and afterward covered with flexible collodion. 



MERCURY. 27 5 

Citrine Ointment ( Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis, U. S. and 
B. P.) is used as a stimulating application in cases of chronic skin 
diseases of the scalp and trunk. It is too strong for ordinary use, 
and should be diluted one-half or less with lard according to the stim- 
ulating effect required ; the dilute ointment is official in the B. P. as 
Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis Dilutum. 

Oxides of Mercury. 

The Yellow and Red Oxide of Mercury {Hydrargyri Oxidum 
Flavum, U. S. and B. P. and Hydrargyri Oxidum Bubrum), U. S. 
and B. P..), Red Precipitate, are used largely as a dressing for syph- 
ilitic sores when diluted about one-half with chalk or other powder. 
If used pure, they are somewhat caustic. From the yellow oxide is 
made the Oleate of Mercury {Oleatum Hydrargyria U. S.), which is 
used for the same purpose as ordinary mercurial ointment. 

In intestinal and gastric indigestion, with foul belching and very 
ill-smelling stools which are due to intestinal sepsis, the yellow oxide 
is sometimes given in the dose of g 1 ^ to -fa of a grain (0.001-0.0012) 
in a triturate. 

Red Precipitate Ointment ( Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxidi Bubri, 
U. S. and B. P.) and the Ointment of the Yellow Oxide ( Unguentum 
Hydrargyri Oxidi Flavi, U. S. and B. P.) are largely used, diluted 
one-half with lard, for chronic scaly shin affections, in obstinate con- 
junctivitis, and in granular lids and styes. (See Styes.) They should 
always be freshly prepared. 



Protiodide of Mercury. 

Mercury Protiodide {Hydrargyri Iodidum Flavian, U. S.) is much 
more mild than the biniodide, and is given for exactly the same pur- 
poses. It is very useful in chronic Brighfs disease. It is to be 
remembered as the best mercurial preparation for ordinary cases of 
syphilis. The dose is -J- to \ of a grain (0.01-0.016) three times a 
day. 

Salicylate of Mercury. 

Salicylate of Mercury is a drug which has come into quite general 
use since the introduction of the hypodermic method of administer- 
ing mercury in syphilis. It is to be suspended in paraffin oil in the 
proportion of 22 grains (1.5) of the salicylate of mercury to 3 
drachms (12.0) of the oil, and before it is used the bottle must be 
well shaken in order that the insoluble mercury may not remain at 
the bottom. It is of great importance that the needle and syringe 
shall be thoroughly cleansed after each injection, as the insoluble 
drug readily clogs the opening of the instrument. At first 1 minim 
(0.05) of the mixture just named should be injected deeply into the 
gluteal region every fourth day, and this may be increased to every 
second day if no systemic evidences of the action of the drug appear. 



276 DRUGS. 

Yellow Sulphate of Mercury. 

Hydrargyri Subsulphas Flavus, TJ. $., has been used under the 
name of Turpeth Mineral as an errhine in chronic ophthalmia and 
also as a prompt emetic in croup. It is a quick and certain emetic, 
and, it is claimed, does not produce depression, but the writer would 
recommend great care in its use. The dose for a two-year-old child 
is 2 to 5 grains (0.1-0.35), repeated in fifteen minutes if necessary. 

If as much as 5 grains (0.35) has been given, and emesis does 
not follow, other emetics or the stomach-pump must be used to pre- 
vent gastro-intestinal irritation. 

Yellow Wash. 

Yellow Wash (Lotio Hydrargyri Flava, B. P.) is made by adding 
30 grains (2.0) of corrosive sublimate to a pint (-^ litre) of lime-water. 
It is used for the same purposes as the black wash already mentioned, 
but is much more stimulating in its influence. 

Incompatibles. — Bichloride of mercury should never be given with 
any other substance except iodide of potassium and chloride of ammo- 
nium, as it is incompatible with almost every other drug. With the 
iodide of potassium it may be used, because the precipitate formed is 
at once redissolved and the resulting mixture is highly alterative. 

Calomel should never be given with iodides or bromides, and hydro- 
chloric acid may convert it into the bichloride if the acid is present in 
any amount. It is also incompatible with antipyrin. 

METHYL BLUE. 

Methyl Blue or Methyl Violet is an aniline dye often sold under 
the name of Pyoktanin. When used medicinally, it must be perfectly 
pure and deprived of its usual contaminating matter, arsenic, which if 
present causes local irritation of the part to which it is applied. Pyok- 
tanin was introduced to professional notice under this name by Still- 
ing as an antiseptic, but careful study has proved it to be of very 
feeble power over the growth of germs. In all conditions of the eye 
in which antiseptic lotions are indicated pyoktanin has been stated to 
be of value, but elsewhere in surgery it is practically useless as an 
antiseptic. Even in the eye it possesses, according to de Schweinitz, 
a very limited range of usefulness, being no better than the older 
antiseptics, except in diseases of the lachrymal apparatus. The fact 
that pyoktanin stains everything it touches is a great disadvantage in 
its use. It may be tried in blepharitis, eczema of the eyelids, con- 
junctivitis, both simple and phlyctenular, and in the treatment of 
corneal ulcer. When so employed it should be applied in the strength 
of 1 to 1000 of water. 

It should be remembered that any pure aniline dye may be used 
in place of pyoktanin. Thus some physicians have used yellow pyok- 
tanin or auramine. 

Methyl blue and similar aniline substances are largely employed by 
some persons in the treatment of malignant neoplasms. The solution 



METHYL CHLORIDE— METHYLENE BLUE. 277 

(1 to 500 of water) should be filtered through hot asbestos to render it 
sterile, and every antiseptic precaution carefully adhered to in giving 
the injection. The dose is J to 3 drachms (2.0-12.0) of this solution 
every other day or every third day, and the injection is to be given 
either into the growth itself if it is large, or just at the side, in the 
healthy tissues, if it is small. Too much should not be injected into 
one spot, lest it cause a slough. This treatment does not cure the 
disease. It relieves pain and so quiets the patient, and in rare cases 
stops the growth of the tumor. If the growth sloughs, complete anti- 
septic dressing is necessary. An antiseptic pyoktanin-gauze dressing 
should always be used while the treatment is going on. 

METHYL CHLORIDE. 

Methyl Chloride is a colorless gas, easily liquefied under pressure, 
with an odor resembling that of ether and chloroform, used to produce 
local anaesthesia, which it does by absorbing a large amount of heat 
on passing from the liquid to the. volatile state as it strikes the skin. 
It is usually kept in a small flask which has its end fused into a fine 
point. This is broken oif, and the heat of the hand volatilizes the 
drug, which is then forced out of the flask in a fine spray. The 
nozzle should be held ten to twelve inches from the part to be frozen. 
The skin of the part to be anaesthetized should be washed with soap 
and ether to remove all fatty substances before the spray is used. 

Under these circumstances the skin becomes pale in a few seconds, 
and afterward perfectly white and parchment-like in appearance. 
Local anaesthesia is now complete, and minor surgical operations, 
such as opening boils or abscesses, can be performed without pain. 
The spray should not be continued more than two to four minutes, as 
local death of the tissues may result. A great advantage of the spray 
of methyl over that of ether is its slight inflammability and rapidity 
of action. Methyl chloride is to be distinctly separated from methyl- 
ene chloride. The first is monochlormethane, the second dichlorme- 
thane. 

METHYLENE BLUE. 

Methylene Blue is to be distinctly separated in the mind of the 
student from methyl blue, which is practically what is known by the 
trade name "Pyoktanin." 

Methylene blue has been employed in the treatment of malignant 
growths and in malarial fevers with asserted success, although its suc- 
cessful use in the first group of cases is decidedly problematical. When 
used in the treatment of sarcoma and cancer, from -^ to 2 grains (0.03- 
0.12) in watery solution are injected daily or on alternate days directly 
into the growth. The neoplasm, it is said, ceases to grow, shrinks, and 
comes away, leaving a fairly healthy sloughing surface. This treat- 
ment is so uncertain that it should only be tried in inoperable cases. 

In malarial fever of the intermittent type methylene blue seems 
to possess very distinct curative powers. It is not so powerful as 
quinine by any means, but has its chief sphere of usefulness in 
patients who cannot take quinine or where quinine has been tried 



278 DRUGS. 

unsuccessfully. This antimalarial influence is due to its destruction 
of the plasmodium malaria?, but its administration must begin from 
seven to ten hours before the expected intermittent paroxysm and 
be continued after the attacks have ceased and for some little time 
after the physician fails to find the micro-organism in the blood, as 
relapses are common. Particularly good results seem to follow the 
use of methylene blue in children suffering from malaria. Untoward 
symptoms from its use are not common, but when they do occur con- 
sist in slight vertigo, nausea, and some strangury. The urine is 
always blue from the elimination of the drug through the kidneys. 

Recently Levy has employed methylene blue in the dose of from 1 
to 2 grains (0.05-0.1) four times a day in the treatment of migraine. 
It is to be given in capsule with kola. He states that as much as 15 
grains (1.0) may be given in a day with safety. 

Methylene blue has been highly commended by Horwitz in the 
treatment of the earlier stages of gonorrhoea, as it shortens the course 
of the disease. He suggests the following formula: 

Methylene blue 2 grains. 

Oil of sandalwood 3 " 

Oleo-resin of copaiba 3 " 

Oil of cinnamon. . 1 minim. 

To be made in one capsule, three of which are to be taken each day. 

The ordinary dose in the treatment of malaria is 2 to 4 grains 
(0.1-0.2) every four hours to adults, or 1 to 2 grains (0.05-0.1) to 
children of five years, preferably given in capsule. 

METHYLENE CHLORIDE. 

Methylene Chloride is made from chloroform or by the action of 
chlorine on marsh-gas, and is a colorless liquid resembling chloroform 
in odor. It is readily decomposed by light, which process may be 
hindered by the addition of a little absolute alcohol. 

Therapeutics. — It is employed as an anaesthetic in a manner like 
chloroform, and was introduced as a safe substitute for that drug, but 
it is of doubtful safety and is little used. It has been used as a spray 
for the production of local anaesthesia. As stated under Methyl 
Chloride, it is not to be confounded with that drug. 

In England, under the name of methylene chloride or methylene, a 
mixture of ethyl ether and methylene chloride has been widely em- 
ployed. This preparation is, of course, to be distinguished from true 
methylene chloride. The amount of this mixture used to produce 
anaesthesia is 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0) for minor and 3 to 6 drachms 
(12.0-24.0) for major operations. The term " methylene chloride" 
has also been applied to a mixture of chloroform and methyl chloride. 

MEZEREUM. 

Mezereum, TJ. S. (Mezerei Cortex, B. P.), is the bark of Daphne 
Mezereum, a plant of Asia, Europe, and Great Britain. It is sup- 
posed by some to be possessed of extraordinary alterative power, but 



MUSK— MUSTARD. 279 

this is certainly a mistake, as its influence in this line is very feeble. 
It is never used internally except in compound decoction of sarsa- 
parilla. It is distinctly irritant, and in overdose causes all the symp- 
toms of gastro-enteritis. Mezereum is so irritant as to have been 
used externally as a counter-irritant in the form of the ointment 
(Unguentum Mezerei). It enters into the compound syrup, fluid 
extract, and decoction of sarsaparilla. The official preparation of 
mezereum is the fluid extract (Extr actum Mezerei Fluidum, IT. S.) 
used as an external irritant. 

MUSK. 

Musk (Moschus, U. S. and B. P.) is obtained from the preputial 
follicles of the Moschus moschiferus or musk deer of Thibet, and is a 
substance possessing the most remarkable penetrating powers, so far as 
odor is concerned. Very little of the musk for sale in the shops is 
pure, and most of it is not musk at all. Its price varies very greatly, 
but if sold for less than twenty-five cents a grain it is probably worth- 
less or impure. 

Therapeutics. — For some unknown reason musk acts as a diffusible 
stimulant and supports the system. It^is also an antispasmodic and 
nervous sedative. In all low fevers where the strength of the patient 
is fast ebbing away and the nervous symptoms are those of the most 
advanced depression, rectal injections of musk in starch-water should 
be employed. The dose should be 5 to 10 grains (0.35-0.65). This 
drug is of value where either nervous excitement or nervous collapse 
is present, but is not to be employed until it is absolutely needed to 
carry the patient past a crisis. If frequently employed, it loses its 
power and the expense is a needless one. 

Musk is one of the best remedies in obstinate hiccougli. 

The dose of the tincture (Tinctura Moschi, XT. S.) is 30 drops to 1 
drachm (2.0-4.0), and of musk itself 5 to 10 grains (0.35-0.65). 

MUSTARD. 

Mustard is official in the form of Sinapis alba, IT. $., and Sin- 
apis Albm Semina, B. P., or white mustard, derived from the seeds of 
Brassica alba, and Sinapis nigra, U. S., and Sinapis Nigra? Semina, 
B. P., or black mustard, derived from the seeds of Brassica nigra. 
Both of these contain an irritant oil {Oleum Sinapis Volatile, IT. S.) 
as their chief active constituent. 

Therapeutics. — Mustard is often used in the form of mustard flour 
as an emetic when stirred up in water in the proportion of 2 table- 
spoonsful to a glass of water. It is also employed as a counter-irritant 
and as a condiment. If given in excessive dose, it will cause violent 
gastritis, and chronic gastritis is often set up by its constant use in 
excess. Its internal use is contraindicated during the existence of 
acute gastritis and all states of gastro-intestinal irritation. 

When used as a counter-irritant mustard is applied to relieve the 
pain of colic due to flatulence and acute inflammation of the thoracic 
and abdominal viscera, that due to muscular rheumatism, inflamed 



280 DRUGS. 

joints, and neuralgia, and it may be applied at the nape of the neck 
in cases of headache and cerebral congestion. When applied to the 
skin of an ordinary individual, it will produce a bad burn if left on 
more than a few minutes, and it should be mixed with wheat flour in 
the proportion of half-and-half when used upon persons having tender 
skins. Children generally will not stand more than one-fourth mus- 
tard. The plaster should be made with warm water or vinegar, or a 
little brandy may be used. 

The scald or burn produced by mustard is peculiar in its slowness 
to heal and in the fact that it is tender and reddened for days. If 
the burning of the mustard becomes excessive, it should be treated by 
applying a piece of lint soaked in lime-water and olive oil, half-and- 
half, or olive oil alone may be used. 

The oil of mustard is very irritant, and almost epispastic in its 
effects. It is sometimes given in the treatment of the atonic stomach of 
drunkards in the dose of \ to \ a drop (0.016-0.03). Charta Sinapis, 
U. S. and B. P., or mustard-papers, are sometimes called sinapisma, 
and these aiford a ready means of applying this counter-irritant. 
They are generally very strong, and one or two layers of thin and 
moistened linen should be placed between the skin and the sinapism to 
prevent too great an action. (See Counter-irritation.) The compound 
liniment {Linimentum Sinapis Compositum, U. S. ; Linimentum Sina- 
pis, B. P.) is composed of the oil of mustard, castor oil, extract of 
mezereum, and alcohol. The mezereum is omitted in the British prepa- 
ration, which is twice as strong as the U, S. P. preparation in mustard oil. 

MYRRH. 

Myrrha, U. S. and B. P., is a gum-resin obtained from Com- 
miphora Myrrha, a tree of Arabia. It occurs in dark-colored tears, 
and contains an active principle, myrrhin. 

Therapeutics. — Myrrh, in medicinal amount, is a stimulant to the 
circulation and to the uterine and the bronchial mucous membranes. 

In amenorrhoea due to functional inactivity or ancemia, " iron and 
myrrh is a standard remedy. 

The tincture of myrrh, diluted one-half, is useful in ulcerated sore 
throat as a gargle, and the pure tincture is sometimes applied with a 
small brush or by the end of the finger to spongy or tender gums. 

In leucorrhoea depending upon uterine trouble and in chronic 
cystitis myrrh is often of service. Sometimes it enters into expec- 
torant mixtures given in the later stages of bronchitis. The dose of 
the tincture {Tinctura Myrrhce, U. S. and B. P.) is 10 to 30 drops 
(0.65-2.0). It also enters into the composition of Pilulce Aloes et 
Myrrhce, U. S. and B. P., dose two to five pills, and Tinctura Aloes 
et Myrrhoe, U. S., the dose of which is 1 to 2 fluidrachms (4.0- 
8.0). 

NAPHTHALIN, or NAPHTALENE. 

Naphthalinum, U. $,, is a coal-tar derivative occurring in color- 
less mica-like crystals, possessing a peculiar smell, and soluble in 



NAPHTOL — NITRATE OF POTASSIUM. 281 

alcohol to some slight extent. Helbing states that naphthalin when 
pure is colorless and without action on moist litmus -paper. It should 
also dissolve in concentrated sulphuric acid without color when gently 
warmed. After it is taken for some time, or even after the first dose, 
the patient will state that when he belches the gas has the smell and 
taste of burning rubber. 

The drug possesses distinct antiseptic power, and for this reason 
has been employed in certain gastric and intestinal diseases asso- 
ciated with fermentative changes or dependent upon ulceration and 
organic lesions. In foetid diarrhoea it may be given as a deodorant 
and cure. 

When given to children, as in summer diarrhoea, the dose should 
be \ to I grain (0.01-0.015) every two or four hours, but adults may 
take as much as 5 to 10 grains (0.35-0.65). More than this will dis- 
order the stomach. The drug should be given in powder, with sugar, 
or in capsule. It has not been as widely employed as was expected 
when it first came before the profession, and certainly often fails to 
do good. 

In cats and rabbits naphthalin, when administered continuously for 
a considerable period of time, produces cataract. 



NAPHTOL. 

Naphtol (U. S. and B. P.) is often called Beta-naphtol. It is 
used for precisely the same purposes as naphthalin internally, and 
is generally artificially prepared from naphthalin. It is also used 
in antiseptic dressings. The dose is 2 to 5 grains (0.15-0.3). 



NITRATE OP POTASSIUM. 

Nitre (Potassii JYitras, U. S. and B. P.), or Saltpetre, occurs in 
long needle-like crystals and has a sharp, saline taste. Sal prunella 
is saltpetre melted and run into moulds. 

Next to the chlorate of potassium, this is the most poisonous of the 
potassium salts, and produces when taken in overdose symptoms of 
violent gastro-enteritis. While it does not affect the blood, it is more 
irritant than the chlorate. 

Nitrate of potassium is rarely employed at present, and has been 
very properly put aside as inferior to the harmless vegetable potas- 
sium salts (the citrate, acetate, and bitartrate). If used in rheuma- 
tism, the dose should be 1 ounce (32.0) in a pint (J litre) of barley- 
water or syrup of acacia and water, to be taken in divided doses of a 
tablespoonful every three hours. Nitrate-of-potassium papers (Charta 
Potassii Nitratis, U. S.) are made by dipping unsized paper in a 
solution of the drug of the strength of 20 parts of the salt to 80 
parts of distilled water. They are rolled into cigarettes and smoked 
bv asthmatics, or burned in a pan and the fumes arising from them 



282 DBUGS. 

inhaled. Their efficacy may be increased in cases where the respira- 
tory mucous membrane is irritable by dipping them in compound tinc- 
ture of benzoin and exposing to the air long enough to dry. They 
should then be protected from the air until used. 

The paper should be moderately thin bibulous paper. 

NITRATE OP SILVER. 

Nitrate of Silver (Argenti Nitras, U. S. and B. P.) is a heavy 
crystalline salt of silver readily soluble in its own weight of water. 

It is official as the pure nitrate (Argenti Nitras, U. S. and B. P.) 
and as the sticks or fused rolls {Argenti Nitras Fusus, U. S.), or lunar 
caustic. The latter are never used in medicine internally, only the 
crystals being employed. Applied to the tissues of the body or other 
substances, nitrate of silver causes a brown and finally a black stain, 
which is due to the formation of an oxide of silver. 

Physiological Action. — Nitrate of silver is one of the few astrin- 
gent substances which are applicable to inflamed mucous membranes, 
as it is, with lead, bismuth, and zinc, one of the few drugs of this 
class which is not irritant as well as astringent. Locally applied, it 
acts in pure form as a powerful caustic, which is, however, very 
superficial in its effects, as the drug coagulates the albumin with which 
it comes in contact and thereby forms a coat which protects the tissues 
beneath. 

The action of the drug upon the circulation, respiration, and similar 
vital functions is only partly known, and has no relation to its em- 
ployment in medicine. 

Nitrate of silver is eliminated from the s}^stem very slowly indeed. 

Poisoning. — Almost immediately after the ingestion of a poisonous 
dose of nitrate of silver violent pain in the belly, with vomiting and 
purging, comes on. At the same time evidences of widespread gas- 
troenteritis develop. The abdominal walls are knotted and hard, 
and perhaps scaphoid. The face is anxious and livid and covered 
with a sweat. When the vomiting occurs the ejecta are seen to be 
brown or blackish, or even white and curdy. The lips are stained 
white, but they rapidly become brown, then black. In some cases the 
nervous symptoms are severe and convulsions with delirium may occur. 
The convulsions are epileptiform. Death ensues either from gastro- 
enteritis or from centric respiratory failure, accompanied by a profuse 
exudation of liquid mucus into the bronchial tubes. 

The treatment consists in the use of common salt, which is the 
chemical antidote, the emploj-ment of opium and oils to allay irrita- 
tion, and in the ingestion of large draughts of milk and of soap and 
water for the purpose of diluting the poison and protecting the mucous 
membranes of the oesophagus and stomach from the action of the irri- 
tant. The bodily heat must be maintained. 

Chronic Poisoning. — This is a form of poisoning quite frequently 
seen. The most prominent symptom is the pale slate-blue color of 
the skin, which causes the individual to be most livid and death-like 
in appearance. 



NITRATE OF SILVER. 283 

Argyria, as chronic silver poisoning is called, is caused by the 
continued employment of the drug until it is deposited in the tissues. 
It is then found in every part of the body. The first signs of dis- 
coloration can generally be seen in a darkening of the conjunctiva 
over the sclerotic coat of the eye or in a dark line on the inner part 
of the lips. 

The treatment of argyria is not hopeful so far as the color of the 
skin is concerned, but the discoloration may be slightly modified in 
some cases by the use of iodide of potassium to aid in the elimination 
of the poison. 

Therapeutics. — Internally this salt is used as a cure for gastric ulcer, 
and it is certainly the best remedy we possess if combined with extract 
of hyoscyamus or opium and given in pill form. In chronic gastric 
catarrh and gastritis nitrate of silver is very useful when the patient 
is troubled with sour eructations or when vomiting occurs after meals. 
When used in these states it should be given i -1 ^- to l-grain (0.01- 
0.16) doses, half to one hour before each meal, in order that the 
stomach may be exposed to its effects and not be protected by food. 

In intestinal ulceration the drug has been highly recommended by 
Dr. Pepper, and under these circumstances should be given in hard 
or keratin-coated pills, in order that it may escape through the stom- 
ach without being chemically changed. In ulceration of the ccecum 
and rectum and in acute and chronic dysentery the disease may be at- 
tacked by rectal or colonic injections of nitrate of silver. If the caecum 
is involved, the solution must be given in large quantity in order to 
reach the part affected, but if the rectum is diseased, the amount of 
liquid injected should not exceed 4 ounces, the bowel in either case 
being washed out beforehand by warm water to rid it of faeces. Soap 
and water and salt and water must not be used for this purpose, as 
the soap or salt which remains in the bowel will prevent the silver salt 
from acting. The strength of the solution employed should be 1 drachm 
to 3 pints (4.0 : 1500 cc.) of water in csecal trouble, and 3 grains 
(0.18) to each 4 ounces (128.0) in rectal trouble. If the latter con- 
dition is very obstinate and chronic, the strength may be raised to 5 
grains (0.3) to each 4 ounces (128.0). 

Whenever nitrate-of-silver injections are used in this way, a solu- 
tion of salt and water should be made, ready for use, and injected if 
the action is too severe or as soon as it is thought that the drug has 
acted Avith sufficient thoroughness. 

Nitrate of silver is the only remedy of. any value in idiopathic 
anterior and posterior spinal sclerosis, but often fails. 

Nitrate of silver has been largely used in epilepsy and chorea, but 
is now seldom so employed, and does little good in most cases. 

Dr. William Pepper speaks highly of the continual administration 
of nitrate of silver in pill form in the dose of -J- to \ grain (0.01- 
0.015) through the entire attack of typhoid fever, and believes it 
greatly modifies the severity of the disease. 

Externally, nitrate of silver is used for many purposes, and will 
often prevent the pitting of small-pox if on the fourth or fifth clay the 
vesicles are punctured by a needle dipped in a solution of nitrate 



284 DRUGS. 

of silver in the strength of 20 grains (1.3) to the ounce (32.0) of 
water. Others simply paint the skin over the eruption with a 
solution of 5 to 10 grains (0.35-0.65) to the ounce, claiming that 
this method is equally effective and prevents inflammation and sup- 
puration. 

Higginbottom has highly recommended the use of nitrate of silver 
over erysipelatous inflammations, but the practice is not often resorted 
to, and is now supplanted by better measures. (See Erysipelas.) In 
other inflammations of a superficial character nitrate of silver is of 
great value. Painted in strong solution over the scrotum in the early 
stages of orchitis or epididymitis, it will often relieve the pain and 
swelling, and felons can sometimes be aborted by its early application 
over the surface of the finger. 

In all inflammations of the pharynx, larynx, fauces, and mouth 
solutions of silver nitrate are to be used in varying strength. Some- 
times after slight exposure to cold or dampness the posterior wall of 
the pharynx suddenly becomes sore and raw, feeling as if the mucous 
membrane had been scarified. A solution of nitrate of silver will 
relieve this, and if it is employed in the strength of 60 grains (4.0) 
to the ounce (32.0) of water, the application will be more efficacious 
and less painful than if weaker solutions are employed. 

In laryngeal phthisis a spray used from an atomizer in the strength 
of J to 2 grains (0.03-0.1) to the ounce (32.0) of water may do good 
service. 

In whooping cough Ringer recommends the use of a spray in the 
strength given above for the purpose of relieving the cough in its vio- 
lence and frequency and of obtaining a good night's rest. The appli- 
cations should be made when the stomach is empty, as they are apt to 
bring on retching. The end of the atomizer must be within the 
mouth or the skin of the face will be stained. 

In the later subacute stages oi gonorrhoea an injection of nitrate of 
silver of the strength of gr. \ (0.025) to 3 ounces (90.0) is very useful. 

In uterine ulceration and in leucorrhoea when the cervix is boggy 
and tender, the application of the solid nitrate-of-silver stick is of 
service. Its use is often followed by headache about the vertex, and 
this in turn is to be relieved by 10-grain (0.65) doses of the bromides. 

In pruritus pudendi vel ani and vulvas a solution of 4 to 6 grains 
(0.25-0.40) to the ounce (32.0) should be painted with a camel's-hair 
brush over the parts to relieve the itching. The application is to be 
made from two to four times a day. 

Bed-sores may be aborted if, as soon as the skin reddens, a solu- 
tion of nitrate of silver of the strength of 20 grains (1.3) to the 
ounce (32.0) is applied with a brush to the part. This measure fails 
in paralytics. 

Boils which begin in a small limited papule with a surrounding 
area of inflammation may be aborted by the use of a strong solution 
of this salt. 

In granular lids, conjunctivitis, and similar affections about the eye 
nitrate of silver in stick form or in solution is largely and success- 
fully employed. (See Conjunctivitis.) 



NITRIC ACID. 285 

When it is desired to remove nitrate-of-silver stains, they should 
be washed with a solution made of cyanide of potassium 2J drachms 
(10.0), iodine 15 grains (1.0), and water 8 ounces (96.0); or dissolve 15 
grains (1.0) corrosive sublimate in 7 ounces (200.0) of boiled water, 
add about 45 grains (3.0) of cooking salt (a scant teaspoonful) just 
before using, lay the stained materials in it for about five minutes, and 
then wash them two or three times. 

Administration. — The dose of nitrate of silver is \ to \ of a grain 
(0.01-0.015) in pill form. Mitigated caustic, or diluted nitrate of 
silver {Argenti Nitras Dilutus, U. S. ; Argenti Nitras Mitigatus, 
B. P.), is composed of equal parts of nitrate of silver and potassium 
nitrate, and is used as a mild caustic. 

The drug when given continuously should be discontinued for two 
weeks at the end of the eighth week, as it is so slowly eliminated as to 
accumulate in the body and cause argyria, but Lewin and Soullier as- 
sert that the smallest aggregate amount on record which has produced 
argyria is 1 ounce. 

NITRIC ACID. 

Nitric Acid (Acidum Nitricum, U. S. and B. P.), the strongest 
and most corrosive of the mineral acids used in medicine, is a clear 
liquid, becoming slightly yellow with age. It should be kept in dark, 
glass-stoppered bottles. 

Physiological Action. — Nitric acid acts, when in pure form, upon 
the tissues of the body as a powerful caustic. Applied to the mucous 
membranes, well diluted, it acts as an irritant or astringent, and when 
taken internally it exerts a stimulating influence over the secretory 
glands of the stomach and small intestines. It does not tend to relax 
the bowels, as does nitro-hydrochloric acid. Continued for a long 
period of time in small doses, it is said to cause some salivation and 
looseness of the teeth. Nitric acid coagulates albumin. 

Poisoning. — When nitric acid is taken in concentrated form it pro- 
duces a widespread gastro-enteritis, great pain in the mouth, oesoph- 
agus, and abdomen, and finally death, from the inflammation induced 
or from collapse. If the patient survives the acute stages, he may 
die from secondary changes in the stomach and bowels, such as stric- 
ture or destruction of the peptic tubules. The stain made by the acid 
about the mouth and clothes is deep lemon-yellow. Renal irritation 
is often a severe symptom, and the passages from the bowels and the 
.urine may be bloody. 

The antidotes are any alkali of a mild type, as magnesium, chalk, 
or whitewash from the walls of the room, the use of oils and opium to 
Telieve irritation, and the proper maintenance of bodily heat. 

Therapeutics. — Nitric acid is used externally in medicine as a 
caustic for chancres and chancroids, the surrounding tissues being 
protected by oils or ointments. 

It may also be used on ivarts, in cases of gangrene to destroy the 
tissues, and on 'phagedenic ulcers. Whenever the acid is to be applied 
for such purposes, a solution of soap and water should be at hand to 
neutralize its effects as soon as it has acted deeply enough. Nitric 



286 DRUGS. 

acid is also used externally in a dilute form, 5 to 30 drops (0.35-0.65) 
to the ounce, as a stimulant and astringent to indolent ulcers. 

Internally, nitric acid is used as a tonic and astringent. In the 
oxalic-acid diathesis when oxaluria is present, nitric acid will give 
relief when nitro-muriatic acid cannot be obtained, although the latter 
is far preferable. When small ulcers exist in the mouth or stomatitis 
is present, 3 drops (0.25) of nitric acid at a dose, in water, will often 
be of service, but it should be taken through a tube to protect the 
teeth. In gastric indigestion in which, soon after a meal, sour food 
regurgitates into the mouth, a few drops of nitric acid will often give 
relief. In intestinal dyspepsia coming on some hours after meals, and 
in which not only discomfort but pain may be felt in the hypochon- 
clrium, nitric acid with some simple bitter tonic is most efficient, and 
it will often cure the green diarrhoea of children, particularly in the 
summer, bringing about these changes not only by its astringent 
power, but also by its stimulating effect on the intestinal glands. 
Combined with some good pepsin, it will give relief in the chronic 
diarrhoea of children associated with lientery, and in which the stools 
may be pasty or watery and at the same time ill-smelling. 

Ringer recommends the employment of nitric acid in the treat- 
ment of piles. The strong acid should be used, and simply touched 
to one or two points, not swept over the whole surface. The pain is 
very slight, or none at all may be felt. A slough results, and finally 
comes away, leaving a cicatrix which as it contracts diminishes the 
size of the pile. 

The same author also states that a lotion of dilute nitric acid in 
the proportion of \ to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0) to a pint (500 cc.) of water 
is of service in bleeding hemorrhoids, arresting the bleeding, con- 
stringing the parts, and relieving the sensation of weight and fulness 
so often a pressing symptom. 

The dose of dilute nitric acid (Acidum Nitricum Dilutum, U. S. 
andi?. P.) is 3 to 15 drops (0.25-1.0), well diluted, and taken through 
a tube to protect the teeth. 



NITRITE OF POTASSIUM. 

Nitrite of Potassium is a salt used largely in modern medicine to 
take the place of nitrite of amyl, but it possesses greater stability, and 
is, therefore, more permanent in its effects. It is used for the relief 
of angina pectoris or heart-pang, in the treatment of gastralgia, and 
even in epilepsy. The dose is from 3 to 5 grains (0.25-0.3), although 
much larger closes have been employed. These larger doses are, how- 
ever, not devoid of danger. Nitrite of potassium is eliminated by the 
lungs and by the kidneys as a nitrate. (See Nitro-glycerin.) 

Cobalto-nitrite of Potassium. 

This preparation has been suggested and tried successfully as a sub- 
stitute for the nitrite of potassium. As it is a more stable compound, 



NITR0-GLYCER1K 287 

it is less rapidly broken up in the system, and so exercises a more pro- 
longed influence. For this reason it does not act so vigorously or 
suddenly, which is a great advantage in some cases. Its use is iden- 
tical with that of the rest of the nitrite group. The dose of cobalto- 
nitrite of potassium is \ grain (0.03) every three hours. 

NITRO-GLYCERIN. 

Nitro-glycerin, sometimes called trinitrin or glonoin, is a com- 
pound which, in its pure state, is used largely as an explosive, but it 
is employed in medicine in a dilute form as a useful drug in those 
instances where a somewhat rapid and powerful effect is to be exer- 
cised over the vascular system. Its physiological action is identical 
with that of the other nitrites, such as the amyl nitrite (which see), 
except that it is not so fugacious as the latter, nor so persistent in 
its effects as the nitrites of sodium and potassium. The dose is 1 to 
2 drops (0.06-0.12) of a 1 per cent, solution in a little water or in a 
pill, and no more than this may be employed at one dose unless the 
patient takes the remedy for a considerable period of time, when as 
much as 60 drops may be administered. Often good results are 
obtained only by giving ascending doses. It is noteworthy that 
patients rapidly become immune to the drug, and Reading has 
recorded a case in which, after a year of treatment, 1 drachm (4.0) 
of a 10 per cent, solution was taken daily with good effect. D. D. 
Stewart has also reported similar cases. The drug is largely em- 
ployed in angina pectoris (see Part IV.), and sometimes in epilepsy 
and chorea and in gastralgia. DaCosta and others have highly 
commended this drug in the treatment of chronic parenchymatous 
nephritis, as it very distinctly decreases the escape of albumin from 
the kidneys. In interstitial nephritis, with cardiac disturbance re- 
sulting from the renal changes, in which there is a marked increase 
in arterial pressure, so that auscultation reveals at the second right 
costal cartilage an accentuated second sound due to the forcible 
closure of the aortic leaflets, nitro-glycerin often produces a good 
effect by reducing the pressure and relieving the heart of strain. It 
is when attacks of angina pectoris seem to be accompanied or pre- 
ceded by marked vascular spasm, that nitro-glycerin is chiefly indi- 
cated. In cases of asthma dependent upon engorgement of the mucous 
membranes of the bronchial tubes it is very serviceable. Humphreys 
asserts that nitro-glycerin is a most valuable drug in vomiting of all 
kinds, except that of pregnancy and peritonitis. 

The solution used in medicine is too weak to be explosive. Tablets 
of nitro-glycerin (Tabellce Trinitrini, B. P.) each contain -j-J-g- of a grain 
(0.0006). The U. S. P. of 1890 has introduced a Spiritus Glonoini, 
which is an alcoholic solution of glonoin. It should be kept in tightly- 
stoppered tins, never in glass, and be stored in a cool place, away from 
heat. Its explosiveness is in direct ratio to the evaporation of its 
alcohol. The dose of the spirit is the same as that of the watery 
solution — namely, 1 to 2 drops (0.05-0.1). The watery solution is 
not explosive. 



288 DRUGS. 



NITRO-HYDROCHLORIC ACID. 

Nitro-hydrochloric Acid (Acidum Nitro-hydrochloricum, U. S.) is a 
liquid giving off a distinct odor, and possessed of a very caustic power, 
staining the tissues of the body a light yellow. It is official in the 
form of the dilute acid (Acidum Nitro-hydrochloricum Dilutum, U. S. 
and B. P.), in which form it is useless except as an ordinary acid. 
When we wish to use the acid for its own peculiar effects, the official 
dilute acid ought always to be supplanted by the freshly-mixed strong 
acid and be of an orange color. If this cannot be obtained, the physi- 
cian should prepare the compound for himself by adding 4 parts of 
medicinally pure nitric acid to 16 parts of hydrochloric acid, and 
allowing the mixture to stand in an open bottle until the fumes are no 
longer given off in excess, when it must be tightly corked and kept 
in a dark place. This acid ought to be freshly prepared every few 
days. 

Poisoning. — The symptoms caused by poisonous doses are those of 
violent gastro-enteritis with vomiting and purging of bloody materials. 
Death may occur from perforation of the alimentary canal, from inflam- 
mation of the abdominal viscera, and from destruction of the peptic 
tubules or constrictions of the oesophagus or bowel. The treatment 
consists in the use of alkalies, such as magnesium, lime, whitewash, 
soap, and oils, with opium to allay irritation. The use of external heat 
to prevent collapse is also to be resorted to. 

Therapeutics. — Nitro-hydrochloric acid is an invaluable remedy in 
many cases of indigestion arising either in the stomach or bowels, as 
it acts as a tonic and stimulant to secretion. Upon the biliary flow 
its action is quite marked, and it may even cause bilious purging if 
administered in full doses for some days. It is therefore largely used 
in hepatic torpor^ either acute or chronic, and in the early stages of 
hepatic cirrhosis should always be resorted to. In the chronic hepatitis 
of hot climates it is exceedingly useful, but it is not to be employed in 
acute sthenic hepatitis, as it is a stimulant to the liver, which, under 
these conditions, needs quieting. When used in chronic hepatitis it 
should be given in full dose and pushed to its physiological limit, as 
evidenced by the bilious purging produced or by signs of gastrointes- 
tinal irritation. 

A useful additional means for obtaining the beneficial effects of 
this acid is to use it by means of the foot-bath or general bath. As 
used by Johnson in India, the acid for this bath is prepared by slowly 
and carefully adding together 2 parts of nitric acid, 3 parts of hydro- 
chloric acid, and after twenty minutes mixing carefully with these dis- 
tilled water 5 parts. For the general bath (in a wooden tub) take 5 
pailfuls of water, 64 fluidounces (2 litres +) of the acid mixture, and 
enough boiling water to raise the temperature to 98°. Keep the 
patient in the bath twenty minutes. Then rub him thoroughly with 
warm towels and place him in a dry, warm bed. For the foot-bath 
add 6 ounces (180.0) of the acid to 2 gallons (7 litres) of water at 
98°, and bathe the thighs and calves of the legs for twenty minutes 
with a sponge wet with the mixture. This is a very useful treatment, 



NITROUS OXIDE. 289 

according to Stille, for cases of alcoholic hepatic torpor. If in either 
case the skin becomes irritated less acid is to be used. 

In ordinary so-called biliousness, which is not biliousness, but 
intestinal indigestion, this acid is often of great service. (See Indi- 
gestion and Biliousness.) It is also of value in dysenteric diarrhoea 
where the dysentery rests upon defective secretory action on the 
part of the glands which pour out the proper fluids for digestion. 

Another very important action of nitrohydrochloric acid is the re- 
medial influence it exerts in cases suffering from oxaluria, particularly 
if this be associated with melancholia or great depression of spirits. 

Administration. — The strong freshly-mixed acid should be given 
to the adult in the dose of 1 to 3 drops (0.05-0.18) three times a day, 
well diluted, and taken through a tube, after meals. If the patient is 
intelligent, he should be ordered \ ounce (16.0) of the pure acid and 
told how to drop it. If he is not, the physician must order it partly 
or entirely diluted in the prescription, and in so small an amount 
that it may be renewed before it loses any of its power. Warning 
should be given of its effects on any clothes with which it may come 
in contact, and care should be taken that the bottle is held some dis- 
tance away from the face when the cork is withdrawn, as the acid, if 
it is fresh, may spurt out and burn the eyes and face. 

NITROUS OXIDE. 

Nitrous oxide or nitrogen monoxide is sometimes called protoxide 
of nitrogen or "laughing gas." Its power of relieving pain was first 
recognized by Sir Humphrey Davy about one hundred years ago. 
As with ether, so with nitrous oxide, its first use as a surgical anaes- 
thetic was by an American, Horace Wells, a dentist. 

This gas is obtained by a complicated process which requires the 
use of such cumbersome apparatus that its manufacture is out of the 
question for the ordinary practitioner of medicine, while the fact that 
several large firms prepare the gas and sell it in cylinders ready for use 
renders its preparation on a small scale unnecessary. The gas is devoid 
of odor, but possesses a slightly sweet taste. It may be kept in gase- 
ous form or liquefied and allowed to become gaseous as it is used. 

Physiological Action. — Owing to the symptoms sometimes produced 
in patients inhaling this gas, it has received the popular name of 
"laughing gas," but a condition of hilarity is rarely seen when the 
inhalations are full and deep, and only comes on in the majority of 
cases where the gas is taken in small amounts or very slowly. When 
used properly, the patient is directed to take long, deep inspirations 
from the tube placed in the mouth, the nose being held so that the nos- 
trils are closed. Under these circumstances the face becomes for a 
moment flushed, then of a deadly pallor, and finally the jaw drops if 
the effect is very great. At this time anaesthesia is complete and the 
operation is to be rapidly performed. Owing to the fact that when pure 
it is devoid of irritant properties, this gas can be used when ether and 
chloroform are contraindicated. 

According to the most recent studies upon the action of this gas 

19 



290 DRUGS. 

(Kemp), it has no direct effect on the heart and vasomotor system, but 
indirectly it causes a rise of arterial pressure by the slight asphyxia 
which is produced. The anaesthesia may be due in part to the 
non-oxygenation of the blood during the time the gas is in this fluid, 
but the gas produces anaesthesia aside from any such influence by a 
direct action on the cerebral cortex. It is a curious fact that the 
conjunctival reflex is often preserved after general anaesthesia is 
present. It has been thought that the use of this drug produces 
temporary glycosuria, but recent studies render this doubtful, to say 
the least. Where permanent glycosuria has been produced some 
injury to the vascular system in the region of the diabetic centre in 
the floor of the fourth ventricle has in all probability occurred. The 
gas ought not to be given to those who are advanced in years or have 
atheromatous blood-vessels, since the rise of arterial pressure conse- 
quent upon the asphyxia may rupture a cerebral blood-vessel and 
thereby cause an apoplexy. Nitrous oxide gas when inhaled very 
rarely produces any disagreeable after-effects, save a little light- 
headed sensation or dizziness for a few hours. 

Therapeutics. — Nitrous oxide is a useful anaesthetic in all minor 
operations, such as opening an abscess, boil, or felon, or even ampu- 
tating a thumb. It possesses two disadvantages, the first of which is 
its brevity of action ; the other, the difficulty in carrying it about 
from place to place. It possesses a great advantage in almost abso- 
lute safety, very few deaths having been caused by it directly. It is 
the safest of all anaesthetics, not even excepting cocaine, which latter 
drug has largely supplanted the gas for many minor surgical opera- 
tions. When teeth are to be extracted, a plug or cork is placed be- 
tween the jaws before the gas is given, to keep them apart, and the cork 
should always be attached to a string, so that if it slips into the back 
part of the mouth it may be withdrawn before it chokes the patient. 

Oxygen gas may be combined with nitrous oxide gas w T ith as great 
advantage as with the vapor of ether or chloroform, although its use 
may delay to a slight extent the development of anaesthesia. The fol- 
lowing classes of persons, according to Hewitt, do better with the mix- 
ture of oxygen and nitrous oxide than with the nitrous oxide alone : 
1. Children (who with nitrous oxide alone are liable to inconvenient 
jactitation) ; 2. Anaemic and debilitated patients, who, like children, 
quickly exhibit muscular contractions, and, in addition to this, remain 
but a very short time under the influence of nitrous oxide alone ; 3. 
Any one who has previously exhibited great susceptibility to nitrous 
oxide per se (such patients are difficult subjects to manage in dental 
practice because of the short period of available anaesthesia) ; 4. Patients 
who, under nitrous oxide alone, have experienced highly unpleasant 
sensations ; 5. Patients very advanced in years ; 6. Patients with very 
large tonsils ; 7. Patients suffering from heart or lung affections. 



NUCLBIN. 

The animal body has several methods of protecting itself from the 
attacks of infecting micro-organisms. One of these is by phagocytosis, 



NUTMEG. 291 

or the devouring of the germs by the cells of the body ; the other is by 
the protective or germicidal influence of the blood-serum. It has been 
proved that the latter power depends upon the presence in the blood 
of certain proteid-like bodies rich in phosphorus, which can also be 
derived from cell -nuclei and other sources, such as yeast-cells and many 
animal tissues. Nuclein is a weakly acid body composed of nucleic 
acid and some form of proteid matter, and it not only increases the 
germicidal power of the blood-serum when it is given to man or one 
of the lower animals, but in addition it causes a great increase of leu- 
cocytosis, which of course aids in phagocytosis and probably results in 
the production of still more nuclein from the leucocytes. 

Nuclein, as placed upon the market, is manufactured, as a rule, from 
yeast. It is prepared in many different ways and much of it is unreli- 
able and possesses none of the characteristics of true nuclein. Very 
recently Chittenden of Yale University has analyzed the various nu- 
clein preparations on the market ; and he finds a preparation called 
"nuclein standard" to contain no phosphorus, and, as phosphorus is a 
prominent constituent of nuclein, he says it " seems obvious that the 
solution contains no nuclein." " Protonuclein," another preparation 
of this character, contained 1.25 per cent, of phosphorus, and therefore 
contains in all probability nuclein, and the improved nuclein solution 
of Parke, Davis & Co., which is a 1 per cent, solution of pure nucleinic 
acid from yeast, contained 6 per cent, of phosphorus, "which would 
imply the presence of even more than 1 per cent, of such a nucleic 
acid" (Chittenden). It is evident, therefore, that this preparation of 
nuclein is a good one to use in testing this new method of treatment. 

Therapeutics. — Nuclein is used with asserted great success in the 
treatment of the ordinary forms of pulmonary tuberculosis and for 
septicaemia. Theoretically it should prove useful in combating any 
infectious process. 

Administration. — The proper way to use the nuclein solution just 
named is to give 10 to 60 minims (0.65-4.0) hypodermically once, 
twice, or thrice a day with careful antiseptic precautions, or to give a 
teaspoonful (-4.0) in a wineglassful of water on an empty stomach thrice 
during the day and at bed-time. 

Contraindications. — The nucleins should not be given for a long 
period of time to gouty persons ; these patients usually have uric-acid 
troubles under their use, as nuclein is an antecedent of uric acid. 



NUTMEG. 

Myristica, TJ. S. and B. P., or Nutmeg, is the kernel of the seed 
of Myristica fragrans, an East and West Indian plant, mace being 
the outside covering of the same. Nutmeg is a soporific and nervous 
sedative, exercising a peculiar influence over the cerebrum. It is 
also used as a flavoring substance in somnifacient mixtures, and is of 
value in prescriptions for serous diarrhoea. The oil (Oleum Myris- 
ticce, U. S. and B. P.) is given in the dose of 1 to 3 drops (0.05- 
15). The spirit or essence (Spiritus Myristicce, U. S.) is used in 
the dose of 1 to 2 fluidrachms (4.0-8.0). 



292 DRUGS. 

Several cases of poisoning by nutmeg are reported, the most recent 
by Dr. Reading of Woodbury, N. J. The symptoms closely resemble 
those produced by excessive doses of cannabis indica. 

NUX VOMICA. 

Nux Vomica ( TJ. S. and B. P.) is the seeds or beans of the Stry ch- 
inos Nux-vomica, an East Indian tree. It contains two alkaloids, 
strychnine and brucine, and depends largely for its medicinal power 
on the former. For this reason the statements made in regard to the 
physiological action of strychnine may practically be considered as 
applicable to the entire drug. 

Physiological Action. — When strychnine is given to man or the 
lower animals in full medicinal dose it increases reflex activity, res- 
piratory rate, pulse-force, arterial pressure, the acuity of vision and 
hearing, and causes general systemic irritation or excitement. 

Nervous System. — On the nervous system strychnine exerts its 
chief influence. It excites the spinal cord in its motor tracts, and 
probably increases the receptive activity of the sensory centres. It 
also has some slight influence in increasing the conductive power of 
the motor and sensory nerves. 

In overdose strychnine produces spinal or tetanic convulsions by 
an action exerted on the spinal cord. When enormous doses are 
given intravenously, total paralysis, resembling that caused by curare, 
precedes the convulsions, and if artificial respiration is not used the 
animal dies from failure of respiration. If death takes place from 
the effects of the drug, the motor nerves are found to be depressed, 
partly as the result of the poisonous action of the strychnine, and 
partly as the result of the exhaustion of the nerve-trunks by the con- 
vulsing impulses which they have carried. 

Circulation. — Nux vomica increases the force of the pulse-beat 
and the pulse-rate by a stimulation of the heart-muscle and its gan- 
glia, while the rise of arterial pressure which it causes is due to 
stimulation of the vasomotor centre. If very poisonous doses are 
injected intravenously, a fall of arterial pressure occurs instead of a. 
rise, which is due to vasomotor depression and paralysis. 

Respiration. — Strychnine is one of the most constant and pow- 
erful stimulants to the respiratory centre that we have, and it not 
only increases the rate, but the respiratory capacity. 

Temperature. — Ordinary doses have no effect upon temperature, 
but poisonous doses may raise it by reason of the convulsions. 

Elimination. — Strychnine is eliminated from the body by the 
kidneys as strychnine and strychnic acid. Most of it is oxidized and 
destroyed by the liver. 

Poisoning. — When a poisonous dose of strychnine is taken, it acts 
either suddenly or gradually. If suddenly, the man or animal may 
be, without any premonition, thrown several feet and becomes rigid 
by contraction of his muscles. 

If the onset is gradual, some stiffness at the back of the neck and 
uneasy startings may precede the general nerve-storm. The convul- 



NUX VOMICA. 293 

sions are tetanic, or, in other words, tonic, and the body is thrown 
into opisthotonos ; that is, resting on the head and heels at each con- 
vulsion. 

Sometimes the trunk is twisted sidewise or the flexion of the body 
is forward (emprosthotonos). The eyes are open and fixed, the corners 
of the mouth drawn back into risus sardonieus, and respiration during 
a severe convulsion is impossible, owing to the respiratory muscles 
being in a state of tetanic rigidity. 

The slightest noise, draught of air, or touch mav cause a convul- 
sion or convulsion after convulsion, because the sensory impulse, 
reaching the spinal cord, causes a spasmodic motor impulse to be sent 
out to the muscles. 

The convulsions are not absolutely continuous, but periods of utter 
or partial relaxation occur, during which the patient breathes easily. 
The cramp-like contractions of the muscles are exceedingly painful, 
and the patient either dies of cramp asphyxia — that is, through fail- 
ure of respiration because his chest-muscles are locked in spasm — 
or, much more rarely, from exhaustion. Reichert has shown that it 
requires five hundred times the ordinary fatal dose of strychnine to 
cause death in animals if artificial respiration is properly maintained. 

Treatment of Poisoning. — The attendant should give at once, if no 
symptoms have yet appeared, inhalations of nitrite of amyl, and mean- 
while employ the stomach-pump, using the nitrite to prevent any con- 
vulsive tendencies during the operation. Draughts of water contain- 
ing tannic acid, as the chemical antidote, are to be administered, and 
after the stomach is washed out 60 grains (4.0) of bromide of potas- 
sium and 20 grains (1.3) of chloral in solution are to be given. 
These are the physiological antidotes, for the bromide of potassium 
depresses the sensory tracts of the spinal cord, and the chloral depresses 
the motor tracts. If the convulsions prevent swallowing, the patient 
must be chloroformed with care, and the physiological antidotes given 
in starch-water by the rectum, muscular relaxation being maintained 
by the anaesthetic until the drugs are absorbed. Ether cannot be used 
as a relaxant, as it is too irritant and too slow. Nitrite of amyl is 
a physiological antidote, but it is useless if a complete convulsive 
attack is present, as it cannot be inhaled if the chest is immovable. 
Neither can any other relaxant, such as chloroform, be used under 
these circumstances. These drugs should be gently given between the 
paroxysms. If relaxation does not occur, the nitrite of amyl should 
be injected hypodermicallv. 

While a light touch may produce a spasm, a firm, hard grasp of 
the limb often relieves the pain of the cramp. Sensation and con- 
sciousness are preserved in strychnine poisoning unless the asphyxia 
destroys them. 

Differential Diagnosis. — The convulsions of strychnine poisoning 
do not resemble epilepsy, because they are so distinctly tonic and 
never clonic. From tetanus strychnine poisoning is to be separated 
by the fact that in tetanus the locking of the jaws comes first, while 
in strychnine poisoning it comes last. The convulsions of tetanus 
rarely, if ever, completely relax, while those of strychnine do have 



294 DRUGS. 

periods of relaxation. There is a different history in each case — in 
one perhaps of an injury, as of a nail run into the foot ; in the other, 
of a dose of poison having been swallowed. 

The differential diagnosis of strychnine poisoning from hysterical 
convulsions is more difficult. The convulsions are rarely so persist- 
ently tonic in hysteria, and the peculiar expression of the hysterical 
face is often seen in such cases. The history of the patient, if obtain- 
able, will throw much light on the case and aid very materially in the 
separation of the two conditions, while the peculiar variations in 
cutaneous sensibility, such as areas of hyperesthesia and anaesthesia, 
which are so characteristic of hysteria, may render the diagnosis pos- 
sible. 

As the treatment of all these states is virtually identical, the 
employment of the measures just suggested may be resorted to in 
each instance, and the diagnosis made afterward. 

Therapeutics. — Nux vomica, or its chief alkaloid strychnine, is 
used for several purposes in medicine. Owing to its bitter character- 
istics it may be employed as a simple bitter tonic or as one especially 
influencing the nervous system. It may also be used as a respiratory, 
cardiac, and ocular stimulant. 

In cases of functional nervous atony, or depression, strychnine 
does good, but in organic disease, if used during the period of acute 
inflammation, as after an apoplexy or in acute infantile palsy, it is 
distinctly harmful. Some persons who have suffered from apoplexy 
can never take the drug without a spasm coming on in the paralyzed 
part or parts. In acute or subacute neuritis strychnine ought never to 
be used in any way whatever, as the nerves are already inflamed, and 
are not to be still further irritated by the employment of nervous excit- 
ants. In progressive lead palsy large doses of strychnine should be 
constantly used to stop the progress of the disease, iodide of potassium 
also being employed to cause the elimination of the lead. 

In amaurosis dependent upon the excessive use of tobacco or alco- 
hol strychnine is almost a specific, and in eye-strain resulting from 
insufficiency of the ocular muscles it does great good, curing the insuf- 
ficiency and improving the general condition of the muscles. Accord- 
ing to de Schweinitz, the patient should use ascending doses of the 
tincture of nux vomica, beginning with 3 drops (0.15) three times a day, 
and increase the amount 2 drops (0.1) a day until distinct physiological 
effects are produced. Sometimes 60 drops (4.0) may be taken in twenty- 
four hours after tolerance is reached. 

In pneumonia and all other acute diseases in which sudden collapse 
is liable to occur strychnine is of the greatest service at the time of 
need. Often it will pull the patient out of a sinking attack which 
seems certain to end in death. It should be used freely by the hypo- 
dermic needle, and is often aided in producing its good effects by the 
addition of y^- to y^- grain (0.0004-0.0006) of atropine to each injec- 
tion. (See Pneumonia and Shock.) 

There is no drug known which is so antidotal to the effects of over- 
doses of chloroform as is strychnine. In cases of sudden accident, with 
arrest of the heart or respiration during the use of this anaesthetic the 



OPIUM, 295 

physician should give hypodermic injections of y 1 -^ grain (0.006) of 
strychnine as a powerful, rapidly-acting cardiac and respiratory stimu- 
lant, which dose may be repeated in ten minutes if no effect is produced. 
Strychnine is a very valuable remedy in surgical shock, and is a better 
antidote to opium than is belladonna. 

In dyspnoea from any cause, such as that of old persons suffering 
from winter cough or bronchorrhoea, in emphysema, phthisis, and in 
shortness of breath, strychnine is of service, and it is a valuable drug 
for the treatment of opium-poisoning, because it preserves the reflexes 
and stimulates the respiratory centre. 

In atony of the bowels strychnine is of service, and it is to be added 
to purgative pills to avoid their depressing after-effect on the intestines. 

In cases in which a lesion exists in the brain, strychnine may be 
used to keep up the nutrition of a limb which is paralyzed; but if the 
palsy be due to disease of the trophic cells in the spinal cord, it does 
little good except to stimulate the remaining cells to greater effort. 

According to Ringer, sick headaches, due to errors in diet and 
without much nausea, can be put aside for the day by the use of 1 
drop (0.05) of the tincture of nux vomica in a teaspoonful (4.0) of 
water every five or ten minutes until 10 drops (0.65) are taken. 

Strychnine possesses no curative properties in chronic alcoholism. 
Owing to its powerful stimulant properties it may temporarily brace 
the nervous system, but its prolonged use is dangerous. It should 
only be employed to combat great depression of the system. 

Untoward Effects. — Care should be exercised in giving strychnine 
to children, as they are more susceptible to the drug than are adults. 
The proper beginning dose of strychnine by the mouth for a child of 
five or six years is not more than y^-g- grain (0.0006). In some cases of 
exhausting disease the prolonged use of full doses of strychnine may 
produce a talkative delirium with great peevishness, and, if the drug is 
continued, this condition may pass into a state of temporary insanity. 
Brunton asserts that nux vomica may induce malarial chills in those 
predisposed to them. He also asserts that strychnine acts more power- 
fully when given by the rectum than by the mouth. This is doubtful. 

Administration. — The extract of nux vomica (Extraction Nucis 
Vomica 3 , U. S. and B. P.) is given in the dose of \ to \ of a grain 
(0.01-0.016); the fluid extract (Extraction Nucis Vomicce Fhddum, 
U. S. ; Extraction Nucis Vomicce Liquidum, B. P.), in the dose of 1 
to 5 drops (0.05-0.3); the tincture (Tinctura Nucis Vomicce, U. S. 
and B. P.), in the dose of 5 to 30 drops (0.3-2.0). Strychnine 
Sulphas, U. S. and B. P., and Strychnine Hydrochloride (B. P.) are 
given hypodermically in the dose of -^ to ^ of a grain (0.002-0.003), 
and by the mouth in the same amounts. In cases of severe surgical 
shock as much as T grain (0.016) may be used hypodermically. 

OPIUM. 
Opium (27. S. and B. P.) is the juice or milky exudation appear- 
ing on the surface of the unripe capsules of white poppy or Papaver 
somnifernm, a native plant of Asia, now grown in many other parts of 
the world. 



296 DRUGS. 

Good opium, according to the U. S. -P., should contain at least 9 per 
cent, of crystalline morphine, but the powdered opium (Pulvis Opii. U. 
S.) should contain not less than 13 or more than 15 per cent, of morphine. 

The chemical composition of this drug is very complex, no less than 
seventeen alkaloids having been obtained from it, the most important 
of which are morphine, codeine, narcotine, thebaine, narceine, papaver- 
ine, pseudomorphine, and laudanine. It also contains meconic acid 
and meconine. 

Physiological Action. — The action of opium upon man and the lower 
animals varies with the degree of intelligence or cerebral development. 
It quiets the brain and excites the spinal cord. 

Nervous System. — The dominant action of opium upon man is to 
produce nervous sedation in small doses and sleep when given in larger 
amounts. Sometimes, however, in persons who are accustomed to its 
use, it produces a state of restless insomnia or quiet, wakeful apathy. 
When given to frogs it often produces tetanic convulsions, owing to its 
primary stimulant effect on the spinal cord. In dogs it increases the 
reflexes and produces drowsiness, and in man sleep. If, however, the 
patient be a member of one of the lower races or a young child, 
the spinal irritation may be as manifest as the cerebral sedation. If 
large doses are given, sleep is produced in all animals, and both the 
brain and spinal cord are depressed. The sensory nerves are also 
markedly benumbed, and the motor nerves may finally be rendered 
inactive. 

Circulation. — Small therapeutic doses of opium have no effect 
upon the circulation, but large ones slow the pulse, increase its force, 
and slightly raise arterial pressure. 

The slowing of the pulse depends upon stimulation of the pneumo- 
gastric nerves peripherally and centrically ; the increase in pulse-force 
rests upon the stimulation of the heart-muscle and its ganglia : the rise 
of pressure is due chiefly to the increased heart-action. 

After poisonous doses the pulse becomes rapid and feeble, due to 
depression of the vasomotor centre and the heart, and the gradually 
increasing asphyxia. 

Respiration. — In very minute doses opium is a feeble stimulant, 
or at least not a depressant, to the function of respiration. In over- 
dose it is one of the most powerful paralyzants of the respiratory cen- 
tres in the medulla oblongata, causing death by this action. 

Temperature. — The bodily temperature is raised slightly by full 
doses and lowered by poisonous amounts of opium. 

Tissue-waste. — Opium acts as a preventive to tissue-waste, decreas- 
ing the elimination of urea and other results of nitrogenous break-down. 

Elimination. — The drug escapes from the body, if given in excess, 
as morphine, by way of the intestines and kidneys, but most of it is 
destroyed by oxidation in the liver and tissues. Experiments made 
by Alt and Tauber show that morphine is chiefly eliminated by the 
stomach, and that if this viscus is frequently washed out during a case 
of poisoning, recovery is much aided, as by this means reabsorption is 
prevented. 

Pupil. — Opium contracts the pupils by a centric stimulation of 



OPIUM. 297 

the oculo-motor nerves, and perhaps by depression of the sympathetic 
fibres. 

Stomach, Intestines, and Secretion. — Opium depresses the 
motor activity of the stomach and intestines and produces constipa- 
tion. It does this by stimulating the splanchnic inhibitory fibres of 
the intestine and thereby preventing peristalsis. In very large doses 
it increases peristalsis by paralyzing these fibres. 

Opium checks every secretion in the body except that of the 
skin. 

Acute Poisoning. — When opium is taken by man in overdose it 
causes drowsiness, deep sleep, full breathing, a slow, full pulse, a 
warm, dry skin, contracted pupils, and pleasant — or, more commonly, 
in the Anglo-Saxon race, disagreeable — dreams or no dreams at all. 

Preceding this period there may be a brief one during which the 
person feels self-satisfied and contented. The duration of this agree- 
able sensation only lasts a short time, and if the dose is large does 
not occur or at once passes off. It has been called the first stage, 
while the more marked symptoms just described have been grouped 
into a so-called second stage. 

During the sleep of the second stage the patient can be roused by 
shouting in his ear or by violent shaking, but sinks back into slumber 
at once on being left alone. 

The face is suffused and reddened, and may be finally distinctly 
cyanotic. Many of the symptoms resemble those of congestion of the 
brain. The breathing may be puffing and stertorous. When the 
patient is awakened he breathes more rapidly, and for this reason the 
duskiness of the face disappears and the normal hue returns. Death 
never occurs in the second stage of opium poisoning from the poison 
alone, but if a complicating disease is present death may take place 
at this time. 

The third or fatal stage emerges from the second by a process so 
gradual that no abrupt line of separation can be noted. The face 
becomes at first more cyanotic, then pale and livid ; the respirations, 
which have been eight to ten to the minute, are now only four or five, 
and finally such prolonged pauses occur that all hope of another res- 
piration is lost by the attendant. While the slow breathing is at first 
deep, it now rapidly becomes shallow, and muscular relaxation is 
present to the greatest degree. The skin, previously dry, is wet 
with the sweat of death, the patient is so deeply narcotized that 
nothing can arouse him, and he dies from respiratory failure, although 
the heart ceases almost simultaneously from the asphyxia. The pupils 
do not dilate in the third stage, except in the relaxation of death. 

Treatment of Acute Poisoning. — After employing the usual 
methods resorted to for the purpose of unloading the stomach, and 
after giving permanganate of potassium or tannic acid, preferably the 
former, as the chemical antidote, the patient should receive one or 
two cups of strong black coffee, hot and concentrated. The heat in 
the liquid is useful in maintaining bodily temperature, and the caf- 
feine stimulates the respiratory centre and keeps the man awake. 
Coffee should be used even before any symptoms come on, in order to 



298 DBUGS. 

put them off if possible. If strychnine is at hand and the respirations 
are becoming very slow, -gL to ^ of a grain (0.003-0.006) should be 
given hypodermically. Strychnine is much better than atropine as an 
antidote to opium, and should be given hypodermically in full dose, 
repeated frequently enough to keep the nervous system of the patient 
active and respiration intact. The pupil is no guide as to the action of 
atropine in opium poisoning, as the action of these two drugs (opium 
and atropine) on the eye is not directly antagonistic. 

Alcoholic stimulants may be called for, and ammonia as a cardiac 
and respiratory stimulant may be resorted to. 

In the third stage heat should be applied to the trunk and extrem- 
ities. 

Much emphasis has been placed on keeping the patient awake, 
and it has been thought that the cause of death was the deep sleep. 
This is not so. The man must be kept awake in order that he will 
supplement the efforts of his depressed respiratory centres by volun- 
tary breathing. If he sleeps, he forgets to breathe, and sleep means 
death for this reason, and not because sleep in itself produces death. 

Besides the use of the hot strong coffee, the patient may be kept 
awake by lashing him with switches or by keeping him walking up 
and down between two attendants. Both of these measures are rep- 
rehensible if anything better can be done — the first method because it 
covers the patient with cuts and bruises, the second because it may 
aid in the production of death by exhaustion. If an ordinary med- 
ical faradic battery is at hand, the full force of the current may be 
allowed to come in contact with the skin from two small poles wet 
with salt water, or, better still, the dry or wire electric brush should 
be swept over the body while the negative pole is held in the hand of 
the patient or pressed against his skin. This causes the most exqui- 
site pain in the normal individual, but if the brush is kept moving 
will not cause any bruises or discoloration. (See Asphyxia.) Arti- 
ficial respiration may be resorted to. 

As already pointed out when discussing the elimination of opium, 
the dose is eliminated into the stomach from the blood-vessels and then 
reabsorbed. Frequent washing out of the stomach is therefore advis- 
able in treating cases of poisoning. 

Chronic Poisoning. — Morphine or opium when taken constantly 
generates a habit. The person — or morphine-habitue, as he is some- 
times called — depends for a comfortable existence on the drug, and 
day by day increases his dose until the most extraordinary amounts 
are taken by the stomach or by means of the hypodermic needle. If 
the drug is withheld, a train of symptoms typifying depression or 
exhaustion ensues. The pulse is scarcely to be felt, horrible mental 
depression and melancholia come on, the miserable man or woman 
wrings his or her hands, and begs, screams, howls, or yells for mor- 
phine, only to break down and cry on being refused the customary 
dose. Diarrhoea of a serous type and most violent in character, with 
cramps in the muscles, may assert itself, and must be controlled by 
astringents and an active line of treatment as far as possible free 
from opium. (See Diarrhoea.) 



OPIUM. 299 

A characteristic symptom of chronic opium-eating is the develop- 
ment of the most clever lying in previously truthful persons. In the 
same breath that the patient begs the physician to cure him, he will 
lie to obtain the drug in a surreptitious manner, and may even have 
the drug in his mouth at the moment he speaks. It will often be 
found hidden in the seams of the clothing in small packages, and the 
nurse must be absolutely reliable, above bribery, and forever on the 
watch lest the drug be obtained by smuggling. Any sudden improve- 
ment on the part of the patient should be placed to the credit of more 
morphine, not to professional skill. 

Treatment. — The best way to treat such cases is to "taper off 7 ' 
the daily dose, and to decrease by a sixth or a fourth the total cus- 
tomary amount in each twenty-four hours. The sudden complete 
withdrawal of the drug is an unnecessarily severe measure, and its 
withdrawal in a slower manner than that named is simply prolonging 
the treatment beyond reasonable limits. Cocaine has been used to 
tide over the crisis after the withdrawal of morphine, but too fre- 
quently the patient passes from opium to the cocaine, and finally to 
the alcohol habit, all of which are equally bad. If the circulation 
flags, digitalis and strychnine may be given and the remaining symp- 
toms treated as common sense indicates. 

Sometimes paregoric is taken in excess, and the writer has seen and 
treated a case in which over a pint of paregoric was taken every day. 

When a mother is an opium-eater, the new-born child often suffers 
from collapse on the second or third day after its birth, owing to the 
lack of its customary dose of opium. 

Therapeutics. — Opium is used for the relief of five great conditions, 
which will be spoken of seriatim, the minor uses of the drug being 
considered afterward. These are pain, insomnia, inflammation, and 
irritation, over-secretion, and systemic strain. 

Pain. — Opium is the best remedy that we possess for the relief 
of all forms of pain, except in those instances when neuralgia exists, 
when antipyrin and its fellow-compounds exceed it in medicinal value 
because they have no marked after-effects. It is to be remembered, 
however, that no drug has yet been discovered which equals its pain- 
relieving power in this or any other painful affection. In one form of 
pain opium is not to be employed — namely, that arising from cerebral 
congestion and cerebritis, for it is distinctly contraindicated in these 
affections, as it makes them worse. In acute or traumatic meningitis, 
however, opium is of great service, either alone or combined with 
mercury in sthenic cases. In the treatment of cases of renal and 
hepatic colic associated with spasm, and in dysmenorrhea, bella- 
donna and opium given together will relieve the spasm and pain, and 
yet so counteract each other elsewhere in the body as to be devoid of 
marked effect upon other organs. Usually in these severely painful 
affections it is best to give morphine and atropine hypodermically. 
Persons suffering from pain will always bear very much larger 
amounts of opium than painless individuals. 

For the relief of violent pain physicians of experience usually 
employ morphine hypodermically as the most rapid and effective 



300 DBUGS. 

means of giving relief. If this is not possible, the morphine should 
be given by the mouth in a little hot water with or without whiskey 
or brandy added to it; or deodorized tincture of opium may be given 
in the same manner. If neither the hypodermic needle nor the 
draught can be resorted to, then the drug is best given in the form 
of the fluid extract, or tincture, by the rectum, being first mixed with 
some warm starch-water. If the pain is chiefly in the pelvic viscera, 
the rectal administration of the drug is always advisable by injection 
or by suppository. 

When the pain is due to violent sciatica or to muscular spasm it is 
best relieved by injecting the morphine directly into the subcutaneous 
tissues over the affected part. In other instances local pain due to 
superficial inflammation may be relieved by compresses w T et with 
laudanum and lead-w T ater. 

To patients who are prone to frequent attacks of pain opium must 
be given with the greatest caution, as the "opium-habit" is easily 
produced. 

Insomnia. — Opium, while capable of producing sleep in almost 
every case in which it is given, save in those persons who by reason 
of idiosyncrasy are made wakeful by it, is only to be used in those 
instances where the sleeplessness is due to pain. If constantly used 
for the relief of insomnia or pain, the opium habit is rapidly contracted, 
and for this reason the use of this drug should be alternated with 
chloral, cannabis indica, and other soporific drugs. 

In some cases chloral and morphine, when given in small doses in 
combination, will so act upon the brain as to produce sleep. 

Thus, in the following prescription, the dose of both active ingredi- 
ents is much smaller than would be needed if either one was used 
alone, yet the result sought by their use — namely, sleep — is readily 
produced : 

R. — Morphinse sulpli gr. ij (0.10). 

Chloralis 3j (4.0). 

Syrupi f.^j (32.0). 

Aquae dest q. s. fijij (64.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) at niue p. m., and, if needed, again at ten or eleven 
o'clock. 

In the insomnia of typhoid fever opium may be used, particularly 
during convalescence, but it must be employed most carefully, and it 
is far better to give the patient cold affusions preceded by a hot bath 
to equalize the circulation and produce sleep. (See Heat and Cold, 
Part XL) 

Inflammation and Irritation. — Opium seems to possess some 
influence over inflammation which we cannot explain, and both small 
and large doses are particularly valuable in inflammation of serous 
membranes, such as peritonitis, meningitis, and pericarditis. In 
peritonitis opium has been thought to be very useful, but grave 
doubts are now entertained as to its value. (See the article on Peri- 
tonitis in Part IV.) It allays the nervous excitement and cough 
following haemoptysis, and the intense unrest caused by itching skin 
diseases, as, for example, the irritation of small-pox. 



OPIUM. 301 

Sometimes intense irritation or inflammation produces so great an 
effect upon unstriped muscular fibres as to cause spasm or paralysis, as 
in retention of urine, cystitis, or the constipation following inflammation 
of the bowels due to the ingestion of irritating foods ; under these cir- 
cumstances the employment of opium is indicated, and is usually very 
successful. In irritative coughs morphine given in syrup of w T ild-cherry 
bark does good in the dose of -^ to ^ of a grain (0.005). 

Opium is often used, or its alkaloid morphine, to allay nervous 
excitement and cough in cases of haemoptysis. 

In some cases of irritable cough, due to a tickling sensation in the 
larynx much relief can be had by inhaling the steam arising from a 
cup of boiling water in which has been placed a drachm or two of pare- 
goric. 

Whenever a cough is in excess — that is, greater than is necessary to 
free the lung from mucus — morphine may be given in small doses. If 
the lungs contain more rales after its use than before, its use must be 
stopped, as the increase in the number of rales indicates an increase in 
the accumulation of mucus. 

In the treatment of strangury due to cystitis, and in rectal inflam- 
mation, provided they are not acute, and after operation on the pelvic 
organs, suppositories of the strength of ^ or \ of a grain (0.016-0.03) 
of the watery extract of opium are very useful. In excessive vomit- 
ing from any cause, except it be from a previous dose of opium, 
an enema of deodorized laudanum 30 drops (2.0) and starch-water 4 
ounces (128.0), with 20 grains (1.3) of bromide of sodium, will be 
found of value. (See Vomiting, Part IV.) 

In muscular rheumatism and similar states, and when a " cold " 
has been taken, opium in the form of Dover's powder in the dose of 
5 to 10 grains (0.31-0.65) will often produce a cure, particularly if 
employed in combination with hot drinks and a hot foot-bath. Cam- 
phor can often be added to the Dover's powder with advantage. (See 
Coryza, Part IV.) 

For sprains and bruises lead-water-and-laudanum is one of the best 
applications. (See Article on Lead.) If the skin is broken, the lau- 
danum may be used alone to relieve pain, and, by its alcohol, will act 
as an antiseptic. Opium is also a useful drug in the treatment of inter- 
nal and external burns to relieve the pain and irritation. 

Over-secretion. — In serous diarrhoea, diabetes insipidus, and mel~ 
litus, and in the treatment of over-secretion on the part of all secre- 
ting surfaces except the skin, opium may be used. 

It is said to decrease the amount of urine before decreasing the 
amount of the sugar in diabetes. However this may be, the employ- 
ment of opium or morphine or codeine in diabetes is a very valuable 
form of treatment. The doses should be rapidly increased, as the 
effect is only obtained by ascending amounts, and diabetic patients 
seem peculiarly immune to the nervous influence of this drug and 
it« alkaloids. Morphine is, therapeutically, the more powerful of the 
two alkaloids, but crude opium is more powerful for good in this 
affection than either. None of them, probably, cure the disease, but 
so modify it as to make life bearable and happy, for the sugar is 



302 DRUGS. 

decreased in many cases and the sense of excessive hunger, thirst, 
and nervous irritability is put aside. Itching of the skin is also re- 
lieved in this class of patients by its use. (See Plate, and also article 
on Diabetes, Part IV.) 

Opium should not be used to arrest an attack of mucous diarrhoea 
until after the mucus which is already present in the bowel has been 
swept out of the intestinal canal by a dose of castor oil or magnesium 
sulphate. Minute doses of -£$■ to ^ of a grain (0.001) of morphine 
given hypodermically will sometimes check summer diarrhoea in chil- 
dren at once. (See article on Diarrhoea.) 

Morphine is used to relieve pain rather than opium, because it does 
not cause so much constipation, but opium is better to check diarrhoea. 
Paregoric is particularly useful in diarrhoea because it contains a 
volatile oil and camphor. 

Systemic Strain. — In prolonged strain upon the system, as in 
great physical or nervous effort, or more frequently in old age to 
smooth out the cares of the remaining years of life and decrease worry, 
opium is useful, but its use in young persons is most dangerous, as it is 
almost certain to produce the opium habit. In asthenic fevers opium 
is thought to be supportive, but its use is apt to cause so many other 
conditions, such as constipation, anorexia, or mental depression, that 
alcohol is much better for this purpose. In very advanced phthisis it 
is often justifiable to give enough opium to keep the patient free from 
pain and discomfort for the remaining hours of his life, but care must 
be taken that the dose does not interfere with his breathing and so 
hasten death. 

In heart disease, particularly of the mitral valves, the patient can 
often breathe easily only when awake, starting up when he falls 
asleep and gasping for breath. It is stated by some writers that 
morphine w r ill relieve this state and permit sleep, but that it will 
not be of service in aortic disease. While this may be partly true, 
the drug will often give great relief in all forms of cardiac dyspnoea, 
and ought always to be tried with caution, although it is contraindi- 
cated if the heart has undergone fatty degeneration. Care should be 
taken that the first dose is small, as in some instances it increases the 
discomfort. The relief obtained is supposed to be due to cardiac stim- 
ulation by the drug, and, while this is no doubt correct, the other car- 
diac stimulants, such as digitalis, will often fail when morphine suc- 
ceeds. The presence of cyanosis and lividity is said to be no con- 
traindication to the hypodermic use of morphine under these circum- 
stances, provided the dose is not unreasonably large. The drug 
should be given hypodermically for this purpose. 

Opium and morphine, particularly the latter, have been freely 
given to produce quiet in patients with uraemic convulsions. The 
practice is a dangerous one and should not be resorted to as a rule, as 
the impaired state of the kidneys prevents the proper elimination of 
the drug. 

Administration. — Recent studies upon the action of opium and its 
alkaloids show T that it acts in an inhibitory manner upon gastric diges- 
tion and absorption, decreasing the amount of hydrochloric acid in 



Chart showing the effect of opium in a ease 
of diabetes mellitus. On the day of admission 
the patient was placed on a full house diet. The 
quantity of urine and fluid ingested at once in- 
creased. He then was placed on a restricted 
diet which caused a fall in the urine and fluids 
ingested but no decrease in sugar. Opium was 
now given and the sugar fell at once (see green 
line). Later on the house diet was resumed but 
the opium held the sugar in cheek. Note how 
the fluids increased on the 28th of May and how 
they fell when the opium was renewed and in- 
creased. The chart shows how the restricted 
diet governed the urinary flow and how the 
opium was needed to control the mellituria. 



spni foiun 

I 

&<tosb on 

■ 

- 

- 



anil 



OPIUM. 303 

the gastric juice. For this reason, unless there is an excess of acid 
present in the stomach, it is well not to give opium or morphine at 
meal-times, but some time after. 

Opium itself is used in the form of the powder {Pulvis Opii, JJ. S.) 
in the dose of from J to 1 grain (0.016-0.05). The solid preparations 
are the deodorized opium [Opium Deodoratum, JJ. S.), which is de- 
prived of its narcotine, dose J to 1 grain (0.03-0.05) ; the pills of 
opium (Pilulce Opii, JJ. S.), each containing 1 grain (0.05) ; and the 
watery extract (Extr actum Opii, JJ. S. and B. P.), dose J to J a grain 
(0.016-0.03). Of the liquid preparations we have paregoric (Tinctura 
Opii Campliorata, U. S. ; Tinctura Camphorce Composita, B. P.), 
dose 1 drachm to 2 tablespoonfuls (4.0-32.0); laudanum {Tinctura 
Opii, JJ. S. and B. P.), dose 10 to 30 drops (0.65-2.0) ; the deodo- 
rized tincture (Tinctura Opii Deodorati, JJ. S.), dose 10 to 30 drops 
(0.65-2.0); the Vinum opii, JJ. S., or, as it is sometimes called, 
Svdenham's Laudanum — dose 10 to 30 drops (0.65-2.0); &nd Acetum 
Opii, JJ. S., or Black Drop, dose 10 to 30 drops (0.65-2.0). 

As all the liquid preparations of opium are of 10 per cent, strength, 
except paregoric, which is about 2 grains to the ounce, the dose of all 
of them except paregoric is identical. This is a fact to be remembered 
by students. 

Under the name of Dover's Powder (Pulvis JpecacuanJice et Opii, 
JJ. S.) a powder containing 1 grain (0.05) of powdered opium, 1 grain 
(0.05) of powdered ipecac, and 8 grains (0.50) of sugar of milk is largely 
used. This is more efficacious if separated into fifths and taken in di- 
vided doses. The tincture of ipecac and opium (Tinctura Ipecacuanlice 
■et Opii, JJ. S.) is given in the dose of 4 to 15 minims (0.3-1.0). 

The preparations of opium official in the B. P., other than those 
already named, are Extractum Opii Liquidum, dose 4 to 20 min- 
ims (0.3-1.3); Pulvis Opii Compositus, composed of opium, pepper, 
ginger, caraway-fruit, and tragacanth, dose 2 to 5 grains (0.1-0.35) ; 
Tinctura Opii Ammoniata, dose } to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0). Pilula 
Saponis Oomposita, B. P., is purely a preparation of opium. It is 
-sometimes necessary to give this drug to patients without their knowl- 
edge, and it may be prescribed in this way, the patient not learning 
from the prescription the nature of the medicine. 

The B. P. also recognizes a liniment (Linimentum Opii) and a 
plaster (Emplastrum Opii) for local application. 

Untoward Effects. — When opium is given to some persons it pro- 
duces for some hours marked wakefulness followed by sleep, and in 
many patients produces after its primary influence great nausea, and 
sometimes vomiting. The mental depression may be simply over- 
whelming, and the very fact of having to drag out existence is a curse. 
By far the most effective mode of preventing these very distressing 
•effects of opium or its derivatives is to administer with this drug about 
^-J-q grain of nitroglycerin. One of the chief causes, however, of the 
nausea produced by the use of opium or morphine is the change in the 
body of morphine into oxy-dimorphine, which is eliminated into the 
stomach and there reabsorbed, and then induces these secondary effects. 
It is also a fact that these symptoms can be largely done away with by 



304 DRUGS. 

the use of 20 grains (1.3) of bromide of potassium, which must be taken 
at the same time as the opiate, and by employing the preparations of 
opium largely devoid of narcotine, such as the deodorized tincture or 
deodorized opium itself. Whenever it is possible these preparations 
should be used to the exclusion of the others. Haig is responsible for 
the assertion that, as opium frees the blood of uric acid by causing its 
retention in the tissues of the body, the pleasant effects are so produced, 
and that, the retention being cumulative, no sooner does the effect of 
the opiate pass off than the uric acid is set free in the blood, and as a 
result depression ensues. He states that if salicylates are given with 
the opium the retention does not occur, and the unpleasant sequelae are 
much modified or prevented. After the untoward symptoms come on 
coffee and stimulants may be used w r ith advantage to overcome them. 
In some persons the use of opium is followed by the development of an 
erythematous rash which may go on to desquamation. 

Children bear opium badly, and some children are very much more 
susceptible than others to its influence. 

One-eighth grain of morphine has caused death in an adult when 
given hypodermically, probably because it entered a vein. Sometimes 
the drug causes collapse, or in other cases an eruption upon the skin 
of the body. 

The use of repeated doses of morphine for several days often sets up 
obstinate vomiting, due probably to the change of the drug into oxy- 
dimorphine or apomorphine. 

Codeine. 

(See p. 168.) 

Morphine. 

Morphina, U. S. and B. P., is the chief alkaloid of opium, but 
owing to its insolubility is rarely used, being generally given in the 
form of the sulphate. 

Sulphate of Morphine (Morphince Sulphas, U . S.) is given in 
the dose of \ to \ grain (0.008-0.03), either by the mouth or hypo- 
dermically. Besides the sulphate of morphine we have the acetate 
(Morphince Acetas, U. S. and B. P.), the muriate (Morphince Hy- 
drochloras, U. S. and B. P.), and the tartrate {Morphince Tartras, 
B. P.), all given in the dose of £ to \ grain (0.008-0.03). In the 
U. S. Pharmacopoeia of 1870 a solution of morphine was official, dose 
1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0), but it is no longer official and should not 
be called for. Magendie's solution of- morphine is sixteen times as 
strong as this liquor just named (16 grains to the ounce), and is not 
official. The words "Liquor Morphine Sulphatis " will often cause 
Magendie's solution to be dispensed in New York State, and care 
should be taken that poisoning does not result. Pulvis Morphince 
Compositus, U. S.i or Tully's Powder, is given in the dose of 10 
grains (0.65). It contains sulphate of morphine, camphor, licorice, 
and precipitated calcium carbonate. It is used to break up forming 
colds and as a nervous sedative. Troches of morphine and ipecac 



OX-GALL—OXIDE OF ZINC. 305 

{Trochisci Morphines et Ipecacuanha?, U. S.) are given one or two at 
a time for irritation of the pharynx. 

The following additional preparations of morphine are official in the 
B. P. : Liquor Morphince Hydrochloridi, Liquor Morphince Tartrates, 
dose 10 to 40 minims (0.65-2.65) ; Tinctura Chloroformi et Morphine*, 
Composita, dose 5 to 10 minims (0.35-0.65); Snppositoria Morphince, 
each suppository containing J grain (0.015) of morphine; Trochisci 
Morphince and Trochisci Morphince et Ipecacuanha?, each lozenge con- 
taining gJg- of a grain (0.002) of morphine, dose 1 to 4. Liquor Mor- 
phince Acetatis is given in 20- to 40-minim (2.65) doses. Injectio 
Morphince Hypodermica, B. P., contains 1 grain (0.05) of the tartrate 
of morphine in each 22 minims (1.4) of water. 

Incompatibles. — Morphine is incompatible with potassium perman- 
ganate and with tannic or gallic acid or astringent solutions containing 
them, with alkalies, such as potassium, sodium, and ammonium, but 
with the chloride of ammonium it is not incompatible. With tincture 
of chloride of iron it forms a deep-red color (meconic acid). 



OX-GALL. 

Inspissated Ox-gall {Pel Bovis, U. S.) is, as its name implies, dried 
ox-bile, derived from the gall-bladder of the common ox (Bos Taurus). 
It is used in medicine for the purpose of relieving certain forms of 
indigestion which depend upon deficient secretion of bile or which occur 
in persons who digest fats with difficulty. In full doses it is apt to 
cause some looseness of the bowels, and it may be given with the object 
of producing this condition. When it is used the fact should be 
remembered that bile prevents the gastric juice from acting upon pro- 
teid or albuminous substances, shrivelling them up, and in addition 
so alters the gastric liquids as to decrease their digestive power. We 
know, therefore, that this drug must be administered some hours after 
meals, as a rule, or, in other words, when gastric digestion is ended 
and intestinal activity is beginning. The close of inspissated ox-gall, 
which is dried by evaporation from 100 to 15 parts, is 5 to 15 grains 
(0.35-1.0). Purified Ox-gall (Pel Bovis Pur ificatum, U. S. ; Pel 
Bovinum Purificatum, B. P.) is given in the same dose as the inspis- 
sated bile. It is made by evaporating 3 parts of pure ox-gall to 1 
part, and then adding to this part an equal amount of alcohol, which 
constituents are mixed thoroughly, and after standing twenty-four 
hours the clear liquid is decanted and the residue is evaporated to a 
consistency capable of forming a pill. 



OXIDE OP ZINC. 

Commercial Oxide of Zinc (Zinci Oxidum Venale) is not used in 
medicine, but in the purified form is largely employed in the shape 
of Zinci Oxidum, U. S. and B. P., which is insoluble in water. In 
the form of the oxide-of-zinc ointment ( Unguentum Zinci Oxidi, U. S. 

20 



306 DRUGS. 

and B. P.) this drug affords one of the most generally used applica- 
tions in the treatment of skin diseases, burns, and sores. 

In all states where the surface of the skin is dry it is contraindi- 
cated, but where the eruption is moist it is useful. In the treatment 
of the chloasma of pregnancy the following prescription is of service: 

R. — Zinci oxidi gr. iij (0.18). 

Hydrarg. ammoniat gr. j (0.06). 

Olei theobromse gijss (10.0). 

Olei ricini 3yss (10.0). 

Essent. rosse , gtt. x (0.65). — M. 

S. — Apply to the face night and morning. 

In eczema with many vesicles use — 

R. — Pulv. camphorce ^ss (2.0). 

Pulv. zinc, oxidi giij (12.0). 

Glycerini gtt. xl (2.65). 

Adipis benzoinati ^j (32.0). — M. 

S. — Apply to the part without other treatment or precede it by powdered bis- 
muth. 

Under the name of Unna's Dressing (composed of gelatin 4 parts r 
water 10 parts, glycerin 10 parts, and zinc oxide 4 parts) is a useful ap- 
plication for ulcers and eczematous patches on the legs or arms. It is par- 
ticularly useful for leg ulcers. The gelatin and cold water are put in a 
basin over a fire and a solution made ; then the glycerin is added, and 
then the oxide of zinc is slowly added, with constant stirring. After 
the mixture is complete it is poured into a can and allowed to cool, 
when it is ready for use. This application decreases swelling and is 
soothing and supporting. It is applied as follows : The part affected is 
well washed with water and soap, and then with alcohol. The paint 
having been warmed and melted, a large three-inch paint-brush is used 
to apply a coating to the limb all around the ulcer, and over this a 
single layer of gauze is applied. The gauze .bandage should be two 
inches wide. The bandage must be laid on evenly and the ulcer cov- 
ered by a pad of absorbent cotton. After one layer is applied it is cut 
and another coat of paint applied over it. Then another layer of gauze 
and another of paint are used, until several layers are in place. It is 
best to begin at the toes and work up toward the knee. All parts 
should be equally well covered. Finally the entire dressing is covered 
by a cotton roller bandage, which is removed in twenty-four hours, 
leaving what looks like a white rubber dressing on the limb. If the 
liquid from the ulcer oozes through the dressing profusely, a window is 
to be cut over the ulcer, and it can be locally treated by astringents or 
other measures. The patient should keep the limb elevated for a day 
or two, but can then walk with far more comfort than if a rubber sup- 
porting bandage is used. 

In powdered form zinc oxide is useful in the treatment of intertrigo 
and for conjunctivitis. Mixed with bismuth sub nitrate and pepsin, it 
is largely used by some practitioners in the treatment of the summer 
diarrhoea of infants or adults. 

In the night-sweats of debility or of phthisis oxide of zinc in the 
following formula has been highly recommended, but the prescription, 
probably depends largely for its action on the second ingredient : 



OXYGEN. 307 

R. — Zinci oxidi gr. xxx (2.0). 

Extract, belladonna? gr. iij (0.18.)— M. 

Ft. in pil. No. x. 
S. — One at night before going to bed. 

Bartholow recommends the oxide of zinc for cases of asthma and 
whooping cough, given to an adult in the manner just indicated. 

OXYGEN. 

The gas Oxygen is now widely used in medical and surgical practice 
in three ways, as follows : By the inhalation of the gas itself from a 
cylinder in which it is compressed until 40 gallons occupy a very small 
space ; by drinking oxygen-water, which is distilled water saturated 
with the gas ; and finally, by the use of the dioxide or peroxide of 
hydrogen, which is applied locally to diseased surfaces. (See Hydrogen 
Peroxide.) 

Inhalations of oxygen are useful in the second and third stages 
of pneumonia where the patient seems about to die from deficient aera- 
tion of the blood, with resulting heart-distention. They are also of 
value in advanced bronchitis, particularly that of old persons, and for 
the resuscitation of persons asphyxiated by coal-gas (Hare and Martin). 
In phthisis and other exhausting diseases oxygen will allay dyspnoea 
and oppression. Oxygen inhalations are also of service in the treat- 
ment of anosmia in all its forms and give relief even in pernicious 
anosmia and in leukaemia. Often a mixture of oxygen gas 60 parts 
and nitrous oxide gas 40 parts is used as a stimulant inhalation and 
nervous sedative. 

The clinical results which have so far been obtained from the admin- 
istration of ether and chloroform vapor when combined with oxygen 
gas seem to prove beyond all doubt that the oxygen decreases the dan- 
ger of the anaesthetic and to a large extent obviates the difficulties 
which surround the administration of these drugs, and most of the 
untoward effects which we are accustomed to meet with as a conse- 
quence of their use. Thus, when oxygen is given with ether, vomit- 
ing is less frequently met with, excessive pallor is rarely seen, and 
post-operative depression seems to be largely avoided. 

As a general rule, however, it has been the custom of physicicans 
and surgeons who have employed oxygen gas in combination with ether 
or chloroform, to place the anaesthetic in a wash-bottle and then to 
allow the oxygen gas to pass through it in such a way that the patient 
received in the inhaler a mixture of anaesthetic vapor and oxygen, the 
mixture being made by the passage of the oxygen gas through the 
liquid anaesthetic in the bottle. An evident disadvantage of this- 
arrangement is that the quantity of anaesthetic which is volatilized 
can only be in direct proportion to the volume of oxygen gas which is 
forced through the wash-bottle, and therefore with every increase in the 
quantity of vapor which the patient receives he must also receive an 
increased quantity of oxygen. It has been claimed, too, by those who 
have employed the ether and oxygen combination most frequently, that 
in a large proportion of cases a greater length of time is required 



308 DRUGS. 

for the anaesthetizing of the patient, and that in some cases it seems 
almost impossible to get the patient under the direct influence of the 
drug. This difficulty lies in the fact that as soon as a large quantity of 
oxygen gas is used to convey a large quantity of anaesthetic vapor to 
the lungs, the patient rapidly passes into a condition which is called by 
physiologists apnoea. The respiratory centre is no longer irritated by 
the normal proportions of carbonic acid in the blood, and therefore 
sends out feeble respiratory impulses ; and as the patient does not, 
breathe as rapidly or as deeply as before, the result is that very small 
quantities of the anaesthetic are taken into the body. 

The apparatus which the writer has employed with success, and 
which he suggests as a substitute for the one heretofore employed, con- 
sists of a somewhat funnel-shaped piece of leather having a greater 
diameter in one direction than in another, into which is fitted as an 
inner lining a piece of soft felt or spongio-piline almost a quarter of 
an inch thick. In the under surface of the leather cone is inserted a 
small metal tube, and at the opening of this tube a small hole is cut in 
the spongio-piline. The ether is then poured upon the spongio-piline in 
the cone, in the apex of which is placed some absorbent cotton. The 
oxygen enters the cone by means of a rubber tube attached to the metal 
entrance which has been mentioned. By this arrangement several objects 
are accomplished. In the first place the supply of oxygen can be delivered 
to the patient in varying quantities without altering the amount of 
anaesthetic which is being given. In the second place, any quantity of 
anaesthetic can be employed without necessarily increasing the oxygen. 
Thirdly, the leather cone prevents the rapid evaporation of ether from 
the outer side of the spongio-piline. And fourth, the spongio-piline, being 
much more porous than an ordinary towel, will retain a large quantity of 
ether in liquid form when this drug is poured upon it. Finally, if desired, 
the same apparatus can be used for the administration of chloroform by 
removing the metal cap on the smaller end of the cone, as in this way 
the patient will receive not only the anaesthetic vapor and the oxygen, but 
also fresh air through the end of the cone, in such quantities as the phy- 
sician deems wise. In these cases it is best to use the attachment known 
as the Krohne and Sesemann "respiration-indicator," which consists 
of a small feather on a pivot which moves to and fro with the motions 
of respiration, thereby providing the physician with a gauge as to the 
rapidity and force of the respiratory movements. The soft felt is very 
cheap, and a fresh piece can be used for each patient. 

In conclusion, the writer cannot condemn too strongly the method 
of employing chloroform vapor and oxygen by passing the oxygen 
directly through the chloroform without the free administration of air 
in addition, for, after all, air is what we are intended to breathe, and 
not oxygen gas alone, although it may be advantageous at times to add 
an increased quantity of oxygen to the air. 

Still more severe condemnation should be directed toward the attach- 
ment which is placed on some of the Junker inhalers, and which con- 
sists of a small rubber bag which, instead of acting as a reservoir of 
fresh anaesthetic vapor and oxygen, is inflated and collapsed by the 
expiration and the inspiration of the patient, who does not receive even 



PANCBEATIN AND PANCREATIC EXTRACTS. 309 

fresh oxygen and anaesthetic vapor, much less fresh air, but, on the 
contrary, inhales again and again air, oxygen, and vapor which are 
loaded with the impurities of frequent expiratory efforts. 

(For the directions for using oxygen with nitrous oxide as an anaes- 
thetic see the article on Nitrous Oxide.) 



PANCREATIN AND PANCREATIC EXTRACTS. 

Under these names a number of firms now sell an extract from the 
pancreatic gland or juice, and the U. S. P. recognizes such a product 
under the name of Pancreatinum. It contains, or should contain, the 
four pancreatic ferments — trypsin, which digests proteids (meat, eggs, 
etc.) ; steapsin, which splits up and emulsifies the fats ; amylopsin, 
which has diastatic power (that is, converts starch into sugar), and 
finally a milk-curdling ferment. 

A preparation equally useful with the commercial pancreatin may 
be made by the physician in the following manner : 

Take the pancreas of a pig which has been killed about six hours 
after a full meal, the organ being therefore active, and, after chopping 
it up fine, add to it four times its weight of dilute alcohol and allow 
it to stand for twelve hours. Decant or filter off the alcohol, and 
give the filtrate in the dose of 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0). Or, better 
still, as follows : Wash and chop up fine a fresh pancreas, and allow 
the gland to soak in alcohol (absolute) twenty-four to forty-eight hours. 
After this squeeze out the alcohol and add to the gland ten times its 
weight of glycerin. This must stand forty-eight hours and then be 
filtered, and be used in doses of 30 drops (2.0) to each glass of milk. 
(For the use of pancreatin in artificial digestion see the article on Pep- 
tonized Foods in Part III.) 

Pancreatin, as prepared for the market, is a dry powder, given in 
the dose of 2 to 20 grains (0.1-1.3) after meals or during them. 

Pancreatin should usually be prescribed with bicarbonate of sodium 
to aid it in its digestive action. It is indicated in all cases of lienteric 
diarrhoea and in many cases of deficient digestion. Pancreatin, or the 
powdered pancreas, may also be freely used in those cases of diabetes 
mellitus in which the disease depends upon a lesion of the pancreatic 
gland, as carcinoma or atrophy from other cause. 

Some doubt has been cast upon the usefulness of the employment 
of pancreatin in foods unless this ferment was allowed to act upon the 
aliment before it was swallowed by the patient, on the ground that 
pancreatin is destroyed and rendered inert in the presence of the acid 
which it meets in the stomach. This objection is not a valid one, 
because food remains in the stomach for from fifteen minutes to half an 
hour before enough gastric juice is secreted to interfere with the pan- 
creatic action. It is during this preliminary period that the work of 
the pancreatin is accomplished. 

Pancreatin or peptonized foods should not be employed unless really 
needed, nor continued for any length of time, as digestion is finally 
impaired by atrophy of the glands arising from disuse. 



310 DRUGS. 

The B. P. recognizes a solution {Liquor Pancreatis) ; dose 1 to 2 
drachms (4.0-8.0). 

The dose of pancreatin is from 2 to 10 grains (0.1-0.65). 

PAPAIN, PAPAYOTIN, AND PAPOID. 

Papain, Papayotin, and Papoid are names given to a digestive fer- 
ment derived from the juice of Carica Papaya. This ferment pos- 
sesses the power of changing proteids into peptones in the presence 
of an acid or an alkali, or even in a neutral mixture, thereby differ- 
ing from pepsin and pancreatin. This power would be of very great 
value, since the drug would then be useful in all forms of dyspepsia, 
were it not that careful experimentation renders it doubtful as to 
whether papain, papayotin, or papoid can really supplant either of 
the animal ferments named above. The dose of all these products is 
from 1 to 8 grains (0.05-0.6) given in solution, or better in pill. The 
plant itself, taken internally, has the reputation of being capable of 
causing abortion. 

PARALDEHYDE. 

Paraldehydwm, U. S. and B. P.. is a form of aldehyde used as a 
soporific and nervous sedative, and is a clear, colorless liquid with an 
ethereal odor and a burning, followed by a cool, taste. It should be 
kept in dark, well-stoppered bottles in a cool place. Paraldehyde is 
readily soluble in alcohol, moderately so in water, less so in hot 
water. It possesses the great disadvantages of being necessarily 
given in large dose and having a disagreeable taste and odor. It is 
also very apt to disorder the stomach. Paraldehyde kills when taken 
in overdose by respiratory failure, but is not so depressant to the 
heart as is chloral. The drug soon loses its power as a soporific. The 
dose is 20 drops to 1 drachm (1.3-4.0) in capsules, or, better still, it 
may be used, after the formula of Yvon, as follows : 

R.— Paraldehyde .^ijss (10.0). 

Alcoholis (90 per cent.) • • f 3jss (45.0). 

Tincturse vanillse f.^ss (2.0). 

Aquee ' • f|j (32.0). 

Syrupi simplicis q. s. ad f£iv (128.0).— M. 

S.— A dessertspoonful (8.0) every half-hour until sleep is obtained. 

PAREIRA. 

Pareira, U. 8. {Pareirce Radix, B. P.), is the root of Chondoden- 
dron tomentosum, a plant of Peru and Brazil, and is used as a diu- 
retic of an alterative or stimulant character and for the relief of 
chronic inflammations of the genito-urinary tract in general, such as 
pyelitis, cystitis of a subacute type, and similar pathological states. 
The dose of the unofficial infusion is a wineglassful (32.0), and the 
fluid extract {Extractum Pareirce Fluidum, U. S.) is given in the 
dose of a teaspoonful (4.0) three times a day. The B. P. prepara- 
tion of this drug is Extr actum Pareirce Liquidum, dose 1 to 2 drachms 
(4.0-8.0). 



PENTAL— PEPPER. 311 



PENTAL. 



Pental is an impure amylene first described in 1844 and used in 
1856. It at once dropped out of notice until a few years ago, when 
it was brought forward as an anaesthetic for use in minor or brief 
operations. Pental is a colorless liquid, insoluble in water, but read- 
ily mixed with ether, chloroform, or alcohol. It is very inflammable, 
but not affected by exposure to light and air. 

Physiological Action. — Our knowledge of the physiological action 
of pental is exceedingly limited. Wood and Cerna, from a very 
incomplete and imperfect study, conclude that it is a powerful cardiac 
and respiratory poison. 

Therapeutics. — Pental is to be employed by means of a Junker 
inhaler if its use is continued for any length of time. If it is to be 
taken for but a few minutes, an ordinary chloroform mask or towel may 
be used. The quantity to be employed for the production of anaesthesia 
is about 2 to 3 drachms (8.0-12.0). Pental is an anaesthetic which 
so far promises very little, and which will probably be used by a very 
limited number of practitioners, as it possesses no particular advan- 
tages over older and safer anaesthetics. It is, however, right to state 
that some surgeons employ it with great satisfaction. Thus, Phillip 
asserts that it is regarded as indispensable in the Children's Hospital 
of Berlin, as it acts very rapidly, produces little excitement, and per- 
mits rapid return to consciousness. It has been given in this insti- 
tution one thousand times. 

PEPO. 

Pepo (Oucurbita Pepo), TJ. S., Pumpkin-seed, the seed of' the ordi- 
nary domestic pumpkin, is a useful and efficient vermifuge against the 
tape-worm. The seeds are not only efficient, but harmless to the host 
of the worm. The outer coverings of the seeds should be removed, 
and the remaining part rubbed up into an emulsion with water or into 
an electuary with sugar, the dose of the seed being 2 ounces (64.0). 
This mass should be taken on an empty stomach, and followed in from 
one to two hours by an active purge. 



PEPPER. 

Piper, TJ. S., or Black Pepper [Piper Nigrum, B. P.), is the 
unripe fruit of Piper nigrum, a vine of India, Java, Borneo, and 
Siam. It contains a neutral principle, piperin, which is official. 

Therapeutics. — Black pepper may be used externally as a counter- 
irritant or internally as a carminative and stimulant to the alimentary 
canal. 

It may also be used in all cases of atony of the mucous membranes 
of the genito-urinary system, but is contraindicated whenever acute 
inflammation is present, as in acute gonorrhoea. It may be used in 
the treatment of great intestinal flatulence with marked relief. 

Piperin (Piperinum, TJ. S.) has been used as an antiperiodic with 



312 DBUGS. 

varying success, and is given in the dose of 1 to 5 grains (0.05-0.25). 
The oleoresin of pepper (Oleoresina Piperis, TJ. S.) is given in the 
dose of \ to 2 drops (0.016-0.1) in laxative pills, to prevent griping. 
A confection (Confectio Piperis) is official in the B. P., given in the 
dose of 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0). 

PEPPERMINT. 

Mentha Piperita, TJ. S., is official in the form of the leaves and 
tops of Mentha piperita. It has an aromatic odor and taste and con- 
tains an oil. Locally applied, the oil acts as an irritant and local anaes- 
thetic. From this oil is obtained menthol, a camphoraceous substance 
of a hot, burning taste, possessing marked power as a local anaesthetic. 
(See Menthol on next page.) 

Therapeutics. — Peppermint is used very largely as a domestic rem- 
edy for flatulence and infantile colic. Sometimes the oil is added to 
purgative pills to prevent griping, and it may be employed to cover 
the taste of many medicines which are disagreeable to take. In this 
respect it is used as are all the volatile oils. In the colic of children 
of six months to a year, when it is unusually severe and associated 
with nervous symptoms, the following will be found of value : 

R.— Chloralis gr. xvj (1.0). 

Potassii broraidi gr. xxxij (2.0). 

Aq. menth. piperit f^ij {64.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) in a little warm water every four hours. 

When used in the treatment of neuralgia, oil of peppermint should 
be placed on a piece of linen or muslin rag and applied over the 
affected spot. Care must be taken that it does not blister the skin. 
If, after its removal, the burning is too severe to be borne, a little 
cosmoline or olive oil should be applied. Oil of peppermint is 
sometimes placed on cotton and inserted into dental cavities for 
toothache. 

It is to be remembered that the more menthol is present in the oil 
the more active will it be as an anaesthetic, and that the Chinese oil 
contains more menthol than the American oil. 

Administration. — Peppermint is used in the form of the oil (Oleum 
Menthce Piperitce, TJ. S. and B. P.), dose 1 to 4 drops (0.05-0.25); 
the spirit (Spiritus Menthai Piperitce, TJ. S. and B. P.), dose 10 to 
30 drops (0.65-2.0); the water (Aqua Menthai Piperita*, TJ. S. and 
B. P.), dose 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0); and, finally, as the Troches 
(Trochisci Mentha? Piperitce, TJ. S.), to be held in the mouth in indef- 
inite number. 

Menthol. 

Menthol, TJ. S. and B. P., or Mint Stearopten, or, as it is called, 
Mint Camphor, is derived chiefly from the essential oil of pepper- 
mint. It occurs in colorless prismatic crystals with a strong odor of 
peppermint. Upon it rests much, if not all, of the therapeutic activity 
of peppermint. Menthol is slightly soluble in water, very soluble in 
alcohol, ether, and in oils. 



PEPSIN. 313 

Menthol has been used in the vomiting of pregnancy with great 
advantage in hourly doses of a teaspoonful of the following : 

R.— Menthol gr. xv (1.0). 

Spt. frumenti f^vj (24.0). 

Syrupi f 5J (32.0). 

Menthol has also been used as a carminative and in gastralgia in 
the dose of from 1 to 2 grains (0.05-0.1) three times a day in pill or 
in alcoholic solution. It is contraindicated in acute inflammation of 
the gastric mucous membrane. 

As menthol exercises a local anaesthetic effect on the skin as well 
as on mucous membranes, it is used externally over the course of 
neuralgic nerves and for migraine. 

Menthol when used as a depletant on the mucous membranes of 
the throat or nose causes a contraction of the local blood-vessels, 
which is not followed by the excessive dilatation produced by cocaine. 
In acute coryza its local application to the mucous membrane by a 
spray or dropper is often a source of great relief in a solution of about 
1 grain (0.05) to the ounce (32.0) of water, or 3 grains (0.25) of 
menthol in -J- an ounce (16.0) of albolene. (See Coryza, Part IV.) 

Another very useful method of applying menthol is by means of a 
simple inhaler consisting of a small glass tube of about one-quarter 
of an inch in diameter and two and a half inches in length. Both 
ends are closed by a piece of gauze and two perforated corks, the 
menthol being placed in between. The air is now drawn through 
this tube, and, being heavily loaded with the fumes, clears the nostril 
and relieves the stuffiness. It is not to be only smelled, but inhaled. 
Care should be taken that the crystals are not allowed to enter the 
nostril, as they are almost cauterant in power. Sometimes, where 
great excoriation of the alse of the nose exists, the too persistent use 
of the menthol may produce small herpetic spots about the nostrils. 
When menthol is inhaled for a long time or swallowed in any quantity 
it is apt to produce severe congestive headache. 

Emplastrum Menthol, B. P., is used as a mild local irritant and 
anaesthetic. 



PEPSIN. 

Pepsinum, U. S. and B. P., is the digestive ferment of the gas- 
tric juice. That sold in the shops is generally derived from the pig, 
and is prepared by many persons in many ways. Much of the pep- 
sin of the market contains more peptone than pepsin, and much 
mucus and albumin. Used with hydrochloric acid in weak solution, 
pepsin carries out the digestive action of the stomach. Pepsin con- 
taining peptone has the peculiar musty smell of peptone, and if the 
peptone is in excess will absorb moisture and become sticky on ex- 
posure to the air. 

According to the 77. S. P. of 1890, official pepsin must have the 
power to digest three thousand times its weight of albumin. 

Therapeutics. — Pepsin is a much-overrated remedy for indigestion. 



314 DRUGS. 

Pancreatin will always be found more serviceable, and should be given 
either immediately or one or two hours after meals. Pepsin should be 
used immediately after the food or with it. Hydrochloric acid should 
always be given, as its presence converts any pepsinogen in the gastric 
tubules into pepsin. Pepsin is official in the U. S. P. as Pepsinum 
and Pepsinum Sac char at urn. The dose of the latter must be 20 to 30 
grains (1.3-2.0) to be of any service. It is a weak and almost use- 
less preparation, largely made up of milk-sugar. Liquor Pepsini is 
given in the dose of 2 drachms (8.0). Pure pepsin should be given in 
5- to 15-grain (0.35-1.0) doses. A glycerite ((Jlycerinum Pepsinum) 
is official in the B. P. 

A very useful and readily taken liquid preparation is Pepsin Cor- 
dial, which is given in the dose of 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0) after 
meals. A nutritious article of diet can be made by adding one tea- 
spoonful of this cordial to a half pint of warm milk, and allowing it 
to cool, thereby forming " curds and whey." (See Part III.) 

PERMANGANATE OP POTASSIUM. 

Potassii Per mang anas, U. S. and B. P., is a salt of a dark pur- 
plish-red color, appearing in small crystals and readily soluble in 
water. In the presence of moisture it rapidly gives up the oxygen 
which it contains and becomes the binoxide of manganese. 

By reason of this oxidizing power the permanganate of potassium 
is useful as an antiseptic and deodorant. It should not be employed as 
a disinfectant, because its action is too fleeting, but in saturated solu- 
tion, followed by oxalic-acid solution, it proves itself the best disinfec- 
tant for the hands in surgical practice. (See Antisepsis.) 

Permanganate of potassium is given in the same dose for amenor- 
rhoea as the binoxide of manganese, but is much less efficacious. It 
is also very apt to irritate the stomach. 

The permanganate is thought to be usefnl in dyspepsia, flatulence, 
UtJicemia, and obesity, and in the former states is certainly of service, 
being a destroyer of the abnormal products by oxidation. Owing to this 
oxidizing power, it has been asserted, by Weir Mitchell and Reichert, to 
be the most efficient antidote to snake-venom if placed in the wound 
before the poison is absorbed. It should also be injected hypodermi- 
cally about the seat of the bite. Permanganate of potassium is the best 
antidote in poisoning by morphine and that caused by many other 
vegetable alkaloids. Owing to its rapid evolution of oxygen, it acts 
as an antiseptic, and may be used in the washing of wounds, ulcers, 
and sores, and as a lotion in the form of a gargle or on a swab in the 
sore throat of diphtheria and scarlet fever. The solution used should 
be from 20 to 60 grains (1.3-4.0) to the pint {\ litre) ; the former is 
used on mucous membranes, the latter for sores and wounds. In foetid 
rhinitis and otitis media permanganate solution is useful as a wash in 
the proportion of 1 grain (0.05) to the ounce (32.0). When given in 
solution permanganate of potassium should be dissolved in distilled 
water, and it should never be mixed in a mortar with any organic 
matter, as it will explode. A solution {Liquor Potassii Permangana- 
tis) is official in the B. P. 



PETROLATUM-PHENACETIN. 315 



PETROLATUM. 

Under the name of Petrolatum Molle, U. S., or Soft Petrola- 
tum, or Unguentum Petrolei, is sold a semi-solid substance derived 
from certain kinds of petroleum, and sometimes called Cosmoline or 
Vaseline. 

Owing to its soothing powers and non-rancidity, it is used as an 
emollient dressing in sores and skin affections. It has no value 
except as a protective, and may be given in capsules in cases of gas- 
trointestinal irritation in any quantity as a soothing treatment. It 
does not affect the passages from the bowels and is not absorbed, 
although assertions to the contrary have been made. 

Cosmoline is a useful ointment base for medicines for the skin. 
Under the name of fluid or liquid petrolatum (Petrolatum Liquidum, 
U. S.) a fluid form is sold, which is much used in the form of a spray 
in the treatment of rhinitis and after irritant applications to the nasal 
cavities. 

The U. S. P. now recognizes, in addition to these two preparations, 
Petrolatum Spissum, which has the consistence of a cerate. 



PHENACETIN. 

Phenacetin (Phenacetinum, B. P.) is a coal-tar product introduced 
several years ago as an antipyretic of the same character as antipyrin, 
and, while more apt to disintegrate the blood than the latter drug when 
given in large amounts, is not very dangerous, because its influence 
upon other vital parts is not severe. 

When this drug is carelessly made an impure product is the result, 
which produces irritation of the kidneys, and, in consequence, causes 
grave complications. Reuter states that the impurity may be dis- 
covered by placing a small amount of chloral hydrate in a test-tube, 
melting it at the temperature just sufficient to liquefy it, and then 
adding the suspected sample of phenacetin in the proportion of one- 
fifth. If the phenacetin is impure, it will become purple, then red, 
and finally blue. 

Physiological Action. — Unfortunately, our knowledge of the phys- 
iological action of phenacetin upon the nervous system is not as 
thorough as is desirable. We know, however, that it is a distinct 
nervous sedative, and that it acts particularly on the spinal cord in its 
sensory tracts. 

Upon the circulation the drug has little or no effect, unless given 
in doses far above those generally employed or continued in overdose 
for some time. The blood after the ingestion of these doses becomes 
dark and blackish from the formation of methgemoglobin, and the urine 
becomes dark yellow and reacts with Fehling's solution. Upon normal 
bodily heat and the heat of fever the drug exerts a depressing effect, 
decreasing the production and increasing the dissipation of heat. 

Therapeutics. — Our knowledge concerning the influence of phen- 
acetin upon the human body in disease may be divided into two 



316 DRUGS. 

separate parts in much the same manner that we divide the uses of 
antipyrin — namely, its uses as an antipyretic and as an analgesic. 

Like the other members of the antipyretic group which are blessed 
with this double action, its antipyretic influences were first observed, 
and shall therefore first be spoken of. 

The employment of this drug in medicine was first attempted by 
Hinsberg and Kast, who from the very first spoke of it in the highest 
terms of praise. They found that it seldom, if ever, caused serious 
untoward effects, and that its power over fever, in the dose of from 3 
to 8 grains (0.15-0.5), was quite extraordinary. Very shortly after 
the paper of these writers appeared Kohler published the report of 
its use in some fifty cases in the clinic of Bamberger of Vienna, the 
febrile affections being tuberculosis, pneumonia, typhoid fever, pleurisy, 
and several other diseases of like character. He found, as have most 
of his successors, that the fall of fever does not occur for nearly half 
an hour after the dose is taken, and that the stage of apyrexia con- 
tinues for from four to eight hours afterward. 

As a general rule, sweating was not noted as being present to any 
great extent, but in phthisis and advanced typhoid fever there can be 
no doubt that chilliness and an abnormal fall of temperature may 
come on under its influence. Cyanosis and vomiting did not occur in a 
single one of Kohler's cases. In a very instructive case of pneumonia 
due to septic infection in a patient of twenty years phenacetin not only 
lowered the fever, but in addition decreased, to a large extent, the blood 
in the urine, and did not in the slightest degree influence the kidneys 
unfavorably. That the drug has power is evidenced by the fact that 
Kohler used it only when the temperature reached as high as 103°, 
104°, or 105° F., and in these cases the temperature fell not less than 
from three to five degrees. 

It is a very important fact to be remembered that morning doses 
of phenacetin seldom have as powerful an antipyretic influence as even- 
ing doses. Two morning doses are only equal to one evening dose in 
most cases. 

The conclusions of Kohler have been confirmed by Hoppe in a 
long series of studies, and this writer also points out the deleterious 
excess of apyrexia which sometimes comes on in debilitated cases of 
phthisis under its use. 

One of the advantages of having several drugs belonging to one 
class is the benefit often derived from the use of one where another 
has failed. Thus Hueber found that in several instances phenacetin 
was successful where antipyrin had not acted, and believes it to be 
the more powerful drug of the two — a conclusion also reached by 
Heusner, who thinks that 15 grains (1.0) of phenacetin are equal to 
half as much acetanilid and to 30 grains (2.0) of antipyrin. Lepine, 
who has studied with so much care the other antipyretics, also believes 
it to be superior to them all ; and in this Guttman is largely of the 
same opinion. 

These conclusions as to phenacetin are, in the author's belief, far 
too favorable, for, while he has found the drug to possess powerful 
antipyretic activity and to be useful in nearly all the fevers where anti- 



PHENOCOLL. 317 

pyrin can be employed, he does not look upon it with the same degree 
of confidence that he does the latter drug when anxious to reduce a 
fever which seems dangerous and worthy of rapid and certain reduction ; 
neither does he believe it to be as safe as antipyrin. 

Upon the nervous system phenacetin acts as an antineuralgic — is 
of service in migraine and ordinary headache from eye-strain, in the 
pains of tabes dorsalis, in intercostal neuralgia, and in rheumatism. 
Sometimes it cures these troubles when antipyrin fails. Altogether, 
we may consider phenacetin a rival of antipyrin in the power to 
relieve pain. 

For neuralgia the following prescription may be ordered : 

R. — Phenacetin - .... gr. x (0.65). 

Cafteinse citratis gr. v (0.35). 

Saechar. lactis '. gr. xx (1.3). — M. 

j?t. in chart No. v. 
S. — One powder every two hours while pain lasts. 

In subacute rheumatism and in the lumbar or muscular pains of 
influenza a powder or pill of 4 grains (0.3) of phenacetin and 5 grains 
(0.35) of salol given three or four times a day is most efficient. 

Under the name " Lactophenin" a nearly related compound of 
phenacetin is sometimes used for the same purposes. In phenacetin 
one atom of hydrogen is replaced by an acetic-acid radical ; in lacto- 
phenin this atom of hydrogen is replaced by a lactic-acid radical. 
Similarly " apolysin " is made by replacing the atom of hydrogen by 
a citric-acid radical. It is also used as a substitute for phenacetin. As 
phenacetin is sometimes called acetphenetidin, lactophenin might be 
called lactophenetidin and apolysin citphenetidin. It is asserted that 
apolysin differs from the other drugs just named in that in it there are 
two complete citric-acid groups, and that it is much less poisonous than 
phenacetin. The dose is about the same as that of phenacetin, or a 
little larger, about 5-10 grains (0.30-0.65) three times a day. 



PHENOCOLL. 

Phenocoll is a compound closely allied to phenacetin. It is 
always used in the form of the hydrochloride of phenocoll, which 
occurs in a fine white powder, quite soluble in water and forming a 
neutral solution. It is incompatible with alkalies. It is used as an 
antipyretic. 

Physiological Action. — A number of studies of the action of phe- 
nocoll hydrochloride upon the animal organism have been made by 
Kobert and von Mering in Europe, and by Wood and Cerna and 
Ott in America. These investigators have found that it separates 
itself from most of the coal-tar antipyretics in that it has little effect 
on the red blood-corpuscles. It does not cause so great a sweat when 
the fever falls as do its near antipyretic relatives. Von Mering has 
shown that phenocoll has little lethal power, but Ott asserts that in 
poisonous dose it kills by failure of respiration, and causes paraplegia, 
cyanosis, and depression of the heart. 



318 DRUGS. 

Therapeutics. — Whatever advantages further clinical experience 
will show this drug to possess over its older fellows in the antipyretic 
field, it can never be widely used as a remedy for fever, since no drug 
is now generally employed for this effect except in a limited class of 
cases. As pointed out in the article on the treatment of Fever, anti- 
pyretic drugs are of little value as compared to bathing. Phenocoll 
may be given for the same purposes and under the same circumstances 
in the presence of fever as can antipyrin or acetanilid, but, like these 
drugs, is contraindicated in advanced exhausting diseases, such as con- 
sumption. A number of clinicians have tried phenocoll hydrochloride 
for the relief of rheumatism and to remove neuralgic pain, with asserted 
success. As yet it has not been used largely enough to ensure its 
continuance as a remedy of positive value, except in cases of malarial 
fever, in which it seems to possess distinct remedial power. The dose 
of phenocoll hydrochloride is 5 to 8 grains (0.35-0.6) two to five 
times a day. It is best given in capsule. 



PHOSPHATE OP SODIUM. 

Sodii Phosphas, U. S. and B. P., is a preparation which has been 
used with the idea that it can supplant phosphorus. This is, of course, 
an error, as it has an entirely different effect. It is particularly useful 
for bottle-fed children, who continually alternate between diarrhoea and 
constipation, and is also useful for rickets. It should be added to each 
bottle of milk in the dose of 2 to 4 grains (0.1-0.2). Phosphate of 
sodium in small doses is slightly laxative, and large doses are purga- 
tive. Bartholow believes phosphate of sodium to be the best remedy- 
that we have in hepatic cirrhosis and jaundice. To adults it should 
be given in the dose of 20 grains to 2 drachms (1.3-8.0) once, twice, 
or thrice a day according to the laxative effect desired. 

Many cases of general wretchedness or headache due to an excess of 
uric acid in the blood are relieved by the acid phosphate of sodium or 
of calcium, since both substances cause the disappearance of the acid 
from the blood, not by causing its elimination, but by causing its 
deposit in the tissues in the form of urates. The continued use of 
these so-called acid phosphates is therefore ultimately harmful in gouty 
or rheumatic persons. 

(For an explanation of the purgative action of all salines see article 
on Magnesium Sulphate.) 



PHOSPHIDE OP ZINC. 

Zinci Phosphidum, TJ. S., is often used in place of phosphorus, 
owing to its greater stability and readiness of administration. The 
dose is J^ of a grain (0.006) three times a day. It is used in gela- 
tin-coated pills. 



PHOSPHORIC ACID— PHOSPHORUS. 319 



PHOSPHORIC ACID. 

The pure acid is very rarely employed in medicine, but when 
given is used in 2- to 8-drop (0.1-0.5) doses. In the form of dilute 
phosphoric acid (Acidum Phosphoricum Dilutum, U. S. and B. P.) 
it is widely employed in the dose of 20 drops to 1 drachm (1.3-4.0) 
as a tonic and gastric stimulant. It is not a food to the nervous sys- 
tem, does not resemble phosphorus in its physiological action, and is 
not to be employed in its place. It does good in nervous exhaustion 
simply by stimulating the stomach and thereby aiding that organ in 
the digestion of food. 



PHOSPHORUS. 

Phosphorus, IT. S. and B. P., is a non-metallic element, gener- 
ally obtained from bones, and is very soluble in oils, less so in ether 
and alcohol. Its odor is very characteristic and peculiar. When 
placed in a dark room after exposure to light it is luminous, and if 
exposed to the air will ignite. It should be kept in tightly-stoppered 
bottles under water. Very commonly it is contaminated by arsenic 
and sulphur. 

Physiological Action. — Phosphorus is found in large amount, com- 
paratively speaking, in the bones and in the nervous system, and is a 
stimulant to the growth of both. It acts, therefore, as a direct tonic 
to nervous tissue and is a producer of bone. Upon tissue-waste the 
drug acts as a depressant, thereby preserving the body, as it decreases 
the elimination of urea and diminishes the quantity of carbonic oxide 
exhaled. 

Upon the growth of bones phosphorus has a most remarkable 
influence, causing, when it is given to young animals, great increase 
in the size of these parts. The first change noted is an enlargement, 
which consists in a jelly-like mass containing little or no bone salts, 
and this is finally converted into a very hard material which may fill 
the entire canal in the centre of the bone. Kissel has stated that this 
does not occur, but his results must be doubted in view of the thorough 
studies of Wegner. 

Acute and Chronic Poisoning. — When phosphorus is taken in poi- 
sonous dose, often from the ends of matches, no symptoms may come 
on for eight or ten hours. At the end of that time the peculiar taste 
of phosphorus may be noted in the mouth, the breath is heavily laden 
with its odor, and burning pain in the oesophagus, stomach, and abdo- 
men becomes a pressing symptom. Vomiting and purging now assert 
themselves, and both the matters which are vomited and those which 
are passed from the bowels may be luminous in the dark, owing to the 
presence of phosphorus. The vomit at first consists of food, then 
mucus, then bile, and then perhaps blood. All the symptoms of a mild 
gastro-enteritis may develop, but it is to be noted that constipation of 
an obstinate type may be present instead of purging. Very soon the 
liver increases in size, and gives rise to general hypochondriac pain and 



320 DRUGS. 

tenderness as well as local swelling. At the end of twenty-four hours, 
or perhaps after the second day, a cessation in the symptoms occurs, 
and, if the physician be not on his guard, this will lead him to a hope- 
ful prognosis, but in the course of a few hours jaundice begins in the 
conjunctiva and then extends over the entire body. With the onset 
of jaundice the vomiting and pain return with renewed vigor. The 
matters vomited are often the color of " coffee-grounds," due to exuded 
and altered blood. The bowels are absolutely confined, or the few 
hard masses of fecal matter which are passed are white and clay-like 
because of the absence of biliary coloring matter. There is no bile 
in the vomit in this stage, because the hepatic ducts have been closed 
by the inflammation which has been produced in the liver. Later, 
nervous symptoms ensue. Muscular twitchings, headache, vertigo, 
wild delirium, erotic convulsions, and finally unconsciousness and death, 
occur. Sometimes the convulsions occur just before dissolution. Even 
if the patient survives the acute stage of the poisoning, he generally dies 
of the changes produced in his vital organs, which consist in wide- 
spread fatty degeneration. These fatty changes occur even in the 
acute form of the poisoning. Atrophy of the liver, destruction of the 
gastric tubules, pancreatic involvement, and kidney degenerations aid 
in producing the ultimately fatal results. 

During the poisoning by phosphorus the urine is scanty and per- 
haps albuminous, and is peculiar because of the unusual substances 
which are found in it. The most unusual of these is sarcolactic acid, 
which results from the breaking down of the muscular tissues. Leucin 
and tyrosin are also found, and tube-casts with fatty globules in them 
are seen. Free fat-globules may also occur. Bile acids and bile col- 
oring matter are found in large amount, and the urine is generally 
dark-colored for this reason. As phosphorus is eliminated in the urine 
as hypophosphoric acid, this substance is also present. 

The symptoms of phosphorus poisoning may so closely resemble 
those of acute yellow atrophy of the liver as to make a differential 
diagnosis impossible, unless some evidence of the presence of phos- 
phorus is obtainable. 

In chronic poisoning by phosphorus, when, by the inhalation of its 
fumes, systemic changes occur, the most common lesion is necrosis of 
the lower jaw, which may be widespread or limited. ■ It never occurs 
in those who have no solution of continuity in the teeth or gums, and for 
this reason it is necessary that the employes in match-factories should 
have their teeth and gums constantly attended to. It has been said 
that pans containing turpentine when set around the work-room will 
protect the workmen, but this is certainly incorrect. 

Treatment of Acute Poisoning. — The antidote to phosphorus is 
generally taught to be the sulphate of copper, which will also act as an 
emetic if given in excess, but recent studies made by Thornton in the 
laboratory of Jefferson Medical College prove that it is as dangerous 
a poison as the phosphorus. Peroxide of hydrogen and permanganate 
of potassium are probably the best antidotes. Oil of turpentine, in 
America, is not only valueless as an antidote, but harmful, for only 
old, ozonized French oil of turpentine is antidotal in its influence. 



PHYSOSTIGMA. 321 

As phosphorus is soluble in oils, we simply aid in its absorption if 
any such substances are given. 

Therapeutics. — -Owing to its influence on the development of bone, 
phosphorus is very useful in rachitis and osteomalacia. It is also 
useful in the sweats of general or nervous debility and in nervous 
exhaustion, and in some cases of melancholia depending upon over- 
work. In the course of prolonged exhausting diseases, as typhoid 
fever or typhoid pneumonia, the drug is of service if the nervous 
system seems to be particularly affected, and in convalescence it is of 
service in aiding to build up the shattered forces of a patient. 

In the sequelae of acute and chronic alcoholism and in morphio- 
mania it is of service. Phosphorus is also employed in sexual 
exhaustion or abuse. In boils and carbuncles and similar disorders 
phosphorus is very useful, particularly so in acne indurata. In pneu- 
monia some physicians use minute doses with the belief that it aids in 
the production of resolution, one of the most enthusiastic of these 
being Dr. Boardman Reed. 

In the neuralgia from nerve-depression and in cerebral softening and 
meningitis of a chronic type phosphorus often does good. 

The dose of phosphorus is yj-g- to -£$■ of a grain (0.0006-0.0012) 
in pill form (Piluloc Phosphoric U. S. and B. P.), but it may be grad- 
ually pushed to -^ of a grain (0.003) if urgently needed. Phospho- 
rated oil {Oleum Phosphor atum, U. S. and B. P.) and Spiritus Phos- 
phoric U. 8., are given in the dose of 1 to 5 minims (0.05-0.35). 
JElixir Phosphori ( U. S.) is given in the dose of 15 minims to 1 
drachm (1.0-4.0). 

The beginning dose of phosphorus should not be above yro °f a 
grain (0.0006), for fear of some idiosyncrasy. 



PHYSOSTIGMA. 

Physostigma, TJ. S. (Physostigmatis Semina, B. P.), is a seed 
•derived from Physostigma venenosum, a tree of West Africa, often 
called Calabar bean. It contains two alkaloids, eserine or physostig- 
mine and calabarine. The former is the most important from a med- 
ical point of view. 

Physiological Action. — When a moderate dose of physostigma is 
given by the mouth it often produces some pain in the stomach and a 
sense of oppression and weakness. The pulse becomes slow, the respi- 
ration is depressed, and the pupils are contracted. Calabar bean in 
poisonous dose is a general paralyzant, but if the alkaloid calabarine 
be present in excess, it may be a convulsant. 

Nervous System. — On the spinal cord in poisonous dose this drug 
acts as a depressant poison, particularly affecting the sensory tracts. 
On the motor nerves it exerts no influence unless given in toxic doses, 
when it depresses their peripheral ends. The sensory nerves escape, but 
sometimes even they are involved. On the voluntary muscles the drug 
in these doses causes twitchings. In medicinal doses the drug is a stim- 
ulant to unstriped muscular fibre and acts as a mild nervous sedative. 

21 



322 DRUGS< 

Circulation. — Calabar bean causes little circulatory change, but 
poisonous doses at first produce a rise of arterial pressure, due to a 
direct stimulation of the heart and of the muscular coats of the vessels. 
It slows the pulse by peripheral stimulation of the vagi. In medicinal 
dose its circulatory effect is not marked, but is depressant rather than 
stimulant. 

Respiration. — In moderate amount Calabar bean does not affect 
respiration, but in poisonous dose it produces death by paralysis of 
the respiratory centre. 

Pupil. — Physostigma causes myosis or contraction of the pupil by 
stimulation of the oculo-motor nerves peripherally, but not by depres- 
sion of the sympathetic fibres, and by causing contraction of the blood- 
vessels of the iris. It decreases intraocular tension, produces tempo- 
rarily an increase in the power of accommodation for near objects, and 
then causes spasm of accommodation. The myosis usually develops in 
about eight to fourteen minutes after the drug is dropped into the eye, 
and reaches its maximum in thirty minutes, lasting for from six to 
eight hours. The partial influence may last, however, for from four 
to five days. 

Alimentary Tract. — Physostigma is a stimulant to intestinal 
peristalsis, increasing the muscular activity in the walls of the gut 
and acting as a tonic to these fibres. 

Poisoning. — Poisonous doses of physostigma cause muscular trem- 
ors, followed by complete muscular relaxtion. The pupils contract, 
the respirations become slow and irregular, and all reflex action fails. 
Vomiting or purging may or may not occur. 

Treatment of Poisoning. — This consists in the use of atropine, 
which is the physiological antidote, in the application of heat to the 
body, and the use of respiratory and cardiac stimulants, such as digi- 
talis, alcohol, or ammonia. 

Therapeutics. — Calabar bean has been employed in many affections, 
such as trismus neonatorum, tetanus, and other spasms, with only 
moderately good results. It is, however, of value in atony of the 
bladder and intestines and in catarrh of the bowels. The author has 
used it with advantage in cases of gastric and intestinal dilatation, 
combined with nux vomica. 

In bronchial asthma and emphysema it will aid in the expulsion 
of the mucus by its influence over the muscular fibres in the walls 
of the air-tubes. It is also useful in purgative pills to stimulate the 
muscular fibres of the intestine. (See Constipation.) 

Administration. — Physostigma is used in the form of the extract 
(Extr actum Physostigmatis, U. S. and B. P.) in the dose of \ of a 
grain (0.008), which may be readily increased to J of a grain (0.016). 

The tincture (Tinctura Physostig?7iatis, U. S.) is given in the dose 
of 5 to 20 drops (0.3-1.35). This tincture is twice as strong as that 
official in the U. S. P. of 1880. 

Eserine is usually employed in the form of one of its salts. Phy- 
sostigmince Salicylas, U. S., and Physostigmince Sulphas, U. S. and 
B. P., may be used in the dose of -fa of a grain (0.0008) three 
times a day. The sulphate is much more soluble, and is generally 



PICRIC ACID— PILOCARPUS. 323 

to be employed. The salicylate is largely used, nevertheless, by 
ophthalmologists. In the eye, of the strength of 1 to 2 grains to 
the ounce (0.05-0.1 : 32.0) of water, eserine is used in the treatment 
of corneal ulcerations and for the relief of glaucoma and for the relief 
of high intraocular tension. If, for any reason, atropine mydriasis is to 
be rapidly overcome, eserine is to be used, but it is not so powerful as 
atropine, and it will require larger amounts of the solution to produce 
contraction than it took of atropine to cause mydriasis. Lamellce 
Physostigmince, B. P., each contain y-oVo of a grain (0.00006) of 
physostigmine. The dose of both salts of eserine is y^o"--^o °f a 
grain (0.0006-0.0008.) 

PICRIC ACID. 

Picric Acid or Trinitrophenol occurs in light-yellow scales or 
needles without odor, and is chiefly used in the arts as dye. Its 
uses in medicine are very limited. Recently it has been found exceed- 
ingly efficacious in solution in the treatment of burns and scalds. 
This solution is made as follows : 

R. — Acid, picric gr. lxxv (5.0). 

Alcohol f^iiss (75.0). 

Aquae destillafce Oij (1000 c.c).— M. 

After the burn is cleansed of dirt and charred clothing, strips of ster- 
ilized gauze are soaked in this solution and applied to the part. Over 
this is placed a pad of dry absorbent cotton which is fastened by a light 
bandage. The dressing rapidly dries, and may be left in place for 
several days. It is then moistened with the solution so as to soften it, 
is removed, and then a fresh dressing is applied for a week. All blis- 
ters should be pricked. This dressing relieves pain, stops suppuration, 
and leaves a smooth cicatrix. 



PILOCARPUS. 

Pilocarpus, U. S. {Jaborandi Folia, B. P.), is derived from the 
South American tree, Pilocarpus Selloanus or Pilocarpus Jaborandi. 
It contains two alkaloids, known as pilocarpine and jaborine, a volatile 
oil, and other minor constituents. The alkaloid pilocarpine is non- 
crystallizable and occurs as a soft mass, but the salts of pilocarpine are 
crystallizable. Jaborine is never used in medicine, and has an effect 
antagonistic to pilocarpine, or like atropine. 

Physiological Action. — When jaborandi is taken in medicinal dose 
by a healthy man, it causes a deep flushing of the face and neck, fol- 
lowed by the outbreak of a profuse sweat, which, though beginning 
in these regions, rapidly spreads over the entire body. Accompany- 
ing the sweat, the salivation is often exceedingly profuse, so that 
saliva dribbles from the mouth. Nausea frequently comes on, and 
severe vomiting may appear in susceptible persons either during or 
after the sweating. On the contrary, some individuals are singularly 
insusceptible to the influence of pilocarpus, and this is particularly so, 



324 DRUGS. 

according to Ringer, with children, who will often take as much as 
60 grains (4.0) of the crude drug before they perspire. Some adults 
also refuse to yield to its influence. 1 The sweat lasts from three to 
five hours. 

Nervous System. — Moderate doses have no effect on this part of 
the body, but poisonous amounts cause in the frog tetanic reflex con- 
vulsions, and finally paralysis, the latter being due to depression of 
the muscles and spinal centres. The motor and sensory nerves in man 
are not affected. Medicinal doses in man exercise no effect over the 
nerves. 

Circulation. — In large doses there is no doubt that jaborandi 
acts as a cardiac depressant rather than as a stimulant, and, while 
there may be no evidence of an experimental character pointing to 
such a conclusion, the fact exists in practical medicine. The drug 
causes in the lower animals a slow pulse and increased arterial pres- 
sure, in moderate quantities, the first change being due to an action on 
the inhibitory centres in the heart or on the peripheral vagi. Ringer, 
on the other hand, has proved that it slows the beat of the ventricles 
in the frog when they are separated from these centres, and believes 
that the drug acts directly on the motor centres of the heart-muscle 
and the muscle itself. In man the drug does not slow the pulse, but 
quickens it very markedly, often as much as forty to fifty beats per 
minute. The rise of arterial pressure seen in the animal is often 
replaced by a fall of pressure in man, and, though the pulse in ani- 
mals is generally made stronger from its use, in man it is generally 
made weaker. 

Stomach. — Jaborandi sometimes produces nausea and vomiting by 
irritating the stomach and perhaps the vomiting centre. 

Temperature. — Jaborandi lowers bodily temperature to a con- 
siderable degree, probably by the dilatation of the peripheral capil- 
laries and the profuse sweat which it produces. This fall is some- 
times preceded by a brief rise. 

Kidneys and Tissue- waste. — Upon the kidneys jaborandi acts 
very slightly or very strongly, according to the dose that is given. 
Large doses, which produce a profuse sweat, naturally decrease the 
urinary secretion, and small ones undoubtedly increase it. Upon the 
tissue-changes in the body under pilocarpine no researches have been 
made, but it is an undoubted fact that in disease the excretion of urea 
is largely increased under the influence of this drug. 

Eye. — Jaborandi contracts the pupil by stimulating the peripheral 
ends of the oculo-motor nerve in the iris. 

Skin and Secretion. — The amount of sweat caused by the drug 
in man may equal as much as a pint, and it is generally first acid, from 
the secretions of the sebaceous glands, then neutral, and finally alka- 
line. The sweating is not primarily due to vasomotor palsy, but to 
stimulation of the ends of the nerves supplying the glands and of the 
sweat-glands themselves. The sweat usually lasts about two to three 

1 The writer has reported a case (see Idiosyncrasy) where a woman of thirty 
years received | of a grain of the muriate of pilocarpine hypodermically in half an 
hour without any eflect. 



PILOCARPUS. 325 

hours. Sometimes excessive salivary secretion supplants that of the 
skin. 

Pilocarpine increases the gastric, salivary, and lachrymal secretions, 
as well as that of the skin and kidneys. It also seems to have con- 
siderable influence over the secretion of milk. 

Therapeutics. — Jaborandi, or, better still, its alkaloid, pilocarpine, 
is of some value for the relief of dropsy of the renal type. In that 
due to cardiac disease it is generally too depressing, and the author 
knows of a case in which a fatal result speedily followed its use under 
these circumstances. It may be used to abort an attack or paroxysm 
of malarial fever, but because of its depressant influence should never 
be employed in asthenic fevers, such as typhoid fever. In pleurisy with 
effusion it may be used, but more efficient remedies are elaterium, or 
salines given in concentrated form and at the proper time of the day. 
(See Magnesium Sulphate and Dropsy.) Better than all these is 
thoracentesis. Spaulding and de Schweinitz have both recommended 
very highly the hypodermic use of pilocarpine in the dose of ^ to 
^ grain (0.005-0.006) a day for opacities of the vitreous humor of the 
eye. The fluid extract of jaborandi may be employed, but is apt to 
nauseate the patient. Diaphoresis should not be produced. Because 
of its myotic influence on the pupil pilocarpine is of very great value 
in the treatment of all conditions of the eye associated with increased 
intraocular pressure. It is so good a myotic as to be rapidly supplant- 
ing eserine for this purpose with some clinicians. The strength of pilo- 
carpine solution for this purpose is 1 to 4 grains (0.06-0.25) to the 
ounce (30.0). It should be dropped into the eye, 1 or 2 drops at a 
time, every hour until the patient is relieved. Pilocarpine is also use- 
ful as an ocular tonic to relieve eye-pain after excessive use of the eyes, 
in the strength of ^ grain (0.006), to the ounce (30.0). A few drops 
of this solution may be dropped into the eye three times a day. This 
solution should have a little boric acid (4 grains) added to it to prevent 
fungus growth. (See Asthenopia.) Clinical reports show that pilo- 
carpine in small doses is a very good remedy in tobacco and alcoholic 
amblyopia. 

Mitkowski has tried pilocarpine in catarrhal jaundice of a persistent 
type with great benefit, in the hypodermic dose of J grain (0.01) every 
other day for three weeks. In urcemic poisoning pilocarpine is theoreti- 
cally the most efficient and rapidly acting remedy that we have, and when 
used in Bright' 8 disease it may be of value in several ways — first, by 
removing the strain on the kidneys ; second, by eliminating the ursemic 
poison ; and third, by decreasing the inflammatory condition in the 
kidneys by lowering the blood-pressure, which, it will be remembered, 
is the more constant effect of the drug in man. Care should always be 
used in the use of the drug lest cardiac depression ensue, and alcohol 
or strychnine may often be used with advantage to guard against this 
accident. The general consensus of opinion is that in the nephritis of 
middle years or advanced life with cardiac changes it is contraindicated. 
The author never uses it in chronic renal disease of the parenchyma. 
In the ursemic convulsions of pregnancy pilocarpine, while theoretically 
useful, has been proved by experience to do more harm than good 



326 DRUGS. 

through its depressing influences, although the drug in small doses cer- 
tainly increases renal activity. The hypodermic dose of pilocarpine as 
a renal stimulant should be about -g^ to ^ of a grain (0.002-0.003). 
In some forms of profuse sweating, such as come on at night in cases 
of general debility, pilocarpine, if given hypodermically or by the 
mouth about two hours before the sweat in the dose of -^ of a grain 
(0.003), is often useful even where atropine fails. The good effect is 
produced by stimulating the sweat-glands and so overcoming their 
atony. 

DaCosta, Salinger, and Barr have highly recommended the hypo- 
dermic injection of pilocarpine in erysipelas as a preventive and cura- 
tive measure in the early stages of this disease, and their reports are so 
encouraging as to warrant a careful trial of the method. The proper 
dose is \ grain (0.01) every three hours until free sweating ensues. 
After this is accomplished the doses may be repeated every four or six 
hours. The author would fear that such active treatment might 
seriously affect the strength of the patient unless stimulants were also 
used. 

In cases of obstinate aural vertigo a most efficient treatment is the 
hypodermic use of pilocarpine every few days in sufficient dose to pro- 
duce some salivation. The patient has to lie down or go to bed after 
the dose is given. 

Pilocarpine certainly has a decided effect in encouraging the growth 
of hair, and applied locally will often do good in partial baldness. If too 
much pilocarpine is used, it is apt to cause the development of small 
pustules about the hair-follicles. Bartholow recommends the following 
application for baldness : 

R.— Extract, pilocarpi fluid f 5j (32.0). 

Tincturse cantharidis f ^ss (16.0). 

Liniment, saponis f ^jss (48.0). — M. 

The author has found the following prescription peculiarly effica- 
cious in falling of the hair : 

R. — Extract, pilocarpi fluid f £j (4.0). 

Tr. capsici f £j (32.0). 

Tr. cantharidis f £ss (2.0). 

01. ricini f gj (4.0). 

AlcohoL . . m > . q. s. f |iv (128.0).— M. 

S. — Apply with friction in spots to the scalp, night and morning. 

Antagonisms of Jaborandi. — Jaborandi is a physiological antidote 
to atropine and to agaricin. Four times the dose of pilocarpine must 
be used to equal a dose of atropine. Vomiting produced by pilocarpus 
is to be antagonized by morphine. 

Untoward Effects. — Dimness of vision, vomiting, and sudden col- 
lapse, swelling of the salivary glands and tonsils, hiccough and strang- 
ling are sometimes met with after using pilocarpus. Sometimes bloody 
leucorrhoea is seen. The vomiting can usually be prevented by full 
doses of chlorodyne. 

Administration. — The dose of jaborandi is 40 grains (2.65), used 
in the form of the powdered leaves in infusion. The fluid extract 



PIPERAZINE. 327 

(Extr actum Pilocarpi Fluidum, U. S., Extr actum Jaborandi Liqui- 
dum, B. P.) should be used in the dose of 30 drops to 1 drachm 
(2.0-4.0). Pilocarpine is far superior to jaborandi, in that it does 
not so often produce nausea and vomiting. It is used in the form of 
the hydrochlorate (Pilocarpince Hydrochloras, U. S.), in the dose of 
from -^ to -|- of a grain (0.008-0.03) hypodermically, or J to -|- of a 
grain (0.015-0.03) by the mouth. 

The additional preparations of the B. P. are — the tincture {Tine- 
tura Jaborandi), dose \ to -J- fluidounce (8.0-16.0) ; and the nitrate of 
pilocarpine (Pilocarpine Nitras), ^- to \ grain (0.003-0.03). 



PIPERAZINE. 

This is a substance, the chemical formula of which is C 4 H I0 N 2 , 
which has been recently introduced into medicine for the treating of 
the uric-acid diathesis. It is not stable, and when exposed to the air 
attracts water and carbonic acid. Aqueous solutions are decidedly 
alkaline, but do not have any distinct taste. 

Piperazine is peculiar in its power to dissolve uric acid, dissolving 
twelve times as much as will carbonate of lithium, while it is also 
entirely soluble in water, which lithium is not. When taken into the 
body the drug is partly oxidized and partly eliminated unchanged. 
Theoretically, piperazine, when taken into the body, forms with uric 
acid a urate of piperazine, which is soluble and readily eliminated. 
Experiments have been made to determine this point with very satis- 
factory results, but repeated clinical observation has shown that the 
administration of the drug causes an increase in the amount of urea 
in the urine with a decrease in the uric acid, indicating that under its 
influence oxidation is more complete. 

Therapeutics. — Piperazine is used for the purpose of preventing the 
formation of renal and vesical calculi in the uric-acid diathesis, and 
also in cases where the excess of uric acid in the urine tends to pro- 
duce irritation of the bladder. Similarly, its action has been found 
of value in treating vesical irritation due to this cause by washing out 
the bladder with a solution of piperazine of the strength of 1 per cent. 
Piperazine has also been injected into uric-acid deposits about the 
body or applied to the broken-down surfaces of these deposits in 1 
per cent, solution, but the author has not been favorably impressed 
with this method, and would advise against its use — first, because it 
does little if any good, and, second, because the method is painful 
and apt to cause sloughs by interfering with nutrition of the skin, 
which is already lacking in health. 

The dose of piperazine is 15 grains (1.0) in twenty -four hours. It 
is best given by dissolving this amount of the drug in 1 pint (-^ litre) 
of water, and directing the patient to take a wineglassful of the solu- 
tion frequently through the day. Owing to the effect upon the drug 
of exposure to air, it cannot be given in pill or powders, and should 
be freshly mixed each day. The writer has failed to obtain any 
results from the use of this drug in his practice. 



328 DRUGS. 

Stewart has noted, as untoward effects of full doses of piperazine, 
tremors, hallucinations, and clonic spasms. 



PISCIDIA ERYTHEINA. 

Piscidia Erythrina is a drug which is stated to possess marked nar- 
cotic and pain-relieving properties. It is sometimes called Jamaica 
dogwood. Its powers as a soporific and analgesic do not compare 
with those of opium, but it is stated to be devoid of the unpleasant 
after-effects of the latter drug. Further studies concerning its effects 
on the animal economy are needed. According to Dr. Isaac Ott and 
Dr. Nagle, the drug has little or no effect on the motor and sensory 
nerves, and its dominant effect on the circulation is to increase arterial 
pressure through stimulation of the vasomotor system. The indica- 
tions which have been met best by piscidia are dysmenorrhoea due to 
irregular flow and spasm of the uterine cervix and fundus, to allay 
nervous irritability, and to relieve pain or insomnia due to pain. 

Administration. — The dose of the fluid extract of piscidia erythrina 
is l to 2 drachms (2.0-8.0); of the solid extract, 2 to 10 grains (0.1- 
0.65). The alkaloid piscidine is not known to represent all the prop- 
erties of the drug, and is not used in medicine. 



PITCH. 

Pix is a resinous exudation derived from several species of pines, 
firs, and spruces, and is, in one of its forms, obtained by the evapora- 
tion of wood-tar. It is used for various purposes, according to its 
derivation. Burgundy Pitch (Pix Burgundica, U. S. and B. P.) is 
derived from Norway spruce, or Abies excelsa, a plant of Europe and 
Asia. It softens and melts at the temperature of the body and is use- 
ful for plasters. In muscular rheumatism and in chronic bronchitis 
pitch is a mild and fairly useful local remedy for external use. In the 
form of the plaster (Emplastrum Picis, B. P., Burgundicce, U. S.) 
and in the form of warming plaster (Emplastrum Picis Canthari- 
datum, U. S.) it is employed for the relief of deep-seated sprains and 
bruises, and acts as a mild counter-irritant, which may blister a tender 
skin. Canada Pitch (Pix Canadensis) is obtained from the hemlock 
spruce of Canada and the United States, and is used for the same 
purposes as Burgundy pitch. The Canada-pitch plaster (Emplastrum 
Picis Canadensis) is employed for the same conditions as the plaster of 
Burgundy pitch. 

Tar. 

Under the name of Pix Liquida, U. S. and B. P., or Tar, we have 
an empyreumatic oleoresin obtained by destructive distillation from 
Pinus palustris and other varieties of pine. It is a thick, dark oil, 
slightly soluble in water and soluble in alcohol, oils, and solutions of 
potassa and soda. By distillation of tar we obtain oil of tar (Oleum 



PITCH. 329 

Picis Liquidce, U. S.), which is sometimes used for bronchitis by inha- 
lations from an atomizer, but is not a particularly use application. It 
should be diluted with some other oil or with fluid cosmoline. Tar itself 
is used in subacute and chronic bronchitis in 2-grain (0.1) pills and as 
a remedy for g astro-intestinal catarrh. Externally, it is used in psori- 
asis and other skin diseases needing stimulation. For the relief of 
obstinate diarrhoea Wood has highly recommended a mixture of tar 
made as follows : Add a pint of tar to a gallon of lime-water, and allow 
this solution to stand one week, stirring it every few hours. Decant 
the clear liquid and percolate it through powdered wild-cherry bark, 
allowing 1 ounce of the bark to be present for each pint passed 
through it. The dose is a wineglassful (30.0). 

In chronic bronchitis tar-water is largely used, as a popular rem- 
edy, in Europe and England. Tar-water is made by shaking 1 part 
of tar with 4 parts of water several times during twenty-four hours, 
decanting, and filtering. The dose is from 1 to 2 pints (J-l litre) 
a day as a drink. It at first increases the expectoration, but finally 
decreases it. 

Syrup of Tar (Syrupus Picis Liquidw, U. S.) is simply sweet- 
ened tar-water. 

In skin diseases of the dry, scaly sort, such as psoriasis, tar oint- 
ment ( Unguentum Picis Liquidce, U. S. and B. P.), equal parts of 
tar and suet, is very useful if frequently applied, or the following 
may be used : 

R -i?S^r ipitat } **uw. 

Scorns viridis } _. aa gij (64.0). 

Pulv. crete ' giv (16.0). 

If the skin is tender, this prescription should be diluted with lard. 
Sometimes children will suffer from a persistent dry chronic eczema 
which resists all treatment ; the following may then be employed with 
advantage : 

R.— Picis liquid , . . . £ss (2.0). 

Sulphur, prsecip £ss (2.0). 

Unguent, zinc, oxidi ^j (32.0). 

S.— Apply night and morning. 

Tar should not be used on the face, as it will stain the skin. 

Wine of Tar ( Vinum Picis) is made by adding together tar 1 
pint, glycerin, white wine, and honey, of each J a pint, dilute acetic 
acid 1 ounce, and 3 quarts of boiling water, and shaking constantly 
at a temperature of 160° F. for several hours. It is then set aside 
to stand for some days and repeatedly filtered or strained through 
muslin. The dose is 1 to 4 ounces (32. 0-128.0). It may be used 
instead of tar-water or tar-syrup. 



330 DRUGS. 



PODOPHYLLUM. 



Podophyllum, TJ. S. (Podophylli Bhizoma, B. P.), May Apple or 
Mandrake, is the rhizome and small roots of Podophyllum peltatum, a 
plant of the United States and Canada. Podophyllum contains a resin, 
podophyllin. 

Therapeutics. — Podophyllum is the slowest-acting purge official in 
the Pharmacopoeia. In small doses it is laxative, hut is purgative and 
almost drastic in larger amounts. In overdose it may produce gastro- 
enteritis. The drug particularly excites the flow of bile, and is used as a 
cholagogue. It is best given when the stools are dark in color, calomel 
being indicated when they are light. The author has found the follow- 
ing prescription useful in cases of intestinal flatulence and indigestion 
with constipation : 



R. — Podophyllin . 
Euonymin . . 
Leptandrin . . 
Ext. chiratse . . 
Creasotse . . . 
Ft. in pil. No. xx. 



gr. v (0.26). 
gr. v (0.26). 
gr. v (0.26). 
gr. xlv (2.8). 
gr. x (0.65).— M. 



In children one or two months old who have hard, stony stools podo- 
phyllin is a good remedy. The dose should be given by dissolving a 
grain of the resin in a drachm of alcohol and using 2 drops or more 
of this on sugar once or twice a day. In children who suffer from 
summer diarrhoea, in which the passages consist almost entirely of 
water, which have a p'eculiar musty smell or a mouse odor, podophyllin 
in the dose of ^ to ■£$ of a grain (0.001-0.0012), repeated every few 
hours, is of service, seeming to control the passages and make them 
normal. This treatment will often succeed when all else fails. This 
statement is also true in regard to the chronic diarrhoeas of adults, 
though the drug should be given in somewhat larger amounts in such 
cases. Podophyllin will also check vomiting in these doses in some 
instances, provided that the stomach is depressed and the liver is tor- 
pid. It should not be employed if the vomiting is due to irritation 
or inflammation of the stomach. 

Administration. — Podophyllum is used in the form of the extract 
(Extr actum Podophylli, TJ. S.), dose 1 to 5 grains (0.05-0.35) ; the 
fluid extract (Extr actum Podophylli Fluidum, TJ. S.), dose 2 to 20 
drops (0.1-1.3) ; and, more commonly than all, as the Besina Podo- 
phylli, TJ. S. and P. B., or podophyllin, which is the best preparation. 
The dose of this preparation is from -^ to ^ of a grain (0.003-0.006) 
as a feeble laxative, and from -^ to J a grain (0.006-0.03) as a purge. 
The tincture of the resin (Tinctura Podophylli, B. P.) is given in the 
dose of 15 minims to 1 drachm (1.0-4.0). 



POMEGRANATE. 

Although G-ranatum ( TJ. S.) is official, it is almost never used in 
America in its crude form. It contains an alkaloid known as pelle- 



POTASSIUM BICARBONATE. 331 

tierine, this alkaloid being a colorless liquid, soluble in 20 parts of 
water and readily miscible with ether, chloroform, and alcohol. When 
acids are added to it, it forms crystalline salts, of which four are used 
— namely, the tannate, the sulphate, the hydrobromate, and the hydro- 
chloride. The first is most commonly employed, and is a yellowish 
powder possessing an astringent taste. It is soluble in 700 parts of 
water and 80 of alcohol. Its physiological action needs further inves- 
tigation, but the drug in poisonous amounts paralyzes the peripheral 
ends of the motor nerves in a manner closely resembling the action of 
curare. Sensibility is preserved. The loss of power is chiefly mani- 
fested in the lower limbs, in which at first there may be cramps. Tnere 
may also be nausea and vomiting. 

Therapeutics. — Originally, pomegranate was largely used in the form 
of the rind of the fruit in decoction as a vegetable astringent, but 
this practice has ceased because of its disagreeable taste and effect upon 
the stomach. The ailments which were supposed to indicate its em- 
ployment were serous diarrhoea and profuse sweats. In some tropical 
countries the bark of the root is used as a vermifuge, and it is very 
efficient in removing the tape-worm. It is said that the bark of the 
root of the wild shrub is much more efficacious than that of the cul- 
tivated and more handsome plant. To be efficacious the dose of the 
decoction of the bark must be large. The drug is prepared by soak- 
ing 2 ounces (64.0) of the bark in 2 pints (1 litre) of water for 
twenty-four hours and then boiling down to a pint (J litre). A wine- 
glassful (32.0) of this is the dose which is generally given, and it may 
be repeated every hour until the whole amount is taken. The objec- 
tion to this line of treatment is that it is unnecessarily severe, often 
purging and vomiting the patient excessively. The nausea produced 
is often great. Should purging fail to appear, it is necessary to give 
castor oil or other purge to dislodge the worm, and it is always neces- 
sary to starve the patient for twelve hours before the remedy is tried. 

The dose of pelletierine is 3 to 5 grains (0.25-0.35), and the tan- 
nate is the salt always employed. Practically, the only pelletierine 
used is that of Tanret, and his preparation is a syrupy solution in 
each bottle of which is one dose of the drug. 

As large doses as 20 grains (1.3) of pelletierine have been used, 
but as very serious paralytic symptoms have ensued after the inges- 
tion of 5 grains by a susceptible woman, not more than this amount 
should be given. When pelletierine is used it should always be fol- 
lowed in two hours by a purge. Those who have used it most place 
great reliance on it. 

The B. P. contains one official preparation of pomegranate — 
namely, the Decoctum G-ranati Corticis, the dose of which is 1 to 2 
fluidounces (32.0-64.0). 

POTASSIUM BICARBONATE. 

This salt (Potassii Bicarbonas, U. S. and B. P.) is used for the 
same purposes as the citrate and acetate of potassium, and, as it is 
much less agreeable in taste, should not be employed when they can 



332 DRUGS 

be obtained. From the bicarbonate of potassium are made several 
very useful preparations : the liquor potassii citratis, by adding 120 
grains (8.0) to 90 grains (6.0) of citric acid and 10 ounces (320.0) of 
water; the neutral mixture, by adding to 1 pint (500.0) of lemon-juice 
enough of the potassium salt to neutralize it. The dose of potassii 
bicarbonas is 5 to 40 grains (0.3-2.6), or even as much as 2 drachms 
(8.0) may be given if well diluted with water. 

POTASSIUM BROMIDE. 
(See Bromide of Potassium.) 

POTASSIUM CARBONATE. 

Carbonate of Potassium (Potassii Carbonas, U. S. and B. P.). 
This salt is never used in medicine, except to prepare other salts, as 
it is disagreeable to the taste and is an irritant. (See Potassium 
Citrate.) 

POTASSIUM CITRATE. 

Citrate of Potassium (Potassii Citras, TJ. S. and B. P.) is a white, 
granular, deliquescent salt, almost neutral in reaction and very solu- 
ble in water. It is by far the most agreeable of all the salts of potas- 
sium to the taste. In the early stages of bronchitis it is of the greatest 
value when combined with ipecac (see Bronchitis), and it is also use- 
ful as an alkaline diuretic. In bronchitis the dose should be 20 grains 
(1.4) every four hours, and in urinary incontinence due to acid and 
concentrated urine the dose should be equally large. 

Under the name of neutral mixture (Mistura Potassii Citratis), 
made by adding to 1 pint (^ litre) of lemon-juice enough bicarbonate 
of potassium to neutralize it, we have a useful febrifuge drink in 
fevers, particularly those of childhood. The dose is -J- to 1 ounce 
(16.0-32.0) every few hours. 

Liquor Potassii Citratis, U. S., is made in the same manner as is 
tbe neutral mixture, except that citric acid is substituted for the 
lemon-juice (citric acid 6 grm., potassium bicarbonate 8 grm., and 
water 100 cc). 

The neutral mixture is the better preparation of the two, but more 
expensive. A very refreshing and agreeable way of prescribing this 
drug is in the form of ''effervescing draught," made by mixing two 
solutions which are prepared as follows : 1. Lemon-juice and water, 
equal parts, enough to make 4 ounces (128 gm.). 2. Bicarbonate of 
potassium 1 drachm (4.0) and water 3 ounces (96.0). These solutions 
are to be mixed in the quantities desired, and taken while efferves- 
cing. If lemon-juice is not at hand, a solution of citric acid of the 
strength of 2 drachms (8.0) to 4 ounces (128.0) of water should be 
employed in its stead. 

Under the name of Potassii Citras Effervescens the U. S. P. of 
1890 calls for an official powder possessing the advantages of the 
mixture just named. 



POTASSIUM IODIDE— QUASSIA. 333 

POTASSIUM IODIDE. 

(See Iodide of Potassium.) 

PRUNUS VIRGINIANA. 

Prunus Virginiana, U. S. and B. P. — Wild Cherry, as it is incor- 
rectly called — is the bark of Prunus serotina, a large tree of the 
United States and Canada. It contains two substances, known as 
emulsin and amygdalin, which when they come together in water 
form hydrocyanic acid. 

Therapeutics. — Wild-cherry bark is largely used as a domestic tonic, 
and in the form of a syrup as a vehicle for cough mixtures. 

It has been supposed that the hydrocyanic acid present allays the 
cough, but this is doubtful, as the acid is very fleeting in its effect and 
present in very small quantity. 

Administration. — As a tonic it is used in the form of the infusion 
(Infusum Pruni Virginiance, U. S.), dose J to 1 ounce (16.0-32.0), 
and the fluid extract (Extraction Pruni Virginiance Fluidum, U. S.), 
dose *30 drops to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0). The syrup (Sgrupus Pruni 
Virginiance, IT, S. and B. P.) is given in the dose of 1 to 4 drachms 
(4.0-16.0). The B. P. also contains a tincture (Tincturce Pruni 
Virginiance) given in the dose of 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0). 



PYROGALLOL. 

Pyrogallol, U. S., sometimes called Pyrogallic Acid, is a triatomic 
phenol obtained by dry distillation of gallic acid, and should be kept 
in dark, well-stoppered bottles. It occurs in light white scales or crys- 
tals, has no odor, but a bitter taste. If exposed to the light, it becomes 
dark. It is soluble in 2J parts of water, and readily so in ether and 
alcohol. 

Therapeutics. — Pyrogallol is used in parasitic skin diseases, in 
ointment, in the strength of 30 to 100 grains (2.0-7.0) to the ounce 
(32.0). The stronger ointments exercise a mild caustic effect. It 
may be employed in place of chrysarobin in psoriasis. Unfortu- 
nately, it stains the skin a deep brown. 



PYOKTANIN. 
(See Methyl Blue.) 

QUASSIA. 

Quassia, U. S. (Quassice Lignum, B. P.), is the wood of Picrcena 
excelsa, a large tree of Jamaica and other islands of the West Indian 



334 DRUGS. 

group. It contains an active principle, named quassin, which is 
intensely bitter and an irritant to mucous membranes. 

Quassia is a simple bitter tonic which has been used very largely in 
domestic medicine and by the medical profession. It is very efficient 
as a tonic, is supposed to be particularly useful in the anorexia follow- 
ing malarial fevers, and has even been thought to possess antiperiodic 
power. In simple dyspepsia with eructations after meals, not due to 
gastritis, it is very serviceable. 

In the treatment of seat-ivorms {Oxyuris vermicular is), or thread- 
worms, as they are often called, injections of the infusion of quassia 
are the most efficacious and useful remedial measures we possess, and 
are also very harmless to the patient. The bowel should be well 
washed out by soap and water, and J pint to a pint of an infusion, made 
by adding 1 or 2 ounces (32.0-64.0) of quassia chips to a pint (J litre) 
of water, should be injected and retained for some minutes. A few 
such injections will invariably kill the parasites, provided the bowel 
is first well washed out with soap and water and enough fluid be 
injected to reach high up into the rectum. 

Administration. — The tincture ( Tinctura Quassias, TJ. S. and B. P.) 
is given in the dose of J a drachm to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0), the fluid 
extract {Extr actum Quassia? Fluidum, U. S.) J a drachm (2.0), and 
the extract {Extr actum Quassias, TJ. S.) 1 to 3 grains (0.05-0.15). 
The infusion {Infusum Quassias, B. P.) is given in the dose of -J to 2 
ounces (16.0-64.0), and is made by macerating 1 drachm (4.0) of 
quassia with 10 ounces (320.0) of water, and allowing it to stand 
twenty-four hours or more. 



QUBRCUS ALBA. 

Quercus Alba, TJ. $., or White Oak, in infusion is used as an 
astringent injection in Gonorrhoea and vaginitis in the female, where 
a large amount of fluid is necessarily employed. It is also used in 
prolapse of the rectum, in hemorrhoids, in leucorrhoea, and as a gargle 
in sore throat. It stains the clothing very slightly. 

Quercus Tinctoria is equally efficient, but is seldom used, because 
it stains the clothes very badly. Either may be used in infusion of 
the strength of 1 ounce to the pint (32.0 : J litre). In the form of 
the powdered bark it is often used as an astringent poultice to freely 
running sores to check the discharge. 

RESIN, or ROSIN. 

Resina, TJ. S. and B. P., is Resin or Rosin, the mass left after 
the distillation of turpentine, and enters largely into plasters, cerates, 
and similar preparations. Its burning fumes when inhaled are said 
to be of value in cases of chronic bronchitis. Ceratum Resince, TJ. S., 
is used in chilblains and superficial scalds, and Emplastrum Resince, 
TJ. S. and B. P., is adhesive plaster. Unguentum Resince is a B. P. 
preparation used for the same purposes as the plaster or cerate. 



EESOBCIN. 335 



RESORCEST. 

Resorcin, IT. S. (metaclioxybenzol), is the weta-compound of the 
group of which hydrochinone is the para- and pyrocatechin the ortho-, 
and occurs in clear crystals of a slightly reddish hue. It is quite 
soluble in water, alcohol, and ether. 

Physiological Action. — Resorcin is an irritant to mucous mem- 
branes, and when taken internally in poisonous doses causes deafness, 
giddiness, salivation, profuse sweat, unconsciousness, and clonic con- 
vulsions. The heart of the dog under its influence is at first slowed 
by vagal stimulation, and then becomes very rapid from vagal palsy. 

Therapeutics. — Resorcin has been found of service as a remedy for 
whooping cough, given in the dose of 10 drops (0.65) of a 2 per cent, 
solution or used in a spray of the same strength, the latter being the 
better method of using the drug. 

Resorcin has also been employed in a spray in 2 per cent, solution 
in hay fever with remarkably good effects. It has been used as an 
antipyretic, but is not serviceable and has little power over strong 
fevers. 

The chief use of resorcin is in skin affections of a subacute or 
chronic character, such as eczema with much induration, and in psori- 
asis. In these states an ointment of the following character, well 
applied, is of service : 



R— Eesorcin £j (4.0). 

Zinci oxidi 3j (4.0). 

Ung. aqua? rosse ... £x (40.0). — M. 

S. — Apply to the part affected twice a day. 
After mixing the ointment heat it until the resorcin crystals melt, to prevent any 
irritation of the skin. 

Resorcin is also of service in weak solution in allaying itching of 
the skin due to erythematous eczema. For this purpose it should be 
used in watery solutions of about 10 to 15 grains to the ounce, and a 
little salt added to aid in its absorption by the skin. This should be 
dabbed, not rubbed, on the part : 

R. — Kesorcin gr. xv (1.0). 

Glycerin ff\,x (0.65). 

Liquor calcis fij (30.0). — M. 

In slowly spreading epithelioma of the face the following plaster, 
recommended by Hartzell, is useful : 

R. — Resorcin gr. lxxii (5.0). 

Cerae flav. et pulv. resinse 3jss. (6.0) 

01. olivse q. s. — M. 

Within the last few years resorcin has been employed with good 
results in the treatment of gastric ulcer in the dose of 2 to 4 grains 
(0.1-0.2) before each meal in pill or capsule. It is supposed to act 
by reason of its analgesic, antiseptic, and haemostatic power. 



336 DRUGS. 

RHIGOLENE. 

This is a product of petroleum obtained by repeated redistillation 
until the liquid resulting from this process boils at 64.4° F. It 
evaporates more rapidly than any other known liquid, except cymo- 
gene, which boils at 32° F., and is used in a spray for the production 
of localized numbness or freezing before minor painful operations, 
such as the use of the actual cautery. 

RHUBARB. 

Rheum, TJ. S. (Rhei Radix, B. P.), is the root of Rheum offici- 
nale, a plant of Thibet, but which is cultivated in America and else- 
where. It is also derived from China, and this variety is known as 
Chinese rhubarb. Several alkaloids are contained in it, all of which 
are unimportant and never used alone, except chrysophanic acid. 

Physiological Action. — According to the studies of Prevost and 
Binet, rhubarb acts inconstantly upon the flow of bile, sometimes 
increasing it, sometimes having no effect, but, on the other hand, 
according to those of Rutherford and Vignal, it never fails to stimu- 
late biliary secretion. Owing to the astringent properties possessed 
by rhubarb, it does not purge excessively, and improves the appetite, 
digestion, and intestinal tone. 

Therapeutics. — Whenever it is desired simply to unload the bowels 
without affecting the general system rhubarb may be employed. In 
other words, it is useful in simple constipation. In children a state 
is very commonly seen in which constipation is replaced by diarrhoea 
if any ordinary laxative is employed, and in these instances rhubarb 
is the best remedy, as it is astringent and prevents any after-effects 
beyond those directly produced by the dose. In the summer diarrhoea 
of children, when the stools are green, rhubarb is often used to empty the 
bowels of fermentative products before direct treatment is instituted. 

Rhubarb, because of its chrysophan, may stain alkaline urine car- 
mine or acid urine yellow. 

Administration. — The preparations of rhubarb are unnecessarily 
numerous. Rhubarb itself may be given in the dose of 20 grains 
(1.3) in powder, and small pieces of the root are habitually chewed 
by some persons for the relief of constipation. Extr actum Rhei, 
TJ. S. and B. P., is given in the dose of 5 to 10 grains (0.35-0.65) 
in pills. Piluloe Rhei, TJ. S., of which each pill contains 3 grains 
(0.25) of rhubarb, is given in the dose of one to three pills (0.05-0.25) ; 
and Piluloe Rhei Compositus, TJ. S. and B. P., which contain 2 grains 
(0.1) of rhubarb and 1J (0.09) of aloes, are given in the same dose. Pul- 
vis Rhei Compositus, TJ. S. and B. P., contains rhubarb, magnesia, 
and ginger, and is given in the dose of 20 to 40 grains (1.3-2.6); Ex- 
tractum Rhei Fluidum, TJ. aS'., is given in the dose of 20 to 30 minims 
(1.3-2.0). Syrupus Rhei, TJ. S. and B. P., is given in the dose of 
1 drachm (4.0) to a babe, and 4 drachms (16.0) to an adult, although 
rarely used for older persons. Syrupus Rhei Aromaticus, TJ. S., is 
given in the same dose and to the same class of cases. Tinctura 



RHUS AR0MAT1CA—R0SA CENTIFOLIA. 337 

Rhei, TJ. S., is used in the dose of 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0), Tinc- 
tura Rhei Aromatica, TJ. S., is used in the dose of f to 1 drachm 
(2.0-4.0), and Tinetura Rhei Duleis, U.S., 2 to 3 drachms (8.0-12.0). 
The aromatic spirit is commonly employed for children, and the com- 
pound pills for adults. Infusum Rhei, B. P., is given in the dose 
of 1 to 2 ounces (32.0-64.0), and Mistura Rhei et Sodoe, U. S., in 
the dose of 2 drachms to 3 ounces (8.0-96.0). 

RHUS AROMATICA. 

Sweet Sumac is unofficial, but has been so largely used of late 
that it deserves notice. In hcematuria, monorrhagia, diabetes insip- 
idus, and in urinary incontinence in children depending upon vesical 
atony it has been highly praised. In the latter affection a sufficient 
amount of experience has been acquired to t show that it really is of 
benefit. Rhus aromatica should be used in the form of the fluid 
extract, derived from the bark of the roots according to the general 
directions in the Pharmacopoeia for making fluid extracts. The 
dose as a remedy for urinary incontinence is 15 drops (1.0) of this 
preparation. Adults may take from 15 to 60 drops (1.0-4.0). The 
drug is best given with glycerin and water. 



RHUS GLABRA. 

Rhus Grlabra, TJ. S., Smooth Sumac, is the fruit of Rhus glabra, 
and contains tannic and malic acids as its chief constituents of me- 
dicinal value. In the fluid extract (Bxtractum Rhois Glabra? 
Fluidum, TJ. S.) we have an official preparation which is very 
efficient as a gargle for sore throat when diluted with glycerin and 
water or prepared according to the formula given under Chlorate 
of Potassium. 

ROCHELLE SALT. 

Potassi et Sodii Tartms, TJ. S. {Soda Tartarata, B. P.), is largely 
used as a saline cathartic in the dose of ^ an ounce (16.0), and is 
preferred by many patients to Epsom salts because its taste is not so 
disagreeable. It is, however, more irritating. Rochelle salt is the 
purgative constituent of Seidlitz powder. 

ROSA CENTIFOLIA. 

Rosa Centifolia, TJ. S., Pale Rose, possesses almost no medicinal 
value, but is mentioned because its official preparations are largely 
used by the laity and physicians. 

Aqua Rosa 3 , TJ. S. and B. P., is used as a diluent or solvent for 
preparations, such as astringents, which are to be employed locallv, 
as in injections for gonorrhoea. It may also be used internally for 
these purposes. Unguentum Aquai Rosas, TJ. S. and B. P. y is " cold 

22 



338 DRUGS. 

cream," and is largely used as an emollient application to small burns, 
sores, cuts, scratches, and chapped hands and lips. It is much 
improved if a little glycerin and benzoic acid are added to keep it 
sweet in warm weather. 

ROSA GALLICA. 

Rosa Grallica, U. S. {Rosas Gallicas Petala, B. P.), Red Rose, con- 
tains more gallic and tannic acids than pale rose, and is astringent. 
From it are prepared the Extr actum Rosas Fluidum, U. S., dose 5 
drops to 2 drachms (0.35-8.0), used to flavor other extracts, and the 
Confectio Rosas, U. S. and B. P., which is used as a basis for pills. 
Mel Rosas, U. S., or honey of rose, is employed as a local application 
or as a vehicle for gargles, and the Syrupus Rosas, U. S. and B. P., 
dose 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0), as a flavoring substance. The acid 
infusion (Infusum Rosas' Acidum, B. P.) is given in the dose of 1 to 
2 ounces (32.0-64.0). 



RUBUS ID^JUS, or RASPBERRY. 

Rubus Idasus, U. S., or Raspberry, is used for the preparation of a 
syrup {Syrupus Rubi Idasi, U. S.) which is employed very largely as 
an elegant vehicle or flavoring mixture. The leaves are often used 
in domestic medicine in a decoction or infusion for the cure of diar- 
rhoea when an astringent is needed. 



RUE. 

Ruta graveolens is the source from which we derive the Oil of Rue. 

Physiological Action. — Locally applied, rue is an irritant, produ- 
cing vesication, and if taken internally in large amount gastro-enteritis, 
Avhich may be very severe. It is eliminated by the lungs, kidneys, 
and skin, and its odor is easily noticed in all these secretions. If the 
dose be poisonous, vomiting, great pain in the belly, and epileptiform 
convulsions come on, but death has rarely occurred. 

Therapeutics. — Rue has been used as an abortifacient, but with 
great danger to the mother. Its action is most uncertain even when 
poisonous doses are employed. It has been given in colic as a car- 
minative, and seems to be really valuable in atonic menorrhagia and 
metrorrhagia. 

Given in capsule, oil of rue has been employed for the removal 
of lumbricoid or round-worms, but ought not to be so used. The 
dose of the oil is 3 to 6 drops (0.25-0.40). 



SACCHARIN. 

Saccharin is a compound first prepared by Fahlberg under the 
direction of Professor Remsen of Johns Hopkins University. It is 



SALICYLIC ACID. 339 

a remarkably sweet substance, two hundred and twenty times stronger 
than sugar in sweetening power, and is used largely to sweeten glucose 
and in confections. It escapes from the body unchanged, and has 
been used in place of sugar in cases of diabetes and gout to sweeten 
coffee, food, or medicine. 

The dose is indefinite, but it is to be noted that a very few grains 
will sweeten a very large bulk of material. As 1 grain (0.06) is 
equivalent to about 1 teaspoonful (16.0) of sugar, less than 1 grain is 
the quantity usually given. It is commonly sold in small tablets con- 
taining half a grain each (0.03). 

Physiological Action. — Upon the circulation and similar vital func- 
tions saccharin has no effect, but Plugge has proved it to retard the 
action of all the digestive ferments, and to be in consequence harmful 
to diabetics whose digestion is impaired. 



SALICYLIC ACID. 

Salicylic Acid (Acidum Salicylicum, U. S. and B. P.) occurs in 
fine white crystals or in fine white powder. It has a sweet yet acrid 
taste, and is derived from carbolic acid by treating it with caustic 
soda and carbonic acid at a moderate heat. Sometimes it is derived 
from plants in which it exists in combination, although the artificial 
acid is chiefly used. If the crystals are pinkish in hue, the acid 
should not be used, as it is probably impure. It is soluble in 500 
parts of water and 4 parts of alcohol. 

Physiological Action. — On mucous membranes salicylic acid acts 
as an irritant. (See Poisoning.) 

Nervous System. — Upon the nervous system salicylic acid exerts 
comparatively slight effects in medicinal doses, causing buzzing in the 
ears, decrease of the reflexes, and finally producing, in overdose, epi- 
leptiform convulsions by an action on the brain. 

Circulation. — Upon the circulation the effects of salicylic acid 
are not very marked in medicinal dose. It undoubtedly has a depress- 
ant rather than a stimulant effect, but the depression is very slight. 
It is sufficient, however, to make the use of the drug in cases of feeble 
circulation worthy of thought and care. 

Respiration. — Salicylic acid stimulates the pulmonary vagi and 
respiratory centre, but if the dose be poisonous death is due to respi- 
ratory failure. 

Temperature. — The effect of salicylic acid on temperature has 
been studied by the author with a good deal of care. The drug acts 
as a distinct antipyretic upon fevered states, and is a slight depress- 
ant of normal bodily heat. The studies of Gedl, Furbringer, and 
See also show this, and those of Danewsky point to it. In the experi- 
ments of North upon man, after and during exercise, the antipyretic 
effects were marked. According to the author's studies, the drug 
lowers fever by diminishing heat-production and increasing heat-dis- 
sipation, but this is by no means positively decided as a fact. 

Absorption and Elimination. — Salicylic acid is absorbed from 



340 DRUGS. 

the stomach as a salicylate of sodium, and so circulates in the blood. 
It is eliminated by the kidneys and by all the secretions. In the 
urine it appears as salicyluric acid. According to Kolbe, after a dose 
of 1 ounce (30.0) elimination does not commence for three hours, but 
Fleischer found the drug in the urine in one and a half hours. Usually, 
however, it is far more rapidly eliminated, and, as pointed out by 
Soullier, after a dose of 15 grains (1.0) it appears in the urine in ten 
to twenty minutes and after 30 grains (2.0) in five minutes. The 
elimination continues for a period of from thirty-three to fifty-six hours. 
(Weill). The urine after large doses is dark olive-green, and this 
change in color is due to the presence of indican and pyrocatechin, 
which are formed by the action of the pancreatic juices upon the drug 
in the intestine. The presence of salicyluric acid in the urine is to 
be discovered by the addition of a solution of the chloride of iron to 
that fluid, which causes the appearance of a violet color. 

Poisoning. — Salicylic acid when taken in excessive dose causes 
profuse sweating, roaring in the ears, dimness of vision, headache, 
partial or total deafness, and a decided fall in temperature. The 
pulse becomes weak and relaxed, and finally ptosis, strabismus, and 
general paralysis ensue. The urine and faeces are passed involun- 
tarily, and the urine is olive-green in color. The respirations at first 
are quickened and deepened, but finally become shallow and feeble, 
death ensuing from respiratory failure. 

If the dose is sufficiently large, the blood is involved and the cor- 
puscles rapidly break down. 

Therapeutics. — Salicylic acid, owing to its close resemblance to 
quinine, was first introduced as an antiperiodic and antipyretic, but 
soon was found to be of an inferior value in these states and of super- 
lative value in rheumatism. At present it is rarely if ever used for 
either of the former purposes, but is largely employed as a standard 
remedy for the latter trouble. 

The value of salicylic acid in rheumatism limits itself solely to 
the relief of pain and the cure of the malady without preventing the 
complications incident to its course. That is to say, the changes in 
the joints or heart in rheumatism are only of less frequency after the 
use of salicylic acid because the drug shortens the disease, and not 
because it prevents these changes by a direct influence ; this is also 
true of rheumatic hyperpyrexia, .where salicylic acid is of service 
in shortening the attack, though it often fails to control the tempera- 
ture to any great extent. In acute rheumatism 15 to 20 grains (1.0— 
1.3) should be given every four hours until marked physiological 
symptoms occur. Another method is to give 30 or 40 grains at 7 and 
9 P. M., with a copious draught of milk, so that the main effects will be 
produced during sleep. It is to be remembered, however, that in many 
cases the salicylates are of no value whatever, merely producing sweats 
and headaches, and it is also worthy of note that nothing else does 
these cases much good, as they seem bound to run a given course before 
the patient recovers. If a cure does take place, relapses are very 
common indeed, and the drug should always be continued for several 
days after all symptoms cease. In gonorrhoeal rheumatism salicylic 



SALICYLIC ACID. 341 

acid is of little value until the gonorrhoea is cured, when the rheuma- 
tism also ceases, whether we give salicylates or not. In rheumatoid 
arthritis it is entirely valueless. The question as to the value of the 
salicylates in cases of gout is one open for debate. Some physicians 
regard it as useful, others as useless. Thus Duckworth states that in 
his experience and that of his friends the salicylates do not compare 
with colchicum. On the other hand, Se'e, Jaccoud, and Haig find 
them useful. If they are of any value it is only when the dose is very 
large, and even then their usefulness seems to be doubtful. In subacute 
rheumatism citrate of potassium and sodium may be used in place of 
salicylic acid in the dose of 30 to 60 grains (2.0-4.0), and these salts 
are to be taken just before going to bed. In lumbago, sciatica, and 
similar states salicylic acid is a very useful remedy. While it is not as 
good as antipyrin in neuralgia, it is of great service in the migraine 
of rheumatic persons, often entirely curing the disease. Haig has 
proved that the salicylic compounds all aid in the excretion of uric 
acid, and thinks they relieve rheumatism in this manner. 

Brunton has highly recommended the use of the salicylates with 
the bromides in the nervous irritability of gouty or lithsemic persons. 

Salicylic acid has been largely used for the removal of pleural effu- 
sion if the effusion be serous. Dock believes that the duration of 
treatment is less with the salicylates than by the use of diuretics, 
alteratives, or purgatives, but the author has not reached good results 
from this plan of treatment. The dose should be from 1 to 2 drachms 
(4.0-8.0) daily. Doses larger than this are not necessary. How sali- 
cylic acid does good in pleural effusion we do not know, for its diuretic 
properties are not sufficiently great to drain away the liquid by this 
means. 

In quinsy or true tonsillitis the drug is a specific, particularly when 
rheumatism is the cause. It will generally prevent suppuration, shorten 
the attack, and relieve the pain and swelling. The doses should be 
small, say 3 grains (0.25) at each dose, and given hourly. In stomatitis, 
after the blisters have broken, the burning and pain are often intense, 
and a mouth-wash of salicylic acid in the proportion of 1 to 250 of 
water is useful. 

Ringer recommends the use of the following salve in pruritus of 
the anus and vulva : 

R. — Acid, salicylic ^ij (8.0). 

01. theobromse 3 v (20.0). 

Cetacese £iij (12.0). 

01. myristicse fgiss (6.0). — M. 

In the treatment of corns there is probably no better application 
than lint soaked in a solution of salicylic acid, or the use of the fol- 
lowing formula : 

R. — Acid, salicylic gr. xxx (2.0). 

Ext. cannab. indicae gr. v. (0.35). 

Collodii _ fjss (16.0).— M. 

S. — Apply with a brush until a good coat is formed. 

A useful salve for the soreness following horseback or bicycle 
riding is one composed as follows : 



342 DEUGS. 

R — Acid, salicyl gr. x. (0.(55). 

Adip. benzoinat 5y (32.0). — M. 

S. — Apply to the sore part. 

A solution of salicylate of sodium or of bicarbonate of sodium, 
applied on lint to inflamed rheumatic joints, often gives great relief. 
Smearing an ointment of salicylic acid over the joints not only pro- 
duces good effects locally, but by absorption of the drug influences 
the disease. (See Rheumatism, Part IV.) 

In gastric dilatation or catarrh, where vomiting occurs and the 
matters vomited contain sarci?ice, salicylic acid will be found of ser- 
vice, and Bartholow thinks it of value in paroxysmal gastralgia. In 
adults suffering from ascaris lumbricoides, or round-worms, salicylic 
acid may be used in the dose of 8 grains (0.6) every hour till 40 
grains (2.65) are taken. This treatment should be followed by the 
use of a purge. For thread- or seat-worms the following injection 
will be found of service : 

R. — Acid, salicylic ^ss (2.0). 

Sodii borat ^ss (2.0). 

Aquae Oj (500.0).— M. 

S. — Warm, and inject into the bowels. For a child reduce this one-half in all its 
parts. 

In bromidrosis of the feet (excessive sweating with foetor) salicylic 
acid may be dusted over the parts, or the following powder used : 

R. — A cidi salicylic. ) __ - na r\\ tvt 

Pulv. ainyl. } • ; • • • «* &» (16.0).-M. 

S. — Apply to the feet. 

In eczema of the face and hands, where the eczema is of the wet or 
weeping variety, salicylic acid, locally applied, is often of great service. 

R . — Acidi salicylic gr. v vel x (0.3-0.65). 

Pulv. amyli ^ij (8.0). 

Pulv. zinci oxid £ij (8.0). 

Petrolati 'Jss (16.0).— M. 

S. — Apply locally. 

If the eczematous process is subacute and needs stimulation, the 
salicylic acid may be increased to 20 or 30 grains (1.3-2.0). 

Contraindications to the use of the salicylates are meningeal in- 
flammation or congestion, middle-ear disease, albuminuria, inactivity 
of the kidneys, particularly as occurring in pregnancy, and Bright's 
disease. 

Antiseptic Use. — Salicylic acid is employed as an antiseptic in the 
treatment of wounds as a local remedy and as a dressing, but should 
not be applied over too large an area, as it may be absorbed and pro- 
duce constitutional symptoms. As an application to small burns a 
mixture of 1 drachm (4.0) of salicylic acid to 8 ounces (256.0) of 
olive oil is of service. 

In the treatment of soft chancres and venereal sores salicylic acid 
has been largely used by some practitioners either as a salve or as a 
dusting-powder, as follows : 



SALICYLIC ACID. 343 

R. — Acid, salicylic gr. xx (1.3). 

Alcohol gtt. xlv (3.0). 

Adipis benzoinat Jij (64.0). — M. 

R. — Acid, salicylic gr. xv (1.0). 

Pulv. amyli vel cretse ^ij (8.0). — M. 

Salicylic acid may be added to urine to prevent its decomposition, 
but will sometimes cause the tests for sugar to appear. Patients taking 
salicylic acid often notice that the urine is odorless after standing, and 
that it will remain fresh for many days because of the salicylic acid 
present in it. It may cause the reaction of sugar in the urine in 
Trommer ? s test. 

Untoward Effects. — Salicylic acid, as already stated, may produce 
headache and roaring sounds in the ears. In persons with middle-ear 
disease it is contraindicated unless urgently called for, as it often makes 
the deafness permanently worse. Sometimes erythema or acne follows 
its employment, and blindness and retinal hemorrhages have been 
found to occur. Stnimpell asserts that delirium of an active character 
sometimes appears after full doses of salicylic acid, which delirium is 
usually happy in its type, and is seen most commonly in young girls. 
Sometimes full doses produce visions which may be seen only when 
the eyelids are closed. It would be impossible to enumerate all the 
untoward effects which have been noted, but it is worthy of remark 
that very few deaths have taken place. 1 Binz thinks that full doses 
of salicylic acid may produce abortion in women who already have a 
tendency to abort, and Vineberg thinks that menorrhagia and metror- 
rhagia are caused by it. 

Administration. — Salicylic acid has a nauseous, disagreeable taste and 
is irritant to the stomach. It should be given in a solution of glycerin 
and water, or its taste may be covered by the use of syrup of bitter 
orange-peel or syrup of ginger. The following formulae may be used: 

R.— Acid, salicylic gij (8.0). 

Tinct. lavandulse corap. ........ f^iv (16.0). 

Glycerini f§ss (16.0). 

Aquae • q. s. ad f^viij (256.0) — M. 

S. — A tablespobnful (16.0) every two hours. 

Or, 

R.— Acid, salicylic ^ij (8.0). 

Glycerini fgss (16.0). 

Svrup. aurantii f^iv (128.0). 

Aquae q. s. ad fgviij (256.0).— M. 

S. — A tablespoonful (16.0) every two hours. 

Salicylic acid may be used in pill or capsule, but is irritant to the 
stomach in so concentrated a form ; it must be taken with much water, 
and should follow rather than precede meals. 

If buzzing in the ears produced by this acid is annoying, bromide 
of sodium in the dose of 20 grains (1.8) will generally give relief. 

Salicylic-acid ointment (Unguentum Acidi Salici/liei, B. P.) is a 
useful preparation for external application in chronic, deep-seated skin 
diseases. 

1 See author's Boylston Prize Essay of Harvard University on Antipyretics. 



344 DRUGS. 

Salicylate of Methyl. 
(See Gaultheria.) 

Salicylate of Sodium. 

Salicylate of Sodium (Sodii Salicylas, U. S. and B. P.) is a less 
irritant and somewhat less disagreeable preparation than salicylic 
acid. Its internal action, use, and doses are the same as those of the 
acid. It may be given by dissolving it in milk, and then adding ren- 
net to produce a curd, which covers the taste and protects the stomach. 

Other salicylates are largely used by some persons. Salicylate 
of lithium is supposed by some physicians to be of more value than 
the other salts. 

SALOL. 

In appearance, Salol, U. S. and B. P., is a white crystalline 
powder, faintly aromatic and almost without taste. It is not soluble 
in water, but is in alcohol, and an alcoholic solution forms an imper- 
fect emulsion when mixed with water. Salol is also slightly soluble 
in copaiba, in the oils of sandalwood and of turpentine, and in 
mineral oils. This solubility is very useful in prescribing it with 
these remedies in certain diseases of the genito-urinary apparatus. 
(See Gonorrhoea.) 

Salol is a compound of 60 parts of salicylic acid and 40 of car- 
bolic acid, and is decomposed by the pancreatic juice into these two 
substances. For this reason overdoses are capable of producing symp- 
toms of carbolic-acid poisoning. Thus 20 grains of salol (1.3) taken 
five times a day will cause a man to take 40 grains (2.65) of carbolic 
acid, which is almost a poisonous dose. 

Hesselbach has proved that salol is very apt to affect the kidneys 
unfavorably, and rightly believes it to be contraindicated in all cases 
of renal inflammation of an acute type. 

It is worthy of note that the drug rarely produces untoward effects, 
although at one time a number of observers accused it of frequently 
doing so. 

Salol is used for the same purposes as salicylic acid in the treatment 
of rheumatism when the stomach is irritated so that it cannot bear the 
latter drug, and it often acts well in these cases, as it is dissolved in the 
small intestine. A dose often used is 10 grains (0.65) an hour, but 
this is too much, as a rule, and may produce dangerous symptoms. 
Salol is also useful in muscular rheumatism and neuralgia due to 
exposure. In pharyngitis 5 grains (0.3) of salol, given three times 
daily, is a valuable part of the treatment of the affection, and in per- 
sons subject to chronic sore throat due to the uric-acid diathesis this 
treatment will often produce extraordinary results. It is of the great- 
est use in duodenal catarrh and catarrhal jaundice. 

In the treatment of gonorrhoea in all its stages salol may be 
employed by the mouth, as in its elimination it sterilizes the urine 



SALOPHEN— SANDAL-WOOD OIL. 345 

and tends to disinfect or sterilize the urethra at each act of mic- 
turition. (See Gonorrhoea.) 

Salol is of very great value in cases of intestinal indigestion and 
fermentation, and is sometimes used in cases of mild or pernicious 
anwmia when it is thought that the development of decomposition pro- 
ducts is their cause. (See Anaemia.) In diarrhoea dependent upon 
such causes salol is one of the best remedies we have, since it renders 
the intestinal canal antiseptic, and so removes the cause of the disorder, 
instead of locking the putrid material in the bowel, as does opium. 
In cholera morbus the writer's friend, Dr. Fussell of Philadelphia, has 
found the following very useful : 

K.-Salol 3H4.0). 

Bismuth, subnitrat ^ij (8.0). 

Misturae cretre q. s. ad f^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Two teaspoonfuls (8.0) every two hours. 

Wide experience with the drug in the treatment of cholera during 
recent epidemics has proved it to be one of the best remedies we can 
employ in the treatment of this disease. 

Salol may be given in wafers, capsules, or pills. 



SALOPHEN. 

Salophen has been introduced into medicine as a substitute for 
salol, and is said to possess the advantage of being far less poisonous 
than salol, because in this case the phenol of the salol is replaced 
by a compound of phenol which is innocuous. Experiments on ani- 
mals seem to indicate that these theoretical advantages are present in 
fact. Like salol, salophen is broken up in the intestine by the juices 
there present, and the result is salicylic acid and acetylparamidophenol. 
Salophen contains about 10 per cent, less salicylic acid than does salol 
(51 per cent.), and appears in the form of thin, white laminge nearly 
insoluble in water. It is tasteless. 

Therapeutics. — For the therapeutics of salophen the reader is 
referred to the article on Salol, as the indications for both drugs are 
identical, save that salophen can probably be used when salol cannot 
be employed. The dose of salophen is from 5 to 20 grains (0.35-1.3) 
three times a daj^. It can be very effectually combined with phen- 
acetin in the treatment of neuralgia. In subacute rheumatic affec- 
tions it is certainly very useful. 



SANDAL-WOOD OIL. 

Sandal-wood Oil {Oleum Santali, U. S. and B. P.) is derived from 
the wood of Santalum album, a tree of India, and has a hot, burning 
taste. The odor is very pleasant, and the oil has been used as a per- 
fume. In overdose the oil is capable of producing great irritation of 
the genito-urinary passages. 

Therapeutics. — The oil of sandal-wood is much used by genito- 



346 DRUGS. 

urinary surgeons in chronic gonorrhoea and gleet for the purpose of 
stimulating depraved mucous membranes to proper action, and in 
chronic cystitis to act as a tonic to the bladder. 

In the subacute or later stages of bronchitis, when the expectora- 
tion is thick and ropy and the cold is not readily "thrown off," the 
oil of sandal-wood is efficacious. Dr. Daggett strongly recommends 
its use in cases of asthma associated with marked catarrhal symptoms, 
and in the excessive cough following influenza it is of great value. 
In all cases it should be given in capsules in the dose of 5 to 20 drops 
(0.35-1.3), 5 drops (0.35) being generally sufficient, although drug- 
gists generally keep it in 10-minim (0.65) capsules^ Oil of sandal- 
wood may irritate the stomach, but it is not so apt to do so as are 
cubebs or copaiba. 

SANGUINARIA. 

Sanguinaria, V. S., or Blood-root, is the rhizome of Sanguinaria 
canadensis, and has been largely used in medicine, but is a danger- 
ous remedy, possessing more power for harm than good. Its chief 
alkaloid is sanguinarine. 

Poisoning. — Sanguinarine in poisonous dose causes vomiting, purg- 
ing, profuse salivation, and finally tonic convulsions which are spinal 
in origin. Death is due to respiratory failure, but the circulation is 
much decreased in force and frequency. 

Therapeutics. — The employment of sanguinaria in chronic bron- 
chitis is about the only purpose for which it is now employed to any 
extent. As an emetic in croup it has been largely used, but is too 
irritant and depressant, and ought not to be so employed. According 
to Bartholow, the drug acts as an hepatic stimulant, and is of service 
in g astro-intestinal catarrh with jaundice. 

Administration. — The dose of the fluid extract (Extractum San- 
guinarioe Fluidum, U. S.) is 1 to 5 drops (0.05-0.35) as an expec- 
torant, or 10 to 30 drops (1.0-2.0) as an emetic. If the drug does 
not cause vomiting after an emetic dose, it must not be allowed to 
remain in the stomach, as it is poisonous. The tincture (Tinctura San- 
guinaria?, U. S.) is the best preparation to use, and may be given in 
20- to 30-drop doses as an expectorant, and 1 to 3 drachms (4.0-12.0) 
as an emetic. The vinegar {Acetum Sanguinaria?) is no longer official, 
but is given in the dose of 10 to 30 drops (0.65-2.0), and as an emetic 
in the dose of 2 to 4 drachms (8.0-16.0). 

SANTONIN. 

Santoninum, TJ. S. and B. P., is a neutral principle derived from 
Levant Worm-seed or Santonica, which is the unexpanded flower- 
heads of Artemisia pauciflora, a plant of Asia Minor and Turkestan. 
Santonin is soluble in alcohol and chloroform, but less so in water. 
Santoninic acid is formed by warming santonin with alkalies, and 
Hesse has found that santonin is an anhydride of santoninic acid. 
Santoninic acid is more soluble than santonin. 



SANTONIN. 317 

Poisoning. — Santonin causes, when taken in overdose, muscular 
tremors, convulsive movements, unconsciousness, and sometimes epi- 
leptiform convulsions. 

One of the most common symptoms of the poisoning is chroma- 
topsia or xanthopsia, during the existence of which all objects look 
yellow. This is due to the staining of the humors of the eye by the 
drug. This may go on to total blindness or pass away in a few days. 
If the vision is not yellow, it may be green. The urine is also 
stained — first yellow, then saffron, and finally purple-red, or is 
bloody-looking. This is not due to the presence of blood, but to the 
drug. Poisonous doses of the drug do not cause gastro-enteritis. 

Therapeutics. — Santonin is used for the removal of the round-ivorm, 
and is very efficacious. It has no influence on the tape-worm. It 
should be given in the manner of all vermifuges (see Worms) — 
namely, at a time when the alimentary canal is empty. Santonin 
is said to have a distinct influence over vision, increasing, in me- 
dicinal amount, its acuity whenever the optic nerve is at fault. In 
urinary incontinence santonin will often produce a cure after all other 
remedies fail. 

Santoninate of sodium (Sodii Santoninas) is a useless, harmful 
preparation, never to be employed except for the benefit of the eye 
when vision fails through disease of the optic nerve. Introduced 
into medicine because of its solubility, it is absorbed into the system, 
which is just what is least desired in an anthelmintic, which should 
seek the worm in the bowel, not by entering the blood. In eye affec- 
tions the dose may be from 2 to 8 grains (0.1-0.6) a day, according 
to the age of the adult. 

Santonin may also be given in the dose of 1 to 2 grains (0.05-0.1) 
to an adult in capsules or wafers. The crystals should be used, not 
the powdered santonin. If the bowels are not opened within ten 
hours after the drug is used, a saline purge should be given, preceded 
preferably by a 2- or 3-grain (0.1-0.15) dose of calomel, taken half 
an hour before, as the flow of bile caused by the mercurial is partic- 
ularly useful in making the worm let go its hold. 

Untoward Effects. — In addition to the curious effects already named 
santonin may cause urinary incontinence even in medicinal dose. 

Administration. — Santonin is best given in the form of a troche 
or lozenge {Trochisci Santonini, U. S. and B. P.), but it is to be dis- 
tinctly borne in mind, and written on the prescription, that the 
Trochisci Sodii Santoninatis of the U. S. P. of 1880 are not to be 
sold to the patient. The troches of santonin itself are now official 
in the U. S. P., but if the physician prefers to write for troches, they 
can be made as follows : 

R— Santonini gr. v (0.3). 

Pulv. sacchari alb 3iij (12.0). 

Pulv. acacia? gr. viij (0.5). 

Misce bene, et adde 

Acacia? mucilag gtt. xvj (1.0). 

Aquse q. s. 

Ft. in troches No. x. 
S. — One or two lozenges, as directed. 



348 DRUGS. 



SARSAPARILLA. 



Sarsaparilla, U.S., is the root of Smilax officinalis, Smilax medica, 
and other species of Smilax, growing chiefly in Central America. It 
is known in the B. P. as Sarsce Radix. The drug is devoid of any 
physiological action, yet seems to possess some power over the general 
condition of the system. Thus while sarsaparilla seems utterly with- 
out effect in the hands of most physicians when given alone, it often 
seems to do good and to increase the effects of other drugs when com- 
bined with them, so that some cases of syphilis which are of an obsti- 
nate character will yield to iodide of potassium and sarsaparilla when 
the iodide alone fails. Sarsaparilla is largely used in domestic med- 
icine as a "blood-purifier," and is a prominent constituent of many 
patent medicines. It is useless for such purposes. 

Administration. — Sarsaparilla is most commonly given in the form 
of the compound syrup (Syrupus Sarsaparilla? Compositum, TJ. S.), 
composed of sarsaparilla, sassafras, guaiacum-wood, liquorice, pale 
rose, gaultheria, anise, and senna, dose 1 to 4 fluidrachms (4.0-16.0). 
(See Iodide of Potassium.) The other official preparations of the 
TJ. S. P. are the compound decoction (Becoctum Sarsaparilla? Com- 
positum), composed of the same principal ingredients as the compound 
syrup, except that anise, senna, pale rose, and mezereum are omitted, 
dose 4 to 6 fluidrachms (16.0-24.0) ; the compound fluid extract 
{Extractum Sarsaparilla? Fluidum Composition), similar to the syrup 
in composition, dose ^ to 1 fluidrachm (2.0-4.0) ; and the fluid extract 
(Extr 'actum Sarsaparilla? Fluidum), dose J to 1 fluidrachm (2.0-4.0). 
The B. P. preparation is a liquid extract (Extractum Sarsa? Liquidum), 
dose i to 4 fluidrachms (2.0-16.0). 



SAVINE. 

Sabina, TJ. S., is the tops of the Juniperus Sabina, an evergreen 
shrub of Northern Europe, Asia, and America. It contains an 
official volatile oil (Oleum Sabina?, U. S.). Locally applied, it is 
more of a counter-irritant than is turpentine, and if swallowed in 
poisonous amount causes nausea, vomiting, gastro-enteritis, uncon- 
sciousness, suppression of urine, and death. If the individual be a 
pregnant female, abortion takes place as death approaches, but very 
rarely before this time. Profuse flooding nearly always accompanies 
the act. 

Therapeutics. — The oil, taken in the dose of 5 to 10 drops 
(0.35—0.65), repeated every three or four hours, acts as a powerful 
stimulant to the uterus and ovaries, causing hyperemia and aiding 
in the production of menstruation in cases of amenorrhoea. It may 
also be employed with advantage in some cases of menorrhagia. The 
drug is best given in emulsion or capsule. The fluid extract (Ex- 
tr actum Sabina? Fluidum, TJ. S.) is given in the dose of 5 to 15 
minims (0.35-1.0.) 



SCAMMONY— SCOPOLAMINE. 349 



SCAMMONY. 



Sc ammonium, U. S., Scammonia Radix, B. P., is a resinous exu- 
date from the root of Convolvulus Scammonia, growing in Asia Minor 
and Syria. Its active principle is sometimes called jalapin. 

Therapeutics. — Scammony is an irritant, drastic, hydragogue purge, 
which causes a good deal of griping and exerts a cholagogue effect. 
If an inflammatory condition of the bowels is present its use is contra- 
indicated. 

The ingestion of poisonous doses is to be followed by treatment 
suitable for gastro-enteritis. Scammony is given in the dose of 2 to 5 
grains (0.1-0.35), always in combination with some other similar 
drug — as, for example, colocynth. Scammony forms part of the com- 
pound extract of colocynth (Extractum Colocynthidis Composition, 
U. S.), the dose of which is 1 to 3 grains (0.05-0.15) as a lax- 
ative or 5 to 20 grains (0.35-1.3) as a purge. The resin (Mesina 
Scammonii, U. S.) is given in the dose of 3 to 8 grains (0.15- 
0.6). The B. P. preparations of scammony are Pilula Scam- 
monii Composita, dose 5 grains (0.35); and Pulvis Scammonii Com- 
positus, dose 10 to 20 grains (0.65—1.3). The last two preparations 
are composed of scammony, ginger, and jalap. 



SCOPOLAMINE. 

Scopolamine is an alkaloid derived from Scopolamia atropoides, a 
plant of Southern Europe, which possesses medicinal powers closely 
resembling those of belladonna and its sister drugs. Its physiological 
action is very closely allied to that of hyoscine, one of the alkaloids 
of hyoscyamus, and, as stated in the article on Hyoscine, it is probable 
that much so-called hyoscine is scopolamine. 

Therapeutics. — Scopolamine is used in medicine chiefly by ophthal- 
mic surgeons, and in the eye is far less irritating than either of the 
alkaloids of hyoscyamus or atropine. Indeed, it may be considered as 
being distinctly sedative in plastic iritis. Its effects are not, however, 
so lasting as are those of atropine. The use of -^-q of a grain dropped 
into the eye in one dose produces a mydriasis in eighteen minutes and 
ciliary paralysis in twenty-three minutes. This mydriasis lasts about 
seventy-two hours, and the ciliary paralysis about ninety-six hours 
(Oliver). It finds its greatest usefulness in the early stages of iritis, 
when a rapidly-acting and efficient sedative mydriatic is demanded. 

Scopolamine is best used for this purpose in the strength of ^ of 
1 per cent. (1 : 500) in water. 

This solution may be dropped into the eye every twenty minutes 
till one hour has elapsed. As this use of the drug is slightly painful 
it is well to place a few drops of cocaine solution in the eye before each 
instillation of scopolamine. 

Internally scopolamine acts as a fairly powerful soporific in nervous 
insomnia, and in the sleeplessness of mania, and even when dropped 
into the eye its general systemic effect is soporific. 



350 DRUGS. 

Scopolamine itself is rarely employed, the hydrobromate of scopola- 
mine being preferable. It also occurs as the hydriodate and hydro- 
chlorate. 

The dose of these salts of scopolamine varies from -20T to -^ of a 
grain (0.0003-0.001) by the hypodermic needle or the mouth. 



SCOPARIUS AND SPARTEINE. 

Scoparius, U. S. (Scopari Cacumina, B. P.), or Broom, is the tops- 
of the Cytisus Scoparius. It contains scoparin and sparteine, the 
first being a crystalline principle and the second a liquid alkaloid. 
The second (sparteine) is the alkaloid used in medicine in the form of 
a sulphate (Sparteine Sulphas, U. S.), which is a crystalline salt readily 
soluble in water. 

Physiological Action. — As scoparius depends for its medicinal value 
almost entirely upon sparteine, what is here said applies to both the 
crude drug and the alkaloid. 

Nervous System. — Sparteine acts on the nervous system very 
decidedly if given in large dose, depressing the brain and spinal cord, 
chiefly in its motor tracts, thereby causing a decrease of reflex action 
and motor power, ending in complete paralysis. These changes occur 
both in man and in the lower animals. The heart is said to be stopped 
in systole. 

Circulation. — Upon the circulation sparteine acts as a stimulant. 
It quickens the pulse-rate in moderate doses, and also raises arterial 
pressure. The force of the contraction of the ventricles is also increased. 
In very large poisonous doses the drug acts as a circulatory depressant. 

Respiration. — Upon this function in small amounts sparteine 
ias no effect, but poisonous doses kill by paralysis of the respiratory 
centre. 

Poisoning. — The symptoms of poisoning consist in trembling and 
inco-ordination of movement, and clonic and tonic convulsions, fol- 
lowed by a second stage of depression of the nervous system and 
general enfeeblement. 

Therapeutics. — Sparteine has been recommended in all states of 
the heart in which digitalis is of service, and it is sometimes useful 
in those fairly frequent cases where digitalis fails. In cardiac arhyth- 
mia or palpitation it is thought to be of great service by those who 
liave used it most. Clark found it of value in Graves's disease and 
in nearly every circulatory abnormality, but in the judgment of the 
author of this book sparteine is not a very useful drug — one only to 
be turned to as a last resource after more generally known remedies 
fail; or, in other words, it is not a remedy to be used as a "stand- 
by " in the manner in which digitalis is employed. 

While some clinicians have found sparteine of value, many of them 
have not. In the few cases in which it has been used by the writer 
it entirely failed to be of service, perhaps because the cases were des- 
perate and the drug was tried after all the other remedies had failed. 
The dose is as variable as its action. Some state it to be -^ of a grain 



SEIDLITZ POWDER— SENEGA. 351 

(0.003), while still others recommend 2 to 4 grains (0.1-0.2). A small 
dose should be used at first, and rapidly increased until some effects 
ensue. To get the best effects it should be given every two hours in 
the dose of J of a grain. The drug should be given in watery solu- 
tion. 

Potts claims to have found sparteine of value in the treatment of 
tremor, as in paralysis agitans, in the dose of J to J grain (0.015- 
0.025) three times a day. 

Scoparius itself is used in decoction, made by adding \ an ounce 
(16.0) of the broom-tops to a pint (J litre) of water, and boiling them 
down to a \ pint (250 cc). Of this, an ounce should be taken every 
three hours. This decoction is one of the most efficient diuretics in 
cardiac dropsy. An official fluid extract (JExtr actum Scoparii Fluidum, 
TJ. S.) is given in the dose of 30 drops (2.0). The official prepara- 
tions of the B. P. are an infusion (Infusum Scoparii), and the juice 
(Succus Scoparii), dose 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0). 



SEIDLITZ POWDER 

Under the official name ofPulvis Effervescens Compositus the TJ. S. P. 
recognizes a purgative powder (Pulvis Sodce Tartaraice Fffervescens, B. 
P.) made by taking the bitartrate of sodium and potassium, or Rochelle 
salt, 120 grains, and bicarbonate of sodium 40 grains, which are 
wrapped in blue paper, and 35 grains of tartaric acid placed in a 
white paper. The contents of each paper are dissolved in a little 
water — half a tumblerful — and the two solutions added to one another 
and swallowed during effervescence. As much as two powders may 
be used, but this is generally too large an amount unless full purgation 
is needed. In sick stomach associated with constipation, when a whole 
powder cannot be retained, the two powders should be divided into 
fourths, and a fourth added to a fourth dissolved in a half-wineglass- 
ful of water and taken every fifteen minutes until the entire powder 
is ingested. This will often settle the stomach and produce purgation. 



SENEGA. 

Senega, TJ. S. {Senegoe Radix, B. P.), is the root of Polygala 
Senega, a small plant of the United States, containing a principle 
known as polygalic acid and senegin. 

Therapeutics. — Senega is used in medicine as a stimulating expec- 
torant in the subacute and chronic forms of bronchitis. It has also 
been employed as a diuretic in cardiac dropsy or that due to renal 
•disease. In cardiac disease it should not be used, and indeed it is 
rarely employed at present except in combination with other drugs 
in expectorant mixtures. 

Administration. — Senega is used in the form of the fluid extract 
{Fxtr actum Senegce Fluidum, TJ. S.), dose 10 to 20 drops (0.65-1.3), 
and the syrup {Syrupus Senega?, TJ. S.), dose 1 to 2 drachms (4.0- 



352 DR UGS. 

8.0). It is also used in Coxe's Hive Syrup. The official preparations 
of the B. P. are — a tincture (Tinctura Senegce), dose 1 to 2 drachms 
(4.0-8.0), and an infusion (Infusum Senegce), dose 1 to 2 ounces 
(32.0-64.0). 

SENNA. 

Senna, IT. S., is the most drastic of the laxative purges used for 
the relief of constipation. It is the leaflets of Cassia acutifolia and 
Cassia angustifolia, and contains a very acrid irritant purgative princi- 
ple known as cathartic acid. Senna is official in the B. P. as Senna 
Indica and Alexandrina. 

Physiological Action. — Senna acts as a purge, producing copious 
stools, often with a great deal of griping if it is used alone. Accord- 
ing to Rutherford and Yignal, it acts very materially in increasing 
the flow of bile, but it is seldom, if ever, used in medicine as a chola- 
gogue, although, according to Prevost and Binet, cathartic acid has 
an influence over biliary secretion. Hess has found that the drug 
acts directly as a stimulant upon the mucous membranes, and so pro- 
duces a local peristalsis as it is moved along. It is also known that 
the drug is eliminated in the milk, and for this reason care should 
be .taken in giving the drug to nursing mothers, as it will purge the 
nursling. 

Administration. — Senna is generally combined with other drugs 
for the relief of constipation, but may be used alone. If this is 
done, the fluid extract (Extractum Sennas Fluidum, U. S.) may be 
employed in the dose of 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0) to a child or 4 
drachms (16.0) to an adult. It is, however, always better to give 
children the more agreeable confection (Confectio Senna?, U. S. and 
B. P.) in the dose of J drachm (2.0) to a child or 1 to 2 drachms 
(4.0-8.0) to an adult. As the confection is apt to cause gastric dis- 
order if used continuously because of the sugar contained in it, its 
use is limited to a certain class of cases. 

In the treatment of the constipation of pregnancy senna is thought 
to be very useful. In these cases and in others when cascara sagrada 
alone will not move the bowels, senna may be prescribed as follows : 

R.— Ext. sennse fluid fjij (60.0). 

Ext. cascarse sagradse fl f^j (30.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) at night, or night and morning. 

Should this produce griping \ to 1 minim (0.025-0.05) of fluid extract 
of belladonna may be added to each dose. Under the name of Black 
Draught a mixture of senna, manna, and sulphate of magnesium has 
been largely used {Infusum Sennce Compositum, U. S.) in the dose of 
4 ounces (128.0). It is an active hydragogue purge. The syrup 
(Syrupus Sennce, U. S. and B. P.) is given in the dose of 1 to 4 
drachms (4.0-16.0). 

One of the best ways to use senna is in the compound liquorice 
powder (Pulvis G-lycyrrhizce Compositus, U. S. and B. P.), which is 



SEBPENTARIA— SILICATE OF POTASSIUM OR SODIUM. 353 

a good laxative in the dose of 20 to 30 grains (1.3-2.0). Compound 
liquorice powder is composed of senna, liquorice, oil of fennel, washed 
sulphur, and sugar. 

Infusum Sennce, B. P., is given in the dose of 1 to 2 ounces 
(32.0-64.0); Mistura Sennce Oomposita, B. P., in the dose of 1 to 2 
ounces (32.0-64.0), and Tinctura Sennce Composita, B. P., in the dose 
of 1 to 4 drachms (4.0-16.0). 

Senna, because of its chrysophan, may stain the urine carmine if 
that fluid is alkaline, or yellow if it is acid. No alarm should be felt 
if the color appears in this secretion. Often it is necessary to warn 
the parents of a child of the possibility of such an occurrence, in 
order to prevent any fright on the part of the mother, who otherwise 
might think that hematuria was present. 



SEBPENTARIA. 

Serpentaria, TJ. S. {Serpentaria Rhizoma, B. P.), or Virginia 
Snakeroot, is the rhizome and rootlets of Aristolochia Serpentaria 
and Aristolochia reticulata, plants of the Southern United States. 
It contains an active principle, aristolochin, which is never used in 
medicine. 

Therapeutics. — Owing to the rather pleasant, warm taste of ser- 
pentaria, and the fact that it stimulates secretion, it is used largely as 
a vehicle for other more potent remedies. It has tonic properties, 
and in consequence has been largely used in the treatment of atonic 
dyspepsia and indigestion. It is even said to be a sexual stimulant, 
but this is doubtful, to say the least. In overdose it is an irritant, 
and will cause vomiting and purging if large amounts are taken. 

Administration. — Serpentaria is given in the form of the fluid 
extract (Extractum Serpentarice Fluidum, TJ. S.) in the dose of 10 
to 40 drops (0.65-1.3), and the tincture {Tinctura Serpentarice, TJ. S. 
and B. P.) in the dose of J to 2 drachms (2.0-8.0). It also enters 
into Huxham's Tincture of Cinchona [Tinctura Cinchonce Composita, 
TJ. S. and B. P.). Infusum Serpentarice, B. P., is given in the dose 
of 1 to 2 ounces (32.0-64.0). 



SILICATE OP POTASSIUM OR SODIUM. 

Soluble Glass, or Silicate of Potassium or Sodium, occurs as a 
clear syrupy fluid, and is not official. It is used as a splint in the 
dressing of fractures and sprains, as it rapidly becomes hard and 
immovable when painted over the bandages. Silicate of potassium 
or sodium may be universally substituted for plaster of Paris. The 
silicate of sodium is official as Liquor Soclii Silicatis, TJ. S. P. 

23 



354 DRUGS. 



SOAP. 



Sapo, U. S. {Sapo Burus, B. P.), is prepared from any alkali and 
fixed oil, although soda and olive oil are most frequently employed 
in the manufacture of the soaps which are used medicinally. Castile 
soap, if good, is the best representative of a pure soap that we have. 

Soap may be cut into the form of a suppository and used to pro- 
voke movements of the bowel in young children who are suffering 
from constipation by placing it just inside the anus, having previously 
dipped it into water one instant to make it slippery. It may also be 
used as an enema, dissolved in warm water, or a mixture known in 
Philadelphia as the " House Mixture " may be employed in the case 
of an adult. This consists of a mixture of water, soft-soap, and 
molasses in varying proportions, and if flatulence is present turpentine 
and olive oil are added to it. The preparation is as efficient as it is 
cheap and dirty. Soap is also used as an antidote to many poisons 
and as an aid to emetics. 

Green Soap {Sapo Mollis, U. S. and B. P.) is not generally green, 
but brown. It is a soft soap made by the use of potash and olive oil, 
and is largely used by dermatologists in the treatment of eczema and 
similar skin diseases where a detergent, stimulating application is 
needed. It is sometimes called "German soft soap," to separate it 
from the ordinary soft soap, or the common sapo mollis, of this coun- 
try, which is an impure substance often made of rancid fats, contain- 
ing a large excess of alkali and never used except for scouring pur- 
poses. Green soap is not commonly employed as green soap, but in 
the liniment {Linimentum Saponis Mollis, U. S.), which is to be 
thoroughly rubbed into the part when used medicinally, well washed 
off, and afterward simple cerate or some other soothing salve applied. 

Soap Liniment {Linimentum Saponis, U. S. and B. P.), or Opo- 
deldoc, as it is called in domestic medicine, is largely used for rubbing 
stiff muscles and sprains. It is generally employed to carry more 
active external remedies, such as opium or aconite. 

R. — Tinct. aconiti "j 

Tinct. belladonnas V aa f^ij (8.0). 

Tinct. opii j 

Liniment, saponis q. s. ad f^vj (192.0). — M. 



Soap Plaster {Emplastrum Saponis, TJ. S.) is used as a thick, 
heavy protective for bed-sores or where bed-sores are feared. It is 
also used as a support about sprained joints. 



SODIO-SALICYLATE OP THEOBROMINE. 

This compound, known as diuretin (or sodio-theobromine-salicy- 
late), derives its name from the extraordinary power which it is said to 
possess of producing a great increase in the urinary flow from the 
kidneys. This power depends entirely upon the theobromine, which 
is a crystallizable, bitter, and volatile alkaloid, closely allied to caf- 



SODIUM. 355 

feine and xanthine, and derived from the seeds of Theobroma Cacao, or 
the source of ordinary chocolate. Owing to the insolubility of theo- 
bromine, it has been found necessary to combine it with sodium salicy- 
late, as under these conditions it is readily absorbed. 

The diuretic properties of this alkaloid were first discovered during 
a series of experiments made by Schroder in Strasburg in 1889, who 
found that the diuresis produced in man and the lower animals was 
very marked. A large number of clinical trials in Europe and 
America have confirmed his observations, but there are a number of 
cases in which it signally fails, particularly in chronic Bright's disease. 

Theobromine does not have so stimulating an effect on the heart as 
does its relative caffeine, so that the circulatory effect, while showing 
a stimulant rather than a depressing tendency, is very slight. It 
slightly increases muscular power, but its peculiar affinity for the 
renal structures surpasses all its other activities. 

As the action of the drug depends upon its ability to stimulate the 
secreting epithelium of the kidney, the physician should remember 
that in cases of advanced renal disease, where the secreting structures 
are almost entirely destroyed, no result can be expected from its 
administration ; but it is probable that the drug is useful in almost 
all conditions of dropsy, whether due to renal inactivity or cardiac 
disease, and is harmless to the patient even if the diuretic effect does 
not ensue. The only contraindication to the use of theobromine or 
diuretin is the presence of acute nephritis, when, of course, sedatives 
rather than stimulants are needed. So far as the writer is aware, no 
study as to the proportion of solids and liquids in the urine under the 
influence of this drug have been made, but the fact that it stimulates 
the epithelium or secreting structures of the kidney would indicate 
that the solids are increased. 

As diuretin only contains from 30 to 50 per cent, of theobromine, 
it has to be given in very large amounts, as much as 1 to 2 drachms 
(4.0-8.0) in twenty-four hours, preferably in divided doses of from 
10 to 20 grains (0.65-1.3) in capsule or in warm water. The former 
method is the better, as the taste of the drug is disagreeable and 
soapy. 

It must not be exposed to the air, as it undergoes decomposition. 

In all the cases in which the writer has tried sodio-salicylate of 
theobromine he has failed to see any effect produced, and, while he 
has no confidence in the drug, he mentions it because others claim 
to have obtained good results from its use. 



SODIUM. 

Sodium is a metallic element, the salts of which are usually white 
and colorless. It is not used in medicine, but many of its salts are 
employed. While potassium acts as a depressant to the body, sodium 
seems to exert comparatively little effect upon the animal economy. 
The salts vary in their power with the acid forming them. (See Ben- 
zoate of Sodium, Chloride of Sodium, Salicylate of Sodium, etc.) 



356 DRUGS. 

Acetate of Sodium (Sodii Acetas, U. S. and B. P.) is rarely if ever 
used in medicine as a substitute for acetate of potassium. The dose is 
20 to 40 grains (1.3-2.65) three times a day. 



SODIUM BICARBONATE. 

Bicarbonate of Sodium (Sodii Bicarbonas, U. S. and B. P.) is 
largely used as an antacid in gastric fermentation and in sick head- 
aches arising from this condition. Combined with calomel in powder, 
it certainly adds to its efficiency in increasing biliary flow, as all alka- 
lies of this class liquefy and thin the bile. The drug has been widely 
employed in the treatment of rheumatism, and is found to be of great 
service in allaying fain and soreness in the joints when used in a 
lotion made by dissolving it in water and applying it to the part on lint 
or rags. In acidity of the stomach the following effervescing powder is 
useful : Bicarbonate of sodium (Sodii Bicarbonas), 30 grains (2.0) in 
one paper, and in the other 10 grains (0.7) of tartaric acid (Acidum 
Tartaricum). These are each dissolved in half a tumbler of water, 
added to one another, and swallowed during effervescence. 



SODIUM CHLORIDE. 

Chloride of Sodium (Sodii Chloridum, U. S. and B. P.), or Com- 
mon Salt, is a useful drug and food, aiding in maintaining the alka- 
linity of the blood and tissues and in the formation of gastric juice, 
being changed by the lactic acid of the stomach into lactate of 
sodium, thereby setting free hydrochloric acid, which acts not only 
by aiding digestion, but in the production of pepsin from the pep- 
sinogen of the gastric tubules. The dose is 10 to 20 grains (0.65-1.3). 



SODIUM ETHYLATE. 

Sodium Ethylate is a whitish powder, decomposed in the presence 
of water into alcohol and caustic soda, but soluble in absolute alcohol 
without decomposition. 

Sodium ethylate is employed in medicine as a depilatory — that is, 
for the purpose of removing hairy growths. To accomplish this pur- 
pose it is necessary that the growth be clipped close to the skin, and 
that the drug be dissolved in absolute alcohol and applied over the 
roots of the hair with a glass rod. 

Soon after this application a crust forms, which should not be 
detached for two or three weeks, but which, on its removal at the 
end of this time, generally shows that all the roots of the hair have 
been destroyed. If not, the operation may be repeated as soon as 
the skin is in a condition to bear it. To prevent pain, a 5 per cent, 
solution of cocaine may be used hypodermically at the spot to be 
cauterized. It is worthy of remembrance that moles and small birth- 
marks, or ngevi, may be relieved by a similar application. 



SODIUM HYPOSULPHITE— SOLANUM CAROLINENSE. 357 



SODIUM HYPOSULPHITE. 

Hyposulphite of Sodium, or Thiosulphite of Sodium, occurs in 
large, transparent, colorless plates which effloresce when exposed to 
the air. It has slight alkaline reaction, is soluble in about equal parts 
of water, but insoluble in alcohol. 

Therapeutics. — Hyposulphite of sodium is used in the proportion 
of 1 drachm (4.0) to the ounce (32.0) of water or lard in the treat- 
ment of parasitic skin diseases, particularly those due to the tri- 
cophyton fungus, such as pityriasis versicolor. It is also very useful, 
locally applied, in poisoning from poison ivy, and in cases of pruritus 
due to other causes, in the strength of J a drachm (2.0) to the ounce 
(32.0) of water. In malarial hoematuria hyposulphite of sodium is 
often given with advantage in the dose of from 10 to 30 grains (0.65- 
2.0) every four hours. How it acts in this condition we do not know. 



SODIUM SULPHATE. 

So dii Sulphas, U. S. and B. P., or Glauber's salt, is one of the most 
irritant of the saline purges, rarely used in medicine for human beings, 
but largely employed by veterinarians. The purgative dose for man 
is half an ounce to an ounce (16.0-32.0). If any intestinal inflam- 
mation is present, it is contraindicated. It produces large watery 
stools, with a good deal of griping. Sulphate of sodium is a promi- 
nent constituent of Carlsbad water, Hunyadi Janos, Hunyadi Arpad, 
and similar waters. (For an explanation of the action of salines in 
producing purgation, see Magnesium Sulphate.) 

Reverdin has recently claimed that small doses of 2 grains (0.1) of 
sulphate of sodium every hour are of great value in controlling capil- 
lary hemorrhages and for graver hemorrhages. It must be given by 
the mouth or intravenously. If given hypodermically he asserts it is 
useless. 



SOLANUM CAROLINENSE. 

Solanum Carolinehse, or Horse Nettle, is a low perennial plant of 
the natural order Solanaceoe, a native of the South-eastern United 
States. 

According to some studies made by Thornton the drug depresses the 
cerebrum, but excites the spinal cord. It has been introduced into 
medicine for the purpose of relieving epilepsy, particularly when the 
disease occurs in childhood. In a limited employment of the drug 
the writer has found it very serviceable in diminishing the frequency 
and severity of the attacks. The beginning dose of the fluid extract is 
15 to 60 minims (1.0-4.0) three times a day, but it can be increased to 
as much as a drachm at a dose with advantage. 



358 DRUGS. 



SOMNAL. 



Somnal is stated to be ethylated chloral-urethan, and seems to 
possess marked hypnotic power. It is a clear, colorless liquid of a 
hot, burning taste, resembling sweet spirit of nitre. The dose is 20 
to 40 drops (1.3-2.6) in liquorice-water or syrup of raspberry, and 
the sleep produced by it is said to last seven to eight hours. No 
very definite reports have yet been made concerning it, but in a 
number of cases in which the writer has used it it has acted very 
well, although drowsiness is usually present on the next day. 



SOZOIODOL. 

Sozoiodol is an antiseptic preparation first made and employed by 
one of our own countrymen in San Francisco, but at that time the 
preparation of it was so imperfectly carried out that foreign matters 
made it too irritating for general use, and it was discarded, only to 
be better prepared and more widely used in Germany some years 
later. 

Therapeutics. — Sozoiodol has been found of value as an antiseptic 
and disinfectant in the treatment of tvounds which are in an unhealthy 
state, and for acute stomatitis and pharyngeal catarrh it may be 
employed locally in the form of a 5 per cent, watery solution. It 
has also been found useful in acute purulent conjunctivitis and in oph- 
thalmia neonatorum, in the proportion of 2 parts of sozoiodol to 30 
parts of water. In urethritis of a specific type we may employ the 
preparation known as zinc-sozoiodol in a 2 per cent, solution with 
advantage, and this compound is also of value in mild and malignant 
vaginitis if preceded by pyroligneous acetic acid or nitrate of silver, 
applied by means of a speculum. 

In the treatment of gynaecological cases, particularly in catarrh of 
the cervix uteri, Nitschman uses sozoiodol in the form of a powder 
applied by means of a tampon with good results, and it would seem 
to be worthy of trial in many other states of the mucous membranes 
than those just named. 



SPIGELIA. 

Spigelia, U. S., Pinkroot, is the root and rhizome of Spigelia 
marilandica, or Carolina Pink, a plant of the Southern United 
States. 

Poisoning. — Almost immediately after the ingestion of a poisonous 
dose of spigelia the animal has short and quick expiratory move- 
ments, amounting almost to a cough. Soon after the pupils become 
widely dilated, the eyeball is turned inward, and at the same time 
the orbit becomes fixed in this position, so that the eye cannot 
follow any object, such as a pencil, when it is moved from side to 



SQUILL. 359 

side. Constant retching, with no result, now comes on, the animal 
standing and apparently suffering from no sensory or motor palsy. 
There is no change in gait. Soon after this marked exophthalmia is 
developed. The retching, having lasted about five minutes, now 
passes off, and at this time signs of muscular weakness and lack of 
co-ordination appear, the walk becoming staggering both in the fore 
and hind legs. The respirations now become very rapid, resembling 
those of a dog after a long run on a hot day. The tongue hangs 
from the mouth and is dry and red, and the nose is hot and no longer 
moist. Muscular power is progressively lost, so that the dog fre- 
quently falls when endeavoring to walk, but sensation does not seem 
to be affected. About this period the animal lies down and passes 
into a deep sleep, which, in turn, soon changes into coma, and death 
follows without any movement being made, evidently from a general 
failure of vital force. The respirations, as death approaches, become 
slow, and are finally extinguished simultaneously with cardiac arrest. 
The palsy is spinal in origin, the motor and sensory nerve-trunks and 
the muscles escaping the paralysis. 

Therapeutics. — Spigelia is one of the most efficient remedies in the 
treatment of round-ivorms, and is not dangerous when given with 
care. When employed for the removal of worms the usual precaution 
should be taken in regard to the ingestion of food (see article on 
Worms), and the drug should be followed by a purge to sweep out 
the worm while it is narcotized. The purge should be one which is 
rapid in its action, such as the sulphate of magnesium. 

Administration. — The dose of spigelia in the form of the fluid 
extract (Extr actum Spigelian Fluidum, U. S.) is 2 drachms (8.0); 
that of the unofficial fluid extract of spigelia and senna {Extr actum 
Spigelian et Senna? Fluidum) is J to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0) for a child 
of two years of age; J- an ounce (16.0) is the dose for an adult. The 
addition of fluid extract of senna makes the drug more efficient, and 
the mixture is generally not disliked by children. It is to be remem- 
bered that this latter mixture is no longer official. 



SQUILL. 

Scilla, U. S. and B. P., is the sliced bulb of Urginea maritima, 
a plant of the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. It con- 
tains scillin, scillipicrin, and scillitoxin, all of which possess poison- 
ous properties and none of which are used in medicine alone, except 
by a few persons. 

Poisoning. — In poisonous doses squill produces vomiting, purging, 
dulness, stupor, intermittent palsy, convulsions, and death in ten to 
twenty hours. These symptoms are preceded by a great fall in tem- 
perature. The urine is suppressed or bloody and acute nephritis is 
produced. Gastro-enteritis may be marked. 

Therapeutics. — Squill is largely used as a stimulant or irritant 
diuretic, not to affect the renal epithelium directly and promote secre- 
tion, but rather to tone up and excite to normal effort a kidney 
depressed by disease, as in very chronic BrigMs disease or renal con- 



360 DRUGS. 

gestion from cardiac trouble. In cardiac dropsy, combined with digi- 
talis, squill is a standard and much-used remedy, and is undoubtedly 
of value in aiding in the absorption of effusions in the pericardium, 
pleura, and abdomen. Squill is usually given in dropsy, in pill form, 
as follows : 

R .— Pulv. scillee gr. x (0.65). 

Pulv. digital fol gj (1.3).— M. 

Ft. in pil. No. x. 
S. — One t. d. after meals. 

The employment of squill in bronchitis, although largely resorted 
to, is not a very good practice, since its irritant action on the kidneys 
and stomach may cause trouble. The period for its administration is 
in the beginning of the second stage, when secretion is scanty or so 
excessive as to need proper stimulation of the mucous membranes to 
bring on a healthy action. Sometimes Coxe's Hive Syrup is used, 
either as an emetic in drachm doses every ten minutes until it acts, 
or as an expectorant in the dose of 30 drops to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0) for 
an adult. As it contains antimony, it should be given with care. 

Administration. — The fluid extract (Extr actum Scilloe Fluidum, 
TJ. S.) is given in the dose of 1 to 5 drops (0.05-0.3); the tincture 
(Tincturae Scilloe, TJ. S. and B. P.) in the dose of 5 to 30 drops 
(0.3-2.0); the vinegar of squill {Acetum Scilloe, TJ. S. and B. P.) in 
the dose of 10 drops to J drachm (0.65-2.0). The compound syrup 
(Syrupus Scilloe Compositus, TJ. S.), or Coxe's Hive Syrup, is com- 
posed of squill, tartrate of antimony and potassium, precipitated phos-- 
phate of calcium, alcohol, sugar, and water, and is given in the dose 
of 20 drops (1.3) as a sedative to an adult and 1 drachm (4.0) as an 
emetic to a child. 

The following prescription will be found useful in bronchitis in its 
subacute stages in a child of one to five years : 

R— Vini ipecac. f^j (4.01 

Tincture scillse f £ij (8.0). 

Syr. tolutan f%v (20.0). 

Aqua3 f5J (32.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every three or four hours. 

The plain syrup {Syrupus Scillae, TJ. S. and B. P.) is given in the 
dose of \ to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0), the honey (Oxymel Scillce, B. P.) 
in the dose of \ to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0), and the compound pill (Pilulae 
Scilloe Composita, B. P.) in the dose of 5 to 10 grains (0.3-0.65). 



STARCH. 

Amylum, TJ. S. and B. P., is wheat starch, but good corn starch 
is usually employed by many persons. In very fine powder starch is 
used as a dusting powder in intertrigo or chafing. Its more import- 
ant uses are, however, its employment in the form of starch-water for 
carrying drugs into the rectum, and in the form of a poultice for cases 
of skin disease where it is desired to remove crusts. 



ST1LLINGIA-STBAM0NIUM. 361 

Starch-water is made by boiling starch in the proportion of 2 table- 
spoonfuls to 1 pint of water, which is then boiled to paste and diluted 
by the addition of warm water to the consistency of syrup. Starch- 
water is not only useful as a vehicle for drugs given by the rectum, 
but as a sedative injection in proctitis and rectal irritation. 

The starch poultice is made by boiling the starch to a pasty con- 
sistence or adding enough boiling water to a paste made by rubbing 
cold water and starch together to produce a gelatinous mass. 30 
grains (2.0) of boric acid to the ounce (32.0) render it antiseptic. 



STILLINGIA. 

Stillingia, U. S., Queen's Root, is the root of Stillingia sylvatica, 
a plant of the United States, the active principle of which is stil- 
lingin. 

Physiological Action. — There can be no doubt that this drug acts 
in two ways : first, by its immediate effects on the system, and second, 
by its more slowly-shown alterative influences. In overdose it causes 
bilious purging, increased heart-action, and active secretion from the 
bronchial mucous membrane. 

Therapeutics.— Stillingia is highly recommended in habitual con- 
stipation, as it increases intestinal secretion, and it is even said to act 
as a specific in hemorrhoids dependent largely for their existence upon 
hepatic engorgement and intestinal atony. 

Bartholow recommends the following prescription under these cir- 
cumstances : 

R— Extract, stillingia fluid f^v (20.0). 

Tincturse belladonna? 1 

Tincturae nucis vomicae V . . . . aa f ,^j (4.0). — M. 
Tincturse physostigmatis J 
S. — 20 drops (1.3) in water t. d. before meals. 

Tincture of aloes may also be added to this prescription if consti- 
pation is present. In syphilis of an obstinate and rapid type stillingia 
■should be used as an aid to other drugs. 

In pasty-looking, white, "putty-faced" children, who are anaemic 
or strumous, and who never have any appetite, or are subject to mid- 
dle-ear trouble and general debility, stillingia is of value. It should 
be used, under these circumstances, for some time. 

The only official preparation is the fluid extract (Extr actum 
Stillingia? Fluidum, U. S.), which should always be made of the 
fresh root, the dose of which is 10 to 60 drops (0.65-4.0). 



STRAMONIUM. 

Jamestown Weed, or Datura Stramonium, is official in the form 
of the leaves (Stramonii Folia, U. S.) and the seeds (Stramonii Semen, 
U. S. and B. P.). It contains an alkaloid known as daturine, which 
is physiologically identical with atropine. 



362 DRUGS. 

Physiological Action. — (See Belladonna.) 

Therapeutics. — The uses of stramonium are identical with those of 
belladonna. 

Administration. — The extract (Extr actum Stramonii, B. P., Sem- 
inis, U, S.) is used in the dose of -J- to \ grain (0.01-0.03), the 
fluid . extract (JExtractum Stramonii Seminis Fluidum, V. S.) in 
the dose of 1 to 5 drops (0.05-0.35), and the tincture (Tinctura 
Stramonii, U. S. and B. P.) in the dose of 5 to 30 drops (0.3-2.0). 
It should be remembered that this tincture is nearly twice as strong 
as the tincture prepared according to the U. S. P. of 1880. The 
ointment ( Unguentum Stramonii, U. S.) is used for the same purposes 
as is belladonna ointment. The dose of daturine is y^- to -fa of a 
grain (0.0005-0.0008). 



STRONTIUM. 

This substance has lately been introduced into medicine in the form 
of the bromide (Strontii Bromidum, U. $.), lactate (Strontii Lactas, 
U. S.), iodide (Strontii Iodidum, U. S.), salicylate, and phosphate, 
largely through the studies of Laborde, S£e, Paul, and others. The 
bromide of strontium is used for precisely the same effects as are the 
other bromides, but it is claimed that, as the strontium has a distinct 
nutritive influence over the system, the well-known disadvantages of 
the potassium salt are avoided. The dose of bromide of strontium 
is from 30 to 60 grains (2.0-4.0). In addition to the ordinary effect 
of bromides, See found the bromide of strontium to be very useful in 
overcoming attacks of gastric indigestion associated with pain in the 
stomach and hyperacidity ; and the author has confirmed this state- 
ment. The lactate of strontium seems to be indicated chiefly in 
cases of albuminuria due to renal atony. It does not increase urinary 
flow, and is contraindicated in the presence of the uraemia and the 
high fever of acute parenchymatous nephritis. In chronic parenchyma- 
tous nephritis, such as is due to rheumatism or gout, it is of value. 
Unfortunately, as soon as the lactate of strontium is withdrawn the 
albuminuria is apt to recur. The dose of the lactate of strontium is 
60 to 100 grains (4.0-7.0) a day. 

The salicylate of strontium is a valuable preparation, because it is 
not so disagreeable to the taste as the corresponding salt of sodium ; 
and, more important still, it is far less apt to disorder the stomach than 
salicylic acid itself or any of its other salts. The author has found it 
for these reasons very useful in acute articular rheumatism, when the 
progress of the patient was delayed by the inability of his stomach 
to retain the ordinary anti-rheumatic remedies. The salicylate of 
strontium is best given in capsules or cachets, and should always be 
followed by a draught of milk or water to prevent its coming in 
contact with the stomach in too concentrated form. The dose is, 
for all practical purposes, identical with that of the salicylate of 
sodium. 

Strontium possesses no toxic power whatever, and overdoses are not 



STBOPHANTHUS—SUGAB. 363 

followed by any bad consequences. If the strontium is contaminated 
by barium, serious effects are produced. The writer has often been 
much disappointed in the use of the lactate of strontium in albuminuria, 
but others of wide experience seem to regard it as very constant in pro- 
ducing good results. 



STROPHANTHUS. 

Strophanthus, U. S., Strophanthi Semina, B. P., is an African plant 
(Strophanthus hispidus), from the seed of which the natives make kombe 
arrow-poison. There are many varieties of Strophanthus. The active 
principle is strophanthin, from which is derived strophanthidin. It 
has been claimed that strophanthus contains a local anaesthetic prin- 
ciple, but Dr. de Schweinitz and the author found it to be possessed 
of this power only in dogs and not in man. 

Therapeutics. — Strophanthus may be used in all forms of cardiac 
disease to supplant digitalis, but it is not its equal. 

From the cases of cardiac disease seen frequently by the writer he 
has reached the conclusion that digitalis gives relief to patients under 
the age of twelve years in a much smaller proportion of cases than it 
does in adults, and that, though the stomach is no more frequently 
disordered, increased dyspnoea, nervous irritability, and cyanosis often 
follow its use. On the other hand, strophanthus generally gives good 
results in this class of cases. 

As every one knows, there are a certain number of cases where 
digitalis seems to do harm in adults, the explanation being that under 
such circumstances the ventricle is so overstimulated that the auricle 
cannot empty itself thoroughly, and becomes congested in consequence. 
Strophanthus acts exceedingly well in those instances where digitalis 
fails, and this is particularly true in children. It will relieve cardiac 
dropsy by its action on the heart, but does not possess marked diuretic 
properties. 

Untoward Effects. — Strophanthus when given in full dose frequently 
causes diarrhoea. 

Administration. — Strophanthus is given in the form of the tincture 
(Tinctura Strophanthi, U. S. and B. P.) in the dose' of 3 to 6 drops 
(0.2-0.35) three times a day. The extract of strophanthus (Ex- 
tr actum Strophanthi) is now official in the B. P. The dose is J of a 
grain (0.016). Strophanthin may be given hypodermically in the 
dose of t -J~q to ^-q of a grain (0.0006-0.0012). Its effects when so 
used are said to last a week, but this statement can scarcely be 
correct. 



SUGAR. 

Saecharum, U. S. (Saecharum Purificatum, B. P.), is the refined 
juice of Saecharum officinarum, or Sugar-cane, or the juice obtained 
from the Sugar-beet. It is an antiputrefactive, but not an antifer- 
mentative. Mixed with iron preparations, it prevents oxidation. As 



364 BBUGS. 

it is a hydrocarbon, it is a nutrient and a developer of adipose tissue, 
or, in other words, is a food. Its use is contraindicated in obesity, 
during the existence of fermentative changes in the stomach and 
and in diabetes mellitus. 



SUGAR OP MILK. 

Saccharum Laetis, TJ. S. and B. P., is derived from the whey of 
cow's milk by evaporation, in the proportion of about 5 per cent., and 
is then purified by re-crystallization. It has little sweetening power 
compared to cane-sugar and possesses a peculiar insipid taste. It is, 
however, less apt to ferment and is better for infants than is cane- 
sugar. 

Milk-sugar is largely used in triturations, because by its hardness 
it aids in the subdivision of the medicament. It is also used to 
increase the bulk of small powders where such drugs as podophyllin 
and calomel are prescribed. 

Recent studies, both scientific and clinical, have shown lactose to 
be possessed of very great diuretic power when given in full doses. 
The advantage claimed for lactose as a diuretic is its direct action on 
the kidney and the slight effect exercised upon the rest of the organism. 
It is, therefore, in renal dropsy or renal inactivity that this substance 
is particularly indicated. The dose of lactose in cases of dropsy 
should be as great as from 2 to 4 drachms (8.0-16.0), given daily, 
dissolved in a quart (1 litre) of water. It has been found that the 
lactose acts best in those cases in which there is no albuminuria. 
These recent studies are of interest in view of the well-known clin- 
ical fact that the addition of lactose to the milk of bottle-fed babies 
always causes profuse diuresis. 



SULPHOCARBOLATES OF SODIUM AND ZINC. 

The sulphocarbolates of zinc and sodium are largely employed by 
some practitioners as mild antiseptic local stimulants, either in pow- 
der or in solution, on ulcers and sores. Much more commonly they 
are given internally for the production of gastro-intestinal antisepsis 
when there is diarrhoea with foetid, ill-smelling stools, as in the bowel 
disorders of hot weather in children or adults or in the course of 
typhoid fever. How much good they do in the latter disease, so far 
as the disease itself is concerned, is uncertain, but they undoubtedly 
render the stools less foul and tend to check the diarrhoea. The sul- 
phocarbolate of zinc is the better of the two for these purposes. The 
dose is 2 to 3 grains (0.1-0.15) in pill four or five times a day. The 
sulphocarbolates are probably eliminated from the body unchanged. 



SULPHONAL. 365 



SULPHONAL. 

Sulphonal, B. P., is a synthetically prepared substance first manu- 
factured in Germany hj Baumann, and possesses the chemical name 
of diethyl-sulphon-dimethyl-methane. It is a colorless, odorless, solid 
substance, soluble in 100 parts of cold and 18 to 20 parts of hot 
water, and is readily soluble in alcohol and ether. The drug is not 
affected by any of the ordinary acids, and is very stable. 

Physiological Action. — Several quite interesting researches upon this 
comparatively new hypnotic have been carried out recently. Smith of 
London has studied its action on the activity of tissue-change, and 
also attempted to determine the changes in the drug during its pas- 
sage through the body. Without taking up space with a full consid- 
eration of his method of experimentation, we find that his conclusions 
may be summed up as follows : In moderate doses the drug is com- 
pletely changed during its passage through the body into a sulphur- 
etted organic substance, and the elimination of sulphuric acid is not 
increased by taking sulphonal. Dr. Smith does not give us the exact 
nature of the substance derived from sulphonal. Another paper upon 
the physiological action of sulphonal has been published by Dr. Wil- 
liam F. Shick of Easton, Pa., who has found, by a series of experi- 
ments, first, that sulphonal when given by the stomach acts very 
slowly, on account of its insolubility, but that subcutaneously in 
warm solution it is much more active. The drug was also found to 
produce a general relaxation of the muscles, and a staggering gait 
after its hypnotic power had passed by. The spectroscope failed to 
show any changes in the blood. The motor nerves were not affected. 
Shick believes that the action of the drug is exerted upon the higher 
nerve-centres. He also found a decreased reflex activity, and believes 
this lessening to be due to stimulation of Setschenow's reflex inhibi- 
tory centre. On the circulation the drug was found to have but little 
power. When sent directly into the blood there was produced a slight 
decrease in arterial pressure, followed very soon after by an increase. 
Upon the respiration the drug was found to act as a depressant when 
given in full doses. 

Therapeutics. — Sulphonal finds its place in medicine as a somni- 
facient or hypnotic, valuable when functional nervous insomnia is 
present, useless where advanced disease, such as cardiac trouble, is 
responsible for the wakefulness. In insanity it often produces sleep, 
and is of great service in the various mental disturbances character- 
ized by lack of sleep and often affecting persons of unsound mind. 
Sulphonal may be defined very briefly by any one who has largely 
used it or watched the reports made of its progress. This definition 
is that the drug does possess sleep-producing power of moderate 
amount — not equal to chloral, but greater than that of paraldehyde — 
and that it will sometimes succeed where the other hypnotics fail. 

Administration. — Sulphonal being virtually insoluble in cold water, 
it may be given in large capsules or in mucilage of acacia, so as to 
be held in suspension until swallowed. The insolubility and bulki- 



366 DRUGS. 

ness of the drug render its use difficult. It is best given in hot water 
(about 6 ounces), as suggested by Stewart. This makes a solution, 
and as soon as the liquid is cool enough to be swallowed it should be 
taken before precipitation occurs as the result of cooling. Sulphonal 
should be used several hours — say two or three — before the patient 
retires. If taken late at night, the patient frequently fails to get to 
sleep until the morning hours, and is heavy and drowsy all the next 
day. This difficulty is partly avoided by the use of a hot solution, but 
even then is apt to arise. The dose is 20 to 40 grains (1.3-2.6). It 
is wise not to use sulphonal continuously for more than a few days. 

Untoward Effects. — When sulphonal is taken in full dose for long 
periods of time, great sleepiness and weariness, with an unsteady 
gait, develop, which may go on to paralysis of the lower extremities 
if the use of the drug is persisted in. In some cases the paralysis is 
progressive, and in others hyperesthesia and abnormal sensations 
develop. In all such cases there is great disturbance of digestion 
with scanty secretion of urine, which contains an unusual substance, 
giving this secretion the color of port wine (hrematoporphyrinuria). 
Sulphonal often produces heaviness and a staggering gait the day 
after it is taken. There are numbers of cases of death on record from 
acute and chronic poisoning by sulphonal. In both classes of cases 
the death was by respiratory failure preceded by deep unconsciousness. 

SULPHUR. 

Sulphur is a non-metallic element official in three forms in the 
U. S. P. — namely, as Sulphur Sublimatum, TJ. S. and B. P., or sub- 
limed or flowers of sulphur ; Sulphur Proeeipitatum, TJ. S. and B. 
P., or precipitated sulphur; and Sulphur Lotum, TJ. S., or washed 
sulphur. 

Much confusion exists among students as to the differences between 
these various forms of sulphur. Sulphur itself is an element which 
is prepared for medicinal uses by being heated and sublimed (Sulphur 
Sublimatum), or flowers of sulphur. Sulphur lotum, or washed sul- 
phur, is prepared in order to get rid of sulphuric acid and other con- 
taminating substances, and is made from sublimed sulphur. Sulphur 
pnecipitaturu is also made from sublimed sulphur, and is more bland 
and minutely subdivided. Some believe it differs from sublimed 
sulphur in its therapeutic properties by reason of a small amount of 
water supposed to be present. It is sometimes called milk of sulphur. 
When sulphur is prescribed for internal use the sublimed sulphur is 
generally designated. 

Physiological Action. — Sulphur has little physiological influence 
over the general system. When taken internally it causes a soft, 
mushy stool of a yellow color with a strong odor of hydrogen sul- 
phide. The drug acts particularly on the skin and mucous membranes. 
The juices of the intestines break up some of it into sulphuretted 
hydrogen and sulphides. 

Therapeutics. — Sulphur is used as a mild laxative, never as a 
purge. In stricture of the boivels the soft stools produced by it will 



SULPHUR. 367 

often slip by the obstruction, and it is worthy of note that sulphur 
will sometimes overcome constipation when nothing else will give 
relief. It is particularly valuable in the treatment of constipation 
where there are hemorrhoids, and in chronic rheumatism and sciatica 
it is thought by some to effect a cure. 

Sulphur is of great service in the treatment of chronic bronchial 
affections, but for some curious reason its use has become almost obso- 
lete. The so-called Bergeon's method of treating phthisis by rectal 
injections of carbonic acid gas loaded with sulphuretted hydrogen was 
simply a revival of a custom of our great-grandfathers, who often used 
sulphur-waters by the mouth in the treatment of catarrhs or other 
disorders of mucous membranes. Bergeon took the trouble to go to 
the rectum to accomplish what was done two hundred years ago by 
the mouth, and the only novel part of his method was his filthy way 
of using the remedy. Graves recommended 5 to 10 grains (0.35- 
0.65) of sulphur three times a day wherever bronchial secretion was 
excessive, and found that it rid the lungs of mucus and relieved the 
cough. 

The external use of sulphur is very much more important than its 
internal use, in so far as regards affections of the skin. Of itself, 
the drug exercises little effect over the cuticle when used in powdered 
form, but combination with an ointment makes it at once active. Even 
irritations of the skin may ensue from, its constant use in concen- 
trated form. 

In scabies, or itch, sulphur ointment ( Unguentum Sulphuris, U. S. 
and B. P.) is the best remedy we have. The female parasite burrows 
under the epiderm and deposits the ova as she moves about, while the 
male does not burrow, but stays on the surface. The ointment will 
kill him, as he is readily attacked, but the female is protected by her 
burrowing propensities. To get at her and the ova the burrows must 
be opened, and this may be accomplished by a thorough soaking of 
the body with soap and water, thereby softening the epiderm covering 
the parasite, which can then readily be removed by rubbing the 
patient with a rough towel. The towel should be boiled at once to 
prevent its conveying the parasite to others. The ointment, if now 
applied, relieves the patient almost at once. It is important that the 
skin be well softened and rubbed, in order to keep open every burrow. 
The ointment should be allowed to remain on the part all night and 
be used for three or four nights consecutively. 

Young women often suffer from acne, particularly about the men- 
strual epoch, the skin also becoming at this time sallow and muddy. 
Ringer recommends the following lotion as one which is very success- 
ful in promoting a cure : 

R. — Sulphuris sublimati 3j (4.0). 

Glycerini . . . f.^j (4.0). 

Aquse rosre f gviij (256.0). — M. 

S. — Apply as a wash once or twice daily. 

Administration. — Sulphur is given in the dose of 10 to 20 grains 
(0.65-1.3) three times a day as an alterative, and from 1 to 2 



368 DRUGS. 

drachms (4.0-8.0) at night as a laxative, with a little molasses to 
form a paste. 

A confection (Confectio Sulphuris) is official in the B. P., dose 10 
grains to 2 drachms (0.65-8.0). 

Sulphide of Calcium. 
(See Calcium, Calx, and Sulphides.) 



SULPHURIC ACID. 

Acidum Sulphuricum, U. S. and B. P., Sulphuric Acid, or Oil 
of Vitriol, is a powerful irritant and escharotic, rapidly dehydrating 
and carbonizing the tissues, causing them to become black. It is the 
most astringent of the medicinal mineral acids, and when absorbed it 
unites with bases to form sulphates, and is so eliminated by the kidneys, 
the lower bowel, and the skin. It coagulates albumin. 

Poisoning. — The symptoms produced by poisonous doses are those 
of a gastro-intestinal inflammation of the most severe type, or the 
patient may drop to the floor almost at once, owing to collapse 
dependent upon perforation of the walls of the oesophagus or stomach 
by the acid and its consequent escape into the peritoneal cavity. If 
the patient lives to the fourth day, the parotid glands may become 
swollen as the result of stenosis of the salivary ducts of Steno, and 
violent inflammation of the kidneys may appear from the passage of 
the drug through these organs in the process of elimination. If par- 
tial recovery takes place, the patient often dies from inanition due to 
the formation of strictures in the alimentary canal or to destruction 
of the peptic tubules. The stain about the mouth is black, and if 
any of the acid is spilt on the clothes the characteristic burn is to 
be seen. 

The treatment consists in the use of alkalies, such as chalk, mag- 
nesium, whitewash off the walls, and soap. Opium and oils are to 
be given to allay irritation, and external heat is to be applied. 

Therapeutics. — Sulphuric acid is sometimes employed as a caustic 
to venereal sores, warts, and slowly-healing ulcers, but is most com- 
monly used internally, as it fulfils several pressing indications. As 
a remedy for serous diarrhoea, particularly if combined with some 
vegetable astringent, it is unsurpassed, and its use in cholera deserves 
great attention. (See Diarrhoea.) In the Philadelphia Hospital dur- 
ing an epidemic of cholera some years since every case which received 
sulphuric acid improved or failed to be attacked, whereas those who 
did not receive it were either very ill or died. 

The proper way to use the drug as a prophylactic during cholera 
epidemics is in the form of "sulphuric-acid lemonade," made so that 
each wineglassful of water contains 5 drops (0.35) of the aromatic 
sulphuric acid. The same solution may be used in acute lead poison- 
ing in order to form an insoluble sulphate of lead, and may be taken 
by artisans exposed to chronic lead poisoning as a prophylactic for 
the same purpose. 



SUMBUL— SUPRARENAL GLAND. 369 

As sulphuric acid is eliminated by the skin, it is often useful in 
the night-sweats of phthisis combined with belladonna or morphine. 

Administration. — The dose of the dilute acid (Acidum SuVphuricum 
Dilutum, U. S. and B. P.) is 10 to 20 drops (0.65-1.3), and of the 
aromatic acid (Acidum Sulphuricum Aromaticum, U. S. and B. P.) 
5 to 20 drops (0.35-1.3). The latter is the best preparation for gen- 
eral use. It contains ginger and oil of cinnamon. Both should be 
thoroughly diluted before they are administered. 



SUMBUL. 

Sumbul, U. S., is the root of Ferula Sumbul, a large plant of 
Northern Asia. The dose of the root (Sumbul Radix, B. P.) is 10 
to 40 grains (0.65-2.65). On the nervous system sumbul acts as an 
efficient nerve tonic, and was very largely employed by Goodell in cases 
of nervous exhaustion and in the unrest of nervous females. It is 
official in the tincture (Tinctura Sumbul, U. S. and B. P.), dose 1 to 
4 drachms (4.0-16.0). Goodell used the following formula: 

R. — Extract, sumbul gr. xx (1.3). 

Ferri sulph. exsiccat gr. xx (1.3). 

Asafoetidse gr. x (0.65). 

Acid, arsenosi gr. J (0.03). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One t. d. after meals. 

To be of any value the drug must be fresh, and care must be taken 
that the crude drug from which it is made is a good sample. 



SUPRARENAL GLAND. 

The use of thyroid and other glands for medicinal purposes has led 
to the employment of the adrenal gland, or its extract, in the treatment 
of disease in which this gland is found so disorganized as to be unable 
to carry out its function of internal secretion — as, for example, in Addi- 
son's disease. An extract from these glands possesses a very distinct 
physiological action, which consists chiefly in a great rise of arterial 
pressure, produced by stimulation of the muscular coats of the blood- 
vessels ; but while it causes such positive effects in ordinary doses, 
overdoses do not seem to possess markedly toxic influences. Locally 
applied a sterile 4 per cent, watery solution of the gland is useful 
in abnormal vascularities of the conjunctiva, as in trachoma, and 
for the purpose of contracting dilated capillaries, as in hypertrophy 
of the turbinated bodies. It increases the effects of cocaine in this 
respect. 

Because of this effect, and also because suprarenal extract increases 
muscular tone generally, the extract may be employed in cases of relax- 
ation of the vasomotor system, in neurasthenia, in cardiac feebleness, 
and perhaps m cases of purpura. It has been used with asserted great 
success in the treatment of diabetes insipidus. Suprarenal extract is 

24 



370 DRUGS. 

also said by some to be of value in cases of ancemia of the pernicious 
type with enlargement of the liver and spleen. 

Usually when suprarenal gland is used the effect is produced very 
slowly. It is best given by the stomach, and neither the acid nor the 
pepsin have any effect upon it. Careful investigation shows beyond a 
doubt that the powdered gland, dried in vacuo, and given in tablet in 
the dose of 3 to 5 grains (0.18-0.30), three times a day, is the most 
efficacious preparation. 



SWEET SPIRIT OP NITRE. 

Sweet Spirit of Nitre (Sjnritus JEtheris Nitrosi, U. S. and B. P.), 
or Spirit of Nitrous Ether, is a mixture of alcohol, water, and ethyl 
nitrite. It is upon this last constituent that most of its value as a 
remedial agent depends. The drug when sold by pharmacists or 
others who are not very careful to keep fresh preparations is no better 
than alcohol and water alone, since the ethyl nitrite readily escapes, 
and deterioration at once takes place. Until recently the profession 
have had no ready means of protecting themselves from such poor 
preparations, but at present we know that all that is necessary to dis- 
cover this absence is to add a grain or two of antipyrin to a J ounce or 
less of the spirit. If the ethyl nitrite be present, a purple color fol- 
lowed by a green precipitate will be formed. This green precipitate is 
iso-nitroso-antipyrin, which is not in the least poisonous. 

Physiological Action. — Sweet spirit of nitre is a sedative to the cir- 
culatory and nervous system and a diaphoretic and diuretic, accord- 
ing to the manner in which it is administered. 

If given in very full doses, it rapidly produces the cyanosis cha- 
racteristic of the full effects of any one of the nitrites. (See Amyl 
Nitrite.) 

Therapeutics. — There is probably no drug so widely employed by 
the laity as a household remedy which is so potent for good, and yet 
so harmless, if wrongly used, as is this one. 

Physicians often place less reliance upon it than it deserves, and 
in nearly every instance where it fails it is either not indicated or the 
nitrite has escaped and left it powerless. 

In incontinence of urine in children the combination which follows 
is very useful in certain cases. (See Incontinence of Urine.) In these 
instances the urine will be found high-colored and concentrated, and 
therefore capable of irritating the bladder and genito-urinary tract : 

R .— Potassii citratis gj to ^ij (4.0-8.0). 

Spt. setheris nitrosi f^ss (16.0). 

Aquas q. s. ad fjpv (128.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every five hours until the urine becomes clear. 

As soon as the urine is clear, belladonna may be used, the citrate 
of potassium and spirit of nitre being continued or not as the case 
demands. Where the spinal centres are depressed and there is gen- 
eral atony of the system, it may be well to substitute the following 
pill for the belladonna : 



TAMARINDS— TANNIC ACID. 371 

R. — Acid, arsenosi gr. } (0.016). 

Extract, nucis vomicae ........ gr. ij (0.1). 

Quininae sulphatis gr. xx (1.3). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One pill t. d. after meals. 

The diuretic action of sweet spirit of nitre is best obtained by 
using the drug in ice-cold water and keeping the patient lightly cov- 
ered and cool. On the other hand, if a diaphoretic influence is 
desired, it may be given simultaneously with warm lemonade, and 
the patient should be well blanketed. This last action of sweet spirit 
of nitre has made it a remedy of common use in treating acute colds 
in adults and children, and in setting aside the fever of these condi- 
tions in the latter class as well. 

Sweet spirit of nitre is a distinct antispasmodic, and can be well 
employed where slight nervous excitement accompanies fevers or in 
other states associated with irritation in infancy. 

The dose for an adult is from 20 drops to 1 drachm (1.3-4.0), and 
for a child of one year 5 to 10 drops (0.35-0.65). It should always 
be given in cool water to the latter class of patients. 



TAMARINDS. 

Tamarindus, U. S. and B. P., is the preserved pulp of Tamarindus 
indica, a tree of the West Indies. 

The taste is a peculiar mixture of bitter and sweet. As a laxative 
it exerts little power over that of any ordinary fruits, such as apples, 
but it enters into the confection of senna (Confectio Sennas, U. S. 
and B. P.). Patients often find tamarinds a very agreeable laxative 
when they are taken before going to bed or eaten as a confection after 
meals. 

TANNIC ACID. 

This acid when pure is an uncrystallizable, white or yellowish- 
white powder without bitter taste and very soluble in water or glyce- 
rin. It is not so soluble in alcohol and ether. It is the chief active 
principle of vegetable astringents, and occupies the relative position 
of an alkaloid to a crude drug, so far as the active portion of these 
vegetable astringents is concerned. Tannic acid is derived from nut- 
gall. 

Physiological Action. — Tannic acid when brought in contact with 
any of the tissues of the body constringes them and decreases their 
vascularity for a time, by causing contraction of their blood-vessels. 
For these reasons it stops secretion and condenses parts of the body 
which are relaxed and feeble. Mixed with blood, it forms a clot with 
great rapidity through coagulation of the albumin. Tannic acid is 
absorbed as gallic acid and eliminated as such, only acting as tannic 
acid before absorption. This is important to remember, since we 
learn from this that tannic acid is to be used to check hemorrhage 



372 DRUGS. 

only where the drug can be brought in direct contact with the bleed- 
ing point. If a hemorrhage is to be reached through the circulation, 
as in renal bleeding, gallic acid is to be given, as it is absorbed at 
once without change. 

Therapeutics. — Tannic acid is used in medicine to control hemor- 
rhage and to act as an astringent to relaxed tissues, as in diarrhoea 
of the atonic or serous type, or in localized or general sweating. It 
is also of service for the purposes of toughening mucous membranes 
or parts of the skin 3 which are exposed to much rubbing, as in the 
case of the nipples of a primipara, or where the feet become mace- 
rated and sore or sweat profusely on exercise being taken. In the 
treatment of hcemoptysis tannic acid may be dissolved in water in the 
proportion of 5 to 10 grains (0.35-0.65) to the ounce (32.0) and used 
in a fine spray delivered from an atomizer. GTycerite of tannin is 
made by adding 2 ounces (64.0) of tannic acid to a -J- pint (250 cc.) of 
glycerin, and mixing at a gentle heat until solution occurs. It is use- 
ful as an application to sloiv ulcers and depressed mucous membranes, 
as after an attack of stomatitis. In hemorrhoids of the bleeding type 
tannic acid suppositories are often very useful, and cotton saturated 
with tannic-acid solution is often used as a packing in vaginal leu- 
corrhoea. 

Administration. — The dose of tannic acid is 2 to 10 grains (0.1- 
0.65), best given in pill. The official preparations are — the troches 
(Trochisci Acidi Tannici, U. S.), each containing 1 grain of tannin; 
the G-lyceritwn Acidi Tannici, U. S. ; Collodium Stypticum, U. S. ; 
and an ointment (Unguentum Acidi Tannici, U. S.). The B. P. 
preparations are — Crlyceritum Acidi Tannici; Suppositoria Acidi 
Tannici, each containing 3 grains (0.15) ; and Trochisci Acidi Tan- 
nici, of which each contains J grain (0.03) of the acid. 



TANSY. 

Tansy (Tanacetum, U. S.). The leaves and tops of Tanacetum 
vulgare yield a volatile oil (Oleum Tanaceti) which possesses em- 
menagogue powers and has been largely used as a uterine stimulant. 
It is also used as an anthelmintic. 

In poisonous dose it causes epileptiform convulsions in some cases, 
and deep coma, with death from respiratory failure. 

The dose of the oil as an emmenagogue is 1 to 3 drops (0.05- 
0.15). 

In domestic medicine tansy tea, made by adding 1 ounce (32.0) of 
the leaves or tops to 1 pint (J litre) of water, and given in the dose 
of 1 to 2 ounces (32.0-64.0), is largely employed as a remedy for 
amenorrhoea. 

TAR. 
(See p. 328.) 



TAR AX A CUM- TEBEBENE. 373 



TARAXACUM. 

Taraxacum, U. S., Dandelion, is a very old remedy for hepatic 
torpor and the dyspepsia resulting therefrom. It should be prepared 
from the fresh leaves or roots, as the dried, stale plant is inert. From 
disregard of this fact much disappointment has arisen. Owing to its 
being bitter it acts as a tonic. The extract (Extr actum Taraxaci, 
U. S. and B. P.), dose 5 to 30 grains (0.35-2.0), and the fluid 
extract (Extr actum Taraxaci Fluidum, U. S.), dose 1 to 3 drachms 
(4.0-12.0), are the only official preparations. Succus Taraxaci, 
B. P., is given in the dose of 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0). 



TARTARIC ACID. 

Acidum Tartaricum, U. S. and B. P., is derived from crude 
potassium bitartrate, and is much less powerful than acetic acid, but 
capable of producing very severe gastro-enteritis if taken in overdose 
and in concentrated form. It is rarely used alone, and is most com- 
monly employed to act upon sodium or potassium bicarbonate to form 
effervescent drinks. (See Seidlitz Powder and Effervescing Draughts.) 
The dose is 5 to 20 grains (0.35-1.3). 

When tartaric acid is taken in poisonous dose, lime-water, alkalies, 
and magnesium are the antidotes, and opium is to be given to allay 
irritation. If necessary, emetics are to be used. 



TEREBENB. 

Terebenum, U. S. and B. P., is a liquid substance, clear, color- 
less, insoluble in water, having a peculiar odor like that of new 
pine sawdust, and is made by the action of sulphuric acid upon oil 
of turpentine, which is then distilled at about 160° F. 

Therapeutics. — Terebene is a very useful stimulating expectorant, 
to be used in the late stages of acute or in chronic bronchitis to liquefy 
and get rid of the mucus which is clogging the bronchial tubes. The 
drug may be given by way of the stomach or by inhalation. A useful 
mixture in the later stages of bronchitis when the mucus is very thick 
and tenacious is one composed of equal parts of terebene, iodide of 
ethyl, and chloroform, placed on a sponge and held some two or three 
inches from the face. It has also been employed in genito-urinary 
inflammations of a subacute or chronic form in place of oil of sandal- 
wood or copaiba as a stimulant. In fermentative dyspepsia it is of 
service as an antiseptic. The drug should always be given in cap- 
sules in the dose of 5 to 10 minims (0.35-0.65), or by dropping it on 
sugar in the same amount. This dose may be repeated every three 
hours. Unfortunately, terebene is very apt to irritate the stomach or 
to produce diarrhoea, and it sometimes irritates the kidneys. 



374 DRUGS. 



TBRPINE HYDRATE, 

Terpine Hydrate (Terpini Hydras, U. S.) is prepared by a certain 
process, unnecessary to explain, from a mixture of pure oil of tur- 
pentine, alcohol, and nitric acid. In this manner large, colorless crys- 
tals, without odor and with a faint taste, are formed, and in this form 
the drug appears on the market. Terpine hydrate is soluble in 250 
parts of cold, 32 parts of boiling water, and in 10 parts of alcohol. 
In ether it requires 100 parts for its solution, and in chloroform 200 
parts. 

Therapeutics. — Terpine hydrate is used for the purpose of increas- 
ing secretion from the bronchial mucous membrane, and is a useful 
remedy in subacute or chronic bronchitis to rid the tubes of mucus. 
The drug has also been satisfactorily employed in the treatment of 
hay fever when given in full doses. The remedy, while only useful 
in a limited number of conditions, certainly seems to be very useful 
in the variety of diseases named. The dose as generally given is 2 
to 3 grains (0.1-0.15), but it may given in the dose of 15 to 20 
grains (1.0-1.3) three times a day in hay fever. Terpine hydrate 
may be prescribed in pills, capsules, and in alcoholic solution flavored 
with some of the aromatic waters and with the addition of a little 
syrup. Thus : 

R. — Terpin. hydrat gr. lxxv (5.0). 

Spt. vini gallici f^ij (60.0 J. 

Syrup, lactucarii, 

Syrup, tolutan aa fgiij (90.0).— M. 

S. — 1 to 2 dessertspoonfuls (0.8-15. 0) three or four times a day. 



Or we may prescribe- 



R.— Terpin. hydrat gr. xl (2.65). 

Acid, benzoic gr. xl (2.65). 

Codeinse gr. v (0.3).— M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — 1 pill three or four times a day. 



TERPINOL. 

Terpinol is derived from terpine hydrate by boiling the latter with 
dilute mineral acids. Terpinol occurs as an oily substance smelling 
like hyacinths. It is almost insoluble in water, but dissolves readily 
in ether and alcohol. It is used for precisely the same purposes as 
terpine hydrate, in the dose of 8 to 20 grains (0.5-1.3), in capsules 
or pills. This dose may be given twice or thrice a day. The drug 
may irritate the stomach and kidneys when given in overdose. 



THAPSIA. 

Thapsia garganica is an umbelliferous plant of South-eastern 
Europe, employed for the purpose of producing a blister. It is gen- 



THIOL— THIOSINAMINE. 375 

erally used under these circumstances in the form of a plaster. The 
resin, obtained from the bark of the root, is the form -in which it 
appears in medicine. When applied continuously it produces great 
irritation, and finally sloughs appear. 



THIOL. 

Thiol is a substance introduced into medicine as a substitute for 
ichthyol, as the latter drug possesses the disadvantage of having a 
disagreeable odor. It is derived from brown-colored paraffin or gas 
oils by a complicated process. The product obtained is evaporated in 
vacuo to a thin extract called Thiolum Liquidum, or still further to dry- 
ness, or Thiolum Siccum. The liquid thiol occurs as a thin brownish- 
black neutral fluid, smelling somewhat like birch oil. It is slightly 
soluble in alcohol and ether, but quite soluble in water, forming a 
clear mixture, which is rendered more perfect by the addition of 
glycerin. Thiol sicca may appear in lustrous scales. 

Therapeutics. — The question which arises at once in regard to thiol 
is, whether the fact that thiol is practically an artificial ichthyol 
necessarily indicates that it can be used as a substitute for that sub- 
stance ? While it is true that th.Qj are both sulphur compounds, it is 
also true that ichthyol possesses very extraordinary powers not met 
with in any other form of sulphur compound previously known. Thiol 
has been used largely by skilful observers in diseases of the skin in 
moist eczema, scrofulosis of the skin, and in syphilides with asserted good 
results. In cases of moist eczema the thiol is used, after first wash- 
ing the part with an antiseptic solution, if it is dusted over the skin 
in the form of powder. Bidder has treated the disease by using com- 
presses wet with thiol in 10 per cent, solution. 

While it is claimed that thiol will relieve exudations about joints 
and elsewhere in as effective a manner as ichthyol, sufficient evidence 
as to this point is not yet before us. Thiol is much cheaper than 
ichthyol. 

THIOSINAMINE. 

Thiosinamine is a preparation derived from volatile oil of horse- 
radish, or more commonly from the volatile oil of mustard seed, by the- 
addition of alcohol and ammonia water and exposing it to heat. Under 
these conditions crystals of thiosinamine are deposited in prisms which 
are soluble in 2 parts of warm water, and in alcohol or ether. A solu- 
tion of it should not redden litmus paper. 

This substance is used in medicine for the cure of lupus in scars r 
and keloid, and it has been used with asserted success in malignant 
growths. In a case of keloid the drug in 10 per cent, solution in 
absolute alcohol may be injected directly into the part affected in the 
dose of 10 to 20 minims (0.65-1.3) every third or fourth day. The 
part receiving the injection usually becomes congested and swollen and 
dark in hue. There is often a great increase in the urine, and per- 



376 DRUGS. 

haps nausea and yomiting, and great pain where the injection is given. 
In cases of lupus it may be injected locally or at a distant spot, and 
produces a reaction like that caused by tuberculin. The drug may 
also be given internally in the dose of 4 to 6 grains (0.2-0.4) once a 
day. 

THYMOL. 

Thymol, U. S. and B. P., is derived from the oil of thyme and 
other volatile oils, and occurs in large crystals. It is almost insoluble 
in water, but is freely soluble in fats and oils. Thymol is irritant, 
but antiseptic and disinfectant, and has been employed in typhoid 
fever as an intestinal antiseptic by Henry and others. Under these 
conditions it should be used in gelatin-coated pill, and a glass of 
water or milk taken to avoid the burning sensation. In the treat- 
ment of stomatitis or tenderness of the gums after mercurialization 
the following mouth-wash may be used : 

R.— Thymol . # gr. x (0.65). 

Sodii boratis gr.xv (1.0). 

Aquae _ fgij (64.0).— M. 

S. — Place a teaspoonful (4.0) of this in \ a tumblerful of water and use as a gargle. 

Thymol has been used for dressing wounds, but is too costly. In 
summer weather it cannot be employed, because of its power of attract- 
ing flies, which make the patient's life miserable. The dose is \ to 2 
grains (0.03-0.1), in capsule or in wafer, and it is better to follow its 
use by a glass of milk to prevent the drug from irritating the stomach. 
In typhoid fever as much as 30 grains (2.0) in twenty-four hours may 
be given as an intestinal antiseptic. 

If very large amounts (100 grains [7.0]) are taken in a day, poi- 
soning may result, but as much as this must be used before danger is 
present. 

Thymol Iodide. 

This compound of iodine and thymol, sometimes called aristol, but 
more correctly dithymol diiodide, has been introduced into medicine 
for the purpose of substituting iodoform. It does not possess the 
unpleasant odor of iodoform, and it is stated to be less apt to produce 
poisoning by absorption. A great deal of contradictory experience 
has accumulated as to its exact value, but the result of a careful 
examination of clinical reports is that in some respects it is a better 
drug than iodoform and in others not so good. Tichhoff and Neisser 
state that when taken internally thymol iodide is incapable of causing 
toxaemia, but this can only be true when moderately large doses are 
given. Upon cocci and bacilli thymol iodide has less power than 
iodoform. In regard to the power of this drug in healing wounds 
or sores, the decision has been reached that whenever secretion is free 
it is contraindicated, as the thymol seems to increase moisture. On 
the other hand, in those instances where in disease of the skin or 
mucous membrane an undue dryness is present the effect produced is 



THYMUS GLAND— THYBOID GLAND. 377 

often favorable. Upon lupus little effect is produced unless the sur- 
face is first curetted. Finety-powdered thymol iodide has been found 
of very unusual value in the treatment of interstitial keratitis by de 
Schweinitz and Wallace when dusted into the eye each clay. In an 
ointment of -J to 1 drachm to the ounce of lard (2.0-4.0 : 32.0) thy- 
mol iodide may be used in psoriasis, but it is not as useful as is 
chrysarobin in this affection. 



THYMUS GLAND. 

The Thymus Gland has been used quite largely in certain diseases 
on the same principle as that governing the use of the thyroid, namely, 
that this gland possesses the function of internal secretion and will 
therefore benefit certain systemic conditions in persons in whom the 
thymus w T as atrophied too early in life. Others have used it as a sub- 
stitute for the thyroid, intentionally or by mistake. 

Its chief use has been in the treatment of goitre (not exophthalmic). 
It does not produce any disagreeable effects as does the thyroid. 
Usually the beginning dose is half an ounce (15.0) administered sev- 
eral times a week. This dose is soon increased to an ounce (30.0) 
once a week. In this country Parke, Davis & Co. prepare thymus 
gland in tablets and capsules ready for use, and this is the best form 
in which to prescribe it. 

THYROID GLAND. 

The Thyroid Gland has been introduced into therapeutics within 
the last few years for the purpose of relieving certain disturbances of 
nutrition of which the most characteristic are myxcedema and cretin- 
ism. The results obtained from its use in these states are extraordi- 
nary, and it is to be regarded as a specific. Its use is based upon the 
fact that in cases of myxcedema the thyroid gland is usually found 
atrophied, and on the discovery by Reverdin, Kocher, Schiff, Fuhr, 
Horsley, Crede, Zesas and others, that extirpation of this gland pro- 
duces myxcedema or a train of symptoms practically identical with it. 
Soon after these studies had been verified it was suggested that myxce- 
dema might be cured if it were possible to transplant part or all of the 
thyroid gland of one of the lower animals to the body of the patient 
affected, with the hope that this healthy glandular tissue would become 
vascularized and exercise its beneficent influence on the disease process. 
This method has been attempted again and again, nearly always with 
good results, which, however, have been only temporary because the 
transplanted gland has not become well vascularized and has been 
gradually absorbed. When this operation is attempted the gland of the 
sheep is chosen, because it most closely resembles that of man and its 
removal from the sheep causes in that animal symptoms very like those 
seen in a man suffering from disease or absence of the thyroid gland. The 
animal is killed by a blow or by shooting, an incision is at once made, 
under absolute antisepsis, and one lobe of the gland is rapidly dis- 



378 DRUGS. 

sected out and placed in a warm, sterile glass jar in which it is con- 
veyed to the surgeon, who stands ready to make an incision into the 
subcutaneous tissues of the trunk just below the breasts. The lobe 
is split in two and one-half placed in each incision and the wounds are 
closed and jfreated like any ordinary surgical wound. Only normal 
sterile saline solution should be used in the wound. If good results 
persist after six months the gland has become vascularized and 
the operation does not have to be repeated ; but if a return of the 
symptoms comes on in three months, a new graft will have to be 
made. 

The objections to this method are so numerous that Murray admin- 
istered thyroid gland by the mouth and its extract hypodermically, 
with great success, and he has been followed by many others. The 
gland itself may be eaten in the dose of from one-eighth to one whole 
lobe each day, but the latter is far too large a dose in most cases. As 
it is disagreeable to take it raw, it may be very lightly fried or broiled 
or even boiled before it is eaten ; but these processes diminish its 
activity. In other cases the gland may be minced and spread on 
bread with anchovy sauce. 

If fresh thyroid cannot be had daily, a glycerin extract may be 
used. The minced gland is covered by an equal weight of pure 
glycerin, and then after soaking for twenty-four hours is placed in a 
cloth and firmly squeezed for some time to extract the glycerin laden 
with the active ingredients of the gland. This will keep for a long 
time, and may be given daily in the dose of 3 to 15 drops. It is, 
however, far better for the physician to employ the desiccated thyroids 
in powdered form or made into a tablet or placed in a capsule than to 
use the crude preparation just named. A number of firms in this 
country and abroad prepare the gland and market it in this form, and 
even prepare an extract. Thus the extract of thyroid gland prepared 
by Parke, Davis k Co. is of such a strength that 1 grain equals 10 
grains of the crude gland or one-sixth of a desiccated thyroid. The 
dose of this is half a grain three times a day, which dose is gradually 
increased as the patient becomes accustomed to it. It is probably 
better, however, to use the desiccated powdered thyroid itself, and 
Meltzer states that Parke, Davis k Company's preparations have given 
better results than those of other firms, and none of the disagreeable 
untoward symptoms which will be named in a moment. Two grains 
of Parke, Davis & Company's 'powder are equal to 5 grains of the 
fresh gland, the ordinary sheep's thyroid weighing about 24 grains. 
When the remedy is first employed we usually employ about 1 grain 
of P. D. k Co.'s powdered gland, which is gradually increased a grain 
a day until about 6 grains a day are reached, when a halt is made and 
the effect of this dose watched for some days. If the patient does not 
manifest symptoms of overdose on the one hand or fail to improve on 
the other, then the close may be further gradually increased. No more 
than 15 grains of the dried gland should be given each day, and this 
quantity should be divided into several doses. 

Thyroid gland has been used very largely in the treatment of cre- 
tinism with success only second to that attained in the therapy of 



TRICHLORACETIC ACID—TRIKRESOL. 379 

myxcedema, and with asserted success in excessive obesity and psori- 
asis. The rapid growth of cretins under thyroid gland therapy may 
lead to bending of the bones, and care should be taken that too much 
exercise on the feet is prevented. In the author's experience its 
effects are inconstant in obesity. It benefits some patients and is 
useless in others. It has also been asserted that thyroid therapy is 
useful in the treatment of exophthalmic goitre, but this is quite posi- 
tively contradicted. Indeed, it is claimed by some that this disease 
is made worse by its use. Probably it will be found that true exoph- 
thalmic goitre is not benefited, but it may be proved that when simple 
hypertrophy of the connective tissue of the thyroid produces the 
enlargement it is useful. 

Thyreoiodine and Iodothyrine have been introduced as representing 
the therapeutic activity of the crude gland ; but while they possess some 
action, they cannot be so used with the expectation of such good re- 
sults as when the desiccated thyroid itself is resorted to. 

In the B. P. the dried gland is official. 

Untoward Effects. — Overdoses of thyroid produce violent headache, 
feeble action of the heart, and sometimes diarrhoea and vomiting. 
Should any of these symptoms come on they are an indication for the 
complete stoppage of the use of the drug for some days, and a return 
to its use must be gradual. These symptoms can be avoided by cau- 
tious dosing and by keeping the patient in bed for some days after 
the treatment is inaugurated. A vegetable diet will also aid the 
treatment. 

After marked improvement or apparent cure has been effected by 
the treatment, it is necessary for the patient to continue using thyroid 
extract indefinitely, for if it is stopped the myxoedema returns. The 
remedy may be given in minute daily doses or in full doses for several 
days at the end of every three weeks or a month. Though the latter 
plan is the more disagreeable it is asserted to possess a greater thera- 
peutic and preventive value. 



TRICHLORACETIC ACID. 

Trichloracetic Acid is a compound of chlorine and acetic acid 
occurring in deliquescent crystals and used as a rapid, active eschar- 
otic upon venereal and other warts. A peculiarity in its effect is that 
it produces a dry scab which speedily falls off, leaving a healing surface 
beneath. It is also claimed that its action is not followed by secondary 
inflammation and pain. It is used by applying a crystal to the wart 
or other growth. 



TRIKRESOL. 
Trikresol consists in a combination of ortho-, meta-, and paracresol, 
bodies allied to creolin and carbolic acid. Trikresol appears in com- 
merce as a white liquid, smelling somewhat like creosote, and soluble 



380 DRUGS. 

in water in the proportion of about 2-J- per cent. It forms a clear 
solution, and does not benumb the skin as does carbolic acid. It is 
also much less irritant and less poisonous than carbolic acid or bichlo- 
ride of mercury. 

Therapeutics. — Trikresol is used as an antiseptic in surgery in 1 
per cent, solutions. In the strength of 1 : 500 to 1 : 1000 it may be 
employed as an antiseptic collyrium in ophthalmic practice, in which 
field it has proved very useful. 



TRIONAL AND TETRONAL. 

These two substances are very closely related to sulphonal, and 
are practically identical with that drug in their effects on the general 
system. They occur in shining, odorless, colorless plates with a very 
faint taste. Trional and tetronal are used for the relief of insomnia 
of a functional type, and the sleep produced by these ordinarily comes 
on in about twenty to thirty minutes after the drug is taken, and lasts 
five to six hours. The dose is 15 to 30 grains (1.0-2.0). Doses larger 
than 15 to 30 grains should never be given continuously, and it is 
always a good plan after the drug has been given for five or six con- 
secutive days to stop its use for two or three days. It is well to order 
for the patient who is taking trional, if there is any tendency to con- 
stipation, one of the saline purgatives daily. 

Trional and tetronal are slightly soluble in water and very soluble 
in alcohol. Advantages in their use are lack of disagreeable taste and 
the absence of symptoms of circulatory depression. The best way to 
administer trional or tetronal is in hot broth or tea or whiskey. It is 
wise to gradually decrease the dose if the drug is taken night after 
night. Tetronal is more expensive than trional, but sometimes suc- 
ceeds when trional fails. Both of these drugs are apt to make the 
patient very drowsy the day after their ingestion. 

When trional is taken in full dose for several weeks, it pro- 
duces very distinct alterations in the blood, which are manifested 
by hsematoporphyrinuria — a state in which the urine is dark red or 
almost black. The drug should be stopped at once when the urine 
begins to be red and saline purgatives must be used freely. 

TURPENTINE. 

Terebinthina, U. #., occurs in two forms — namely, as turpentine 
derived from the ordinary yellow pine (Pinus palustris) and other 
varieties of pine, and as Canada turpentine ( TerebintMna Canadensis, 
U. S.) derived from Abies balsamea, or silver fir, or species of cone- 
bearing trees other than Pinus palustris. The turpentine derived 
from the latter sources is sometimes called "Balm of Gilead." 

Much confusion often exists in students' minds as to the difference 
between oil of turpentine {Oleum Terebinthina;, U. S. and B. P.) and 
spirit of turpentine, both of which are the same substance under a 
different name. This oil is not, however, the same thing as " tur- 



TURPENTINE. 381 

pentine," for the oil is distilled from turpentine. The distilled oil 
is a thin, clear fluid having a peculiar odor and taste, and is irritant 
to the skin and mucous membranes. It is exceedingly inflammable, 
should never be placed near a light, and if added to any strong min- 
eral acid takes fire. 

When turpentine is spoken of in this book or in medicine gen- 
erally, the doubly distilled oil of turpentine (Oleum Terebinthince 
Rectificatum, U. S.) is what is meant unless the contrary is stated. 

Physiological Action. — Turpentine when taken internally produces 
a sense of warmth in the stomach, a quickened pulse, a warm skin, 
and slightly accelerated breathing. In overdose it may cause intoxi- 
cation. Upon the circulation it produces a very slight rise of arterial 
pressure, increased pulse-rate, and increased heart-force. On the 
nervous system the drug, in large amounts, causes loss of sensation 
before it affects voluntary motion. 

The drug is eliminated by the kidneys and lungs, and gives the 
odor of violets to the urine. 

Poisonous doses cause strangury, bloody urine, renal inflammation, 
and cyanosis, with dilated pupils and gastro-enteritis. 

In persons with an idiosyncrasy to this drug, erythematous, papular 
or vesicular eruptions may follow its external or internal use. 

Therapeutics. — External Use. — Turpentine is used as a local 
application for the purpose of producing counter-irritation over any 
area where deep-seated inflammation exists. Under these circum- 
stances it is almost always used in the form of a stupe, made as fol- 
lows : Place a tin cup containing the turpentine in a vessel containing 
hot water, so that the turpentine may be warmed without coming near 
a flame. Dip a piece of flannel into very hot water and wring it out 
in a twisted towel, and when it is so dry that no water drips from it, 
dip it into the hot turpentine and wring it out again to free it from 
any excess of the drug. The cloth, while hot, should be applied, and 
allowed to remain until discomfort ensues, when it should be with- 
drawn, as it will blister the skin if left on too long. Children and 
adults suffering from bronchitis may be rubbed on the chest with tur- 
pentine with much relief, but in the former class of patients it should 
be diluted with sweet oil, half and half, or even two-thirds of oil. 

Ixterxal Use. — Turpentine is used internally as a stimulant of 
a diffusible type in the course of the exhausting fevers, particularly 
if any flatulence exists or if any ulceration of the bowels is present. 
In typhoid fever turpentine stupes, turpentine enemata, and the 
administration of the drug by the mouth are the best ways to over- 
come tympanites. At the end of the second week, when the tongue 
is red, dry, cracked, and brown, the teeth covered with sordes, and 
tympany is well marked, turpentine may be used in emulsion in the 
dose of 5 to 10 drops (0.3-0.65) three times a day. Again, in con- 
valescence from typhoid fever, when diarrhoea is persistent and relapses 
are constant and due to an unhealed state of Peyer's patches, turpen- 
tine is the remedy par excellence. 

In intestinal and other passive hemorrhages such as menorrhagia 
or hcematuria, the drug is often of service. 



382 DRUGS. 

Used against the tape-worm, turpentine is given in the dose of \ an 
ounce to 1 ounce (16.0-32.0), mixed with an equal amount of castor 
oil. This treatment is a somewhat dangerous practice, but is efficient. 
In chronic and well-advanced kidney disease very large doses of power- 
ful diuretics are often required to stimulate the kidneys sufficiently 
to cause urinary flow, and turpentine may be used under these cir- 
cumstances. 

Turpentine is contraindicated in the presence of any acute inflam- 
mation of the g astro-intestinal tract and in acute nephritis. 

In lumbago the dose of 20 drops (1.3) is said to be very useful, and 
many have found the vapor of turpentine of value in bronchitis of a 
subacute or chronic type when inhaled from boiling water. In gleet it 
is given by the mouth to stimulate the genito-urinary tract. Turpen- 
tine should be tried in the treatment of purpura hemorrhagica, as it 
has been found of value. 

Administration. — Turpentine may be given for the relief of flatu- 
lence by placing 5 drops (0.3) on a piece of sugar, or in emulsion 
made by using acacia and a flavoring substance, as follows : 

R. — 01. cinnamomi gtt. xx (1.3). 

01. terebinthinse f^iv (16.0). 

Mucil. acaciae q. s. ad f^iv (128.0).— M. 

S. — A teaspoonful (4.0) every four hours in typhoid fever. 

A more agreeable preparation, not to be used in typhoid fever, is 
that recommended by Bartholow, as follows : 

R .— Olei terebinthinse f^j (4.0). 

Olei amygdal. expres f^ss (16.0). 

Tincturse opii f^ij (8.0). 

Mucil. acacias . . . f&v (20.0). 

Aquas lanro-cerasi f^ss (16.0). — JVL 

S. — A teaspoonful (4.0) every four hours for tympanites. 

When used as an enema the following is useful : 

R —Olei terebinthinse f^j (32.0). 

Olei olivse fljss (48.0). 

Camphorse gr. xx (1.3). 

Mucil. acacise f^ss (16.0). 

Aquae fgx (320.0).— M. 

S— To be injected as an enema for the relief of tympanites and to aid in the removal 
of hardened faeces. Stir thoroughly before using. 

The Liniment of Turpentine {Binimentum Terebinthince, TJ. S. 
and B. P.) is largely used as a stimulating application to sprains and 
enlarged joints. 

The following preparation is also official in the B. P.: Linimentum 
Terebinthinop. Aceticum. 

Turpentine applied with a brush to the part affected is of service 
in ringworm. 

The ointment of turpentine is used as a counter-irritant and stimu- 
lant to the part to which it is applied. The liniment acts in the same 
way when applied to sprains and bruises. 



UVA URSI— VALERIANIC ACID. 383 



UVA URSI. 



Uva Ursi, U. S., Bearberry, is the leaves of Arctostaphylos Uva 
ursi, a widely-distributed evergreen shrub. The drug is known in 
the B. P. as Uva? Ursi Folia. Its active principle is arbutin, some- 
times called ursin. 

Therapeutics. — Uva ursi is employed in medicine as a weak, astrin- 
gent diuretic, possessing alterative power over the genito-urinary appa- 
ratus. It is used in pyelitis, cystitis, and in chronic gonorrhoea or 
gleet. When taken in overdose it escapes from the body as hydro- 
chinone, making the urine dark-colored or black. 

Administration. — Arbutin itself is often used in the dose of 3 to 5 
grains (0.15-0.35). The dose of the extract (Extr actum Uva? Ursi, 
U. 8.) is 1 to 4 grains (0.05--0.2), of the fluid extract {Extr actum 
Uvce Ursi Fluidum, U. S.) is 2 to 4 drachms (8.0-16.0) three times 
a day. An infusion (Infusum Uvce Ursi) is official in the B. P., 
dose 1 to 2 ounces (32.0-64.0). 



VALERIAN. 

Valerian [Valeriana, U. S.) is the rhizome and rootlet of Vale- 
riana officinalis, a plant of Europe, but cultivated in America. It 
is official in the B. P. as Valeriana? Rhizoma. Its active principle 
is apparently a volatile oil {Oleum Valeriana?). It also contains 
valerianic acid. 

Physiological Action. — Valerian is a very feeble depressant to the 
nervous system, tending to produce nervous rest. In cats it excites 
sexual activity to a great degree, probably from its odor. When very 
large doses are given to man, it causes a sense of warmth in the 
stomach, a slightly quickened pulse, and sometimes nausea and vomit- 
ing. Still larger amounts produce purging and mental hebetude. 

Therapeutics. — Valerian is used alone or in combination with other 
drugs to quiet nervous females and to relieve nervousness and insom- 
nia. In hysteria it is often very serviceable, and combined with 
morphine is much used in the treatment of delirium tremens. 

Administration. — The fluid extract (Extractum Valeriana? Fluidum, 
U. 8.), is given in the dose of 1 fluidrachm (4.0), and the ammoniated 
tincture (Tinctura Valeriana? Ammoniata, U. 8. and B. P.), in the 
dose of 1 to 3 drachms (4.0-12.0). These are the best preparations for 
ordinary use. The infusion, which is not official, is given in the dose 
of a wineglassful, while that of the simple tincture (Tinctura Valeri- 
ana?, U S.) is 1 to 3 drachms (4.0-12.0). The dose of the oil 
(Oleum Valeriana?) is 2 to 4 drops (0.05-0.2). 



VALERIANIC ACID. 

Acidum Valerianicum is an oily, colorless liquid of a strong odor 
and burning taste, but is not employed in medicine except in the form 



384 DRUGS. 

of its salts, such as the valerianate of zinc, iron, quinine, or ammo- 
nium, all of which are employed, partly for their sedative effects and 
partly for their influence as tonics. 

The dose of Zinci Valerianae is \ to 3 grains (0.03-0.15), that 
of Quininoe Valerianae, U. S., 1 to 3 grains (0.05-0.15), of Ferri 
Valerianae 2 to 10 grains (0.1-0.65), and of Ammonii Valerianae 
2 to 10 grains (0.1-0.65). Under the name of "the pill of the three 
valerianates " Goodell recommends the following in nervoueneee and 

teria : 



R. — Quininse valerianate *) 

Ferri valerianat. V aa 9j (1.3). — M. 

Amnion, valerianat. J 
Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One or two three times a day. 



VERATRINA. 

Veratrina, U. S. and B. P., is an alkaloid derived from the seeds 
of Aeagroea officinalis, and occurs in a grayish powder, which, if it 
enters the nose, produces violent sneezing which lasts for hours. 

Physiological Action. — Nervous System. — Veratrine has little 
effect on the cerebrum, but it excites the spinal cord and the volun- 
tary muscles, thereby giving rise to tetanic or tonic convulsions, 
which are never clonic or epileptoid. The dominant action of the 
drug is paralytic, and the nervous symptoms just named soon give 
place to paralysis. The muscles lose their contractile power and the 
nervous centres are depressed. 

Circulation. — In poisonous dose the heart is slowed by the drug, 
greatly weakened, and finally stopped in diastole, and is found after 
death to be soft and flabby. In smaller doses it at first slows the 
pulse by stimulating the peripheral inhibitory nerves and the centres 
in the medulla, but later these parts are paralyzed. It first stimulates 
the vasomotor centre, then paralyzes it. 

Respiration. — The drug kills by failure of respiration, due t<? 
paralysis of the respiratory centres. 

Temperature. — Veratrine always causes a fall of bodily heat. 

Poisoning. — The symptoms of poisoning in man are collapse, a 
pale, cold, wet skin, pinched features, and a rapid, thready pulse, 
accompanied by violent vomiting and muscular tremors. Tetanic 
convulsions may come on and resemble those of strychnine in that 
they arise from the slightest touch or draught of air ; after death the 
muscles will be found to have lost their irritability. 

Therapeutics. — Veratrine is never used internally. It is employed 
chiefly in the form of an ointment rubbed into the skin over parts 
affected by muecular rheumatism and rheumatic joints and over neu- 
ralgic nervee. The official ointment (TJnguentum Veratrina 3 , U. S. 
and B. P.) or the oleate (Oleatum Veratrince, U. S.) should be used, 
the latter most carefully, as absorption of the drug may take place in 
sufficient quantity to poison the patient. 



VERATRUM VIRWE. 385 



VERATRUM VIRIDE. 



Veratrum Viride, U. S., Indian Poke, Poke-root, or Swamp 
Hellebore, is an American plant largely used for the purpose of 
allaying inflammation. Until recently it was official in the B. P. 
under the name of Veratri Viridis Rhizoma. 

It probably contains a number of principles, the chief of which 
are, however, jervine and veratroidine. 

Veratrum viride is the safest and best circulatory depressant that 
we have for use in adults. 

Physiological Action. — The physiological action of this drug is to 
be considered under the effects of its two alkaloids before the com- 
plete effect is studied. 

Jervine. 

When jervine is given in full toxic dose it causes great slowness 
of movement, relaxation of the muscles, through which thrills con- 
tinually run, and finally the animal falls to the ground. Violent epi- 
leptiform convulsions may now ensue, but no tetanus is present. The 
convulsions soon give place to paralysis, and are characterized by 
their lack of force. Sensation is not affected until the near approach 
of death brings on anaesthesia. There is no evidence of gastro- 
enteritis and no vomiting or purging. The saliva is always increased 
and pours from the mouth. Death results by failure of the respira- 
tory centres and an almost simultaneous failure of the heart. The 
heart and circulation are greatly depressed, and the pulse-rate and 
force are far below their normal rate and strength. 

The blood-pressure is very low, except when the convulsion pro- 
duces a temporary rise, but the condition of the vagi is apparently 
normal. Jervine acts as a direct depressant to the vasomotor centres. 
The convulsions are due to the disturbance of the circulation at the 
base of the brain (Wood), and the spinal cord is directly depressed by 
the action of the jervine on its motor tracts. 



Veratroidine. 

This alkaloid is much more irritating than jervine, and in over- 
dose causes vomiting and purging. The muscular twitchings and 
convulsions caused by jervine are also produced by veratroidine, but 
are generally not so severe. It also depresses the spinal cord in its 
motor tracts. 

On the circulation veratroidine slows the pulse by stimulating the 
pneumogastric centres, but finally quickens it if given in very large 
doses, by paralyzing the peripheral vagi. 

The following summary, given by Wood, of the circulatory effect of 
veratrum viride, from a study of its alkaloids, is so brief and terse as 
to be worthy of insertion here : u Veratrum viride slows the pulse by 
a direct depressant action on the heart-muscle (jervine) and by stim- 
ulating the pneumogastric nerves (veratroidine) ; it lowers blood-pres- 

25 



386 DRUGS. 

sure by an action on the heart-muscle (jervine) and by depression of 
the vasomotor centre (jervine)." 

Poisoning. — Veratrum viride, while one of the most powerful drugs 
we have, is one of the least dangerous, since it almost invariably causes 
vomiting before enough of the drug is absorbed to produce serious 
consequences. The vomiting is partly due to the veratroidine and 
partly to the presence of an irritant resin. In poisoning, cardiac 
stimulants, atropine, external heat, the placing of the head below the 
feet on an inclined plane, and the use of strychnine as a respiratory 
and nervous stimulant are to be resorted to. 

Therapeutics. — The chief use of veratrum viride is as a circula- 
tory sedative in acute, sthenic, or dynamic inflammations. In pneu- 
monia, pleurisy, acute hepatitis, peritonitis, and cerebritis it is of the 
greatest value if given at the proper stage, when only congestion 
or hyperemia is present. After the onset of the lesions following this 
period its use is not only valueless, but malpractice. The only objec- 
tion to the employment of veratrum viride in peritonitis and cerebritis 
lies in its tendency to produce vomiting, which is, of course, harmful 
when the peritoneum is inflamed. For this reason aconite is preferred 
to veratrum viride in peritonitis. Owing to its physiological influence 
veratrum viride bleeds a man into his own blood-vessels, and the indi- 
cations for its use are the same in inflammation as they would be for 
bleeding. In puerperal fever it has been highly recommended, but 
must be most carefully employed. With a large number of practi- 
tioners veratrum viride is considered by far the best remedy in puer- 
peral eclampsia. If given in this condition the dose must be large, 
as much as 20 to 30 drops (1.3-2.0) of the tincture. If swallow- 
ing is difficult, it may be used hypodermically in half the dose, pro- 
vided the circulation is carefully watched to avoid too great depres- 
sion. It acts in eclampsia chiefly by its depressant effect on the 
motor tracts of the spinal cord. It is also of value in excessive car- 
diac hypertrophy and in the irritable heart of strong, healthy men. In 
aneurism where the circulatory disturbance is great and the arterial 
pressure high the drug may be used, with great care, to decrease the 
pressure and prevent rupture of the diseased vessel. 

Contraindications. — Veratrum viride is contraindicated in all 
conditions of depression or exhaustion, and, if vomiting is feared, 
must not be given in peritonitis or gastritis, as it may cause emesis 
and in this way disturb and irritate the abdominal contents. 

Administration. — The drug in inflammation should be given every 
half-hour or hour, and at least 1 drop (0.05) of the tincture should be 
used each time in a healthy adult. In the course of two or three 
hours or less the skin becomes moist or relaxed, the pulse slower and 
less angry, and slight nausea may be present. These symptoms show 
that the drug is exerting its influence, and it should now be withdrawn 
or in very sthenic cases pushed a little farther. If vomiting comes 
on before the drug has acted on the circulation, 5 to 10 drops (0.35- 
0.65) of laudanum should be given fifteen minutes before each dose 
of veratrum viride. The best preparations to employ is the tincture 
(Tinctura Veratri Viridis, U. S.), dose 1 to 3 drops (0.05-0.15). 



VIENNA PASTE— WARBURG'S TINCTURE. 387 

The fluid extract {Extr actum Veratri Viridis Fluidum, U. S.) is 
given in the dose of 1 to 3 drops (0.05-0.15). Under the name of 
Norwood's Tincture a saturated tincture has been sold. It is not 
official, and ought never to be used. 



VIENNA PASTE. 

Potassa cum Calce, U. S., is a milder and more manageable eschar- 
otic than is caustic potash, and is used for the same purposes. (See 
Caustic Potash.) 



WARBURG'S TINCTURE. 

Warburg's Tincture is a complex liquid formed by the mixing 
together of no less than thirteen ingredients. Its inventor, Dr. War- 
burg, held its composition as a secret for a time, but finally made it 
public. Since he published the original formula it has been consid- 
erably altered, and some of the preparations now sold as Warburg's 
tincture contain none of the original ingredients. Further than this, 
some of these ingredients are now not obtainable. It ought to be 
made as follows, if possible: 

Aqueous extract of aloes 28 grains. 

Rhubarb 448 

Angelica-seed 448 

Elecampane 224 

Saffron 224 

•Fennel 224 

Gentian . 112 

Zedoary-root • • • 112 

Cubeb 112 

Myrrh • 112 

White agaric 112 

Camphor . . 112 

Sulphate of quinine • 1280 

Dilute alcohol enough to make 8 pints. 

The coarse vegetable portions of this list are to be ground into a 
coarse powder, and the myrrh and camphor, which have been pre- 
viously pulverized, added to them. The entire mass, less the quinine, 
is then digested for twelve hours in a well-covered vessel on a water- 
bath, the alcohol being prevented from evaporating as much as pos- 
sible. The liquid is now to be strained under pressure and the sul- 
phate of quinine added and dissolved. 

Therapeutics. — Warburg's tincture, next to pilocarpine, is the most 
powerful sweat-producer that we have, and possesses in addition very 
remarkable antimalarial power. In this last respect it far exceeds 
quinine as a remedy in pernicious malarial regions for acute attacks 
and as a prophylactic. Its advantages over quinine rest in its favor- 
able action where congestions accompany the paroxysm. 

Administration. — To be of any value Warburg's tincture should 
be given according to the following rules : The bowels of the patient 
should be first opened thoroughly by a saline purge, and J an ounce 



388 DRUGS. 

(16.0) of the tincture should be given in one dose undiluted, no drink 
being taken. After the lapse of two or three hours a second \ ounce 
(16.0) is given in the same way, and very shortly a profuse sweat 
appears, which often marks the crisis of the disease, and recovery 
soon takes place. 



ZINC ACETATE. 

Zinci Acetas, U. S. and B. P., occurs in the form of white mica- 
ceous crystals, which are efflorescent and quite soluble in water. It 
acts as a decided astringent to the skin and mucous membranes, but 
is less astringent than the sulphate of zinc. It is used as a collyrium 
in eye diseases, such as conjunctivitis, in the strength of 1 to 2 grains 
(0.05-0.1) to the ounce (30.0). In gonorrhoea it is often employed 
instead of the acetate of lead in injections of the strength of 1 to 20 
grains (0.05-1.3) to the ounce (32.0) of rose-water. 

The treatment of poisoning by acetate of zinc is that adapted to 
gastro-enteritis. (See Gastro-enteritis, Part IV.) 

Chronic poisoning by zinc is very rare ; the, symptoms consist in 
muscular palsies, neuritis, and cachexia. 



ZINC CARBONATE. 

Precipitated Carbonate of Zinc {Zinci Carbonas Prcecipitatus, U. S.; 
Zinci Carbonas, B. P.) is used as a protective, rather astringent pow- 
der over surfaces affected by weeping eczema or other skin lesions 
accompanied by similar moist discharges. It may be employed to fulfil 
all the indications commonly treated by the oxide of zinc. It is very 
largely used, not as the precipitated carbonate, but as the impure or 
native carbonate, under the name of calamine. 

The following prescription is useful for moist eczema : 

R— Calamine £j (4.0). 

Ung. zinci oxidi gvij (28.0). — M. 

S. — Apply to the eczematous spot. 

In cases of infantile intertrigo, or redness of the buttocks and gen- 
itals, from maceration due to liquid faeces in infants suffering from diar- 
rhoea, or where the urine is irritating, the following lotion is very use- 
ful indeed : 

R. — Pulv. calaminse ~) .. .. /0 m 

Pulv. zinci oxidi } aa 3|J ( 8 -°)- 

Glycerini %'iv (16.0). 

Alcoholis f^ij (64.0). 

Aquas . q. s. ad Oj (J litre). — M. 

S. — Apply with a mop after each removal of the diaper. 

ZINC CHLORIDE. 

Chloride of Zinc (Zinci Chloridum, U. S. and B. P.) is a white, 
crystalline, deliquescent powder, of caustic taste and acid reaction, 



ZINC SULPHATE. 389 

possessing considerable disinfectant power. It has been used as an 
eye-wash in the strength of 1 to 2 grains to the ounce (0.06-0.10 : 
32.0), but is rarely so employed at present. The same solution may 
be used as an injection in the second stage of gonorrhoea. Under 
the name of Liquor Zinci Chloridi, U. S. and B. P., is prepared a 
strong solution of the salt for disinfectant purposes of the strength 
of about 50 per cent. 

Numerous experiments with the proprietary "chlorides" sold as 
disinfectants show them to be possessed of very slight disinfectant 
power, but to be strongly antiseptic. 



ZINC SULPHATE. 

Zinci Sulphas, U. S. and B. P., is a white, somewhat efflorescent 
salt, of a sharp acid taste, and is soluble in water. In large amounts 
it acts as an irritant, and is employed as an irritant peripheral emetic 
in the dose of 10 to 30 grains (0.65-2.0). It is not so severe as sul- 
phate of copper in its emetic and poisonous properties, and may be 
repeated if the first dose does not produce vomiting. In weak solu- 
tions it may be used as an astringent application by injection in gon- 
orrhoea and other affections of the urethral mucous membrane. In 
2-grain (0.1) pills it is sometimes given in serous diarrhoeas, particu- 
larly if it be combined with opium or minute doses of podophyllin (^ 
of a grain [0.001] at a dose). In conjunctivitis and other eye affec- 
tions the drug is used in the form of a wash. (See Conjunctivitis.) 



PART III. 

REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS- 
FOODS FOR THE SICK. 



ACUPUNCTURE. 

This is a term applied to the insertion of a small pointed instru- 
ment into the tissues of any part of the body for the purpose of 
relieving pain, swelling, or dropsies. When used in painful affections 
it accomplishes its best results in lumbago and sciatica, particularly 
in the former. When treating lumbago in this manner the writer 
takes two darning-needles, places them in boiling water to render 
them aseptic, inserts them at right angles to the skin to the depth of 
one to one and a half inches, and allows them to remain in place for 
several minutes. They are then slowly withdrawn, care being taken 
to prevent them from breaking off. Often after this treatment the 
patient can at once move more freely, to his great delight. Ringer has, 
with his usual clear clinical insight, noted that this treatment is more 
successful in those who have bilateral pain than in those who have one 
side affected, and the writer has found this statement invariably true. 

In sciatica acupuncture is less successful than it is in lumbago, but 
is always to be tried. The needle should be carried down until it 
reaches the nerve, and perhaps pierces its sheath, and it must be 
absolutely aseptic. Bartholow has recommended the use of a hypo- 
dermic needle for the simultaneous injection of a few minims of chlo- 
roform or morphine. Sometimes the best results are reached from 
inserting the needle immediately below where the nerve finds exit 
from the pelvis. In other cases it is asserted that the insertion of a 
needle on the sound side over a spot corresponding to that which is 
sore may do good. Acupuncture is useless in acute rheumatism and 
for the lumbar pain produced by fevers. 

Sometimes a rhigolene Spray may be used to freeze the skin over 
the parts with advantage in lumbago or sciatica. 

Acupuncture is occasionally resorted to for the relief of dropsy, 
but it is not commonly employed, although it is often a useful meas- 
ure. When the skin of the limbs becomes so tense with an effusion 
as to endanger its life, the tension should be relieved by incisions, 
not punctures ; but saline purges are better for the removal of dropsy, 
if they can be used. Punctures rapidly close and make hard spots, 

391 



392 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

while incisions remain open and permit free drainage. Immediately 
after the incisions are made the parts are to be dressed with cotton 
previously saturated with boric-acid solution and dried, or by absorb- 
ent cotton sterilized by baking it in an oven. It is hardly necessary 
to point out that the incision must be made under antiseptic precau- 
tions. (See Antiseptics.) 



ANTISEPTICS. 

The term "antiseptic," as generally used, does not necessarily 
imply the power to destroy pathogenic germs. Any substance which 
inhibits the growth of micro-organisms, which destroys or renders 
innocuous the poisonous products of their action upon the tissues of 
the body, or which retards or prevents the absorption of such products 
is properly termed antiseptic. Since germicides necessarily possess 
antiseptic attributes, they should, strictly speaking, be classed with 
antiseptics ; in this portion of the work, however, only such drugs as 
are sufficiently innocuous to allow of their use in the human body or 
upon its surface will be considered. Some of these — as, for instance, 
carbolic acid and bichloride of mercury — are efficacious solely from 
their germicidal properties. Others, and of this class iodoform is the 
most important and typical example, exert their influence, not upon 
the micro-organisms, but upon the toxic substances formed by these 
organisms. 

Of the long list of antiseptics which have within recent years 
received warm commendation at the hands of individual writers, 
there are comparatively few which have retained the confidence of 
the profession after prolonged trial. Only these few well-proven 
drugs will be discussed in this article. 

Heading the list, and in its germicidal power far surpassing all 
others, is Bichloride of Mercury. Long since the researches of Koch 
have shown that this salt is efficacious as a germicide in a watery 
solution of 1 : 50,000. He stated, however, that where albumin was 
present the bichloride was decomposed and rendered inert. The same 
change was observed when solutions were allowed to stand for some 
length of time, even when distilled water was used as a solvent. By 
the addition of either sodium chloride or a weak acid such decomposi- 
tion was prevented. 

From this it follows that under ordinary circumstances solutions 
of bichloride should be freshly prepared, or, if it is desirable to keep 
them for a long time, a sufficient amount of sodium chloride should 
be added to prevent precipitation of the mercury salt. Koch advised 
that as much salt should be added as would equal the weight of the 
sublimate. Other observers, however, have advised ten times this 
weight of sodium chloride. 

Since whenever bichloride solutions are used in wounds or in cavities 
of the body they are brought in contact with blood-serum or other 
albumin-bearing substances, care must be taken that the antiseptic 
powers of the mercury lotion are not destroyed by the decomposition 



ANTISEPTICS. 393 

of its active principle. The power of the solution may be preserved 
by using it in such large excess that the small amount of chemical 
change has practically no effect, or by combining with it, as stated 
above, an acid which will not in itself be unduly irritating to raw 
surfaces. This end is accomplished by tartaric acid. In making up 
a solution 1 part of bichloride and 5 parts of tartaric acid are added 
to as much water as is needed. Thus, in making up a solution of 
1 : 1000 for surgical purposes, the following prescription may be 
employed : 

R. — Hydrarg. chlorid. corros. . . . . . gr. xv (1.0). 

Acid, tartaric gr. xv vel gj (4.0). 

Aquse dest . . Oij (1 litre). — M. 

Bichloride solutions are used in the strengths of 1 : 500, 1 : 1000, 
1 : 2000, and 1 : 4000 in the treatment of ordinary wounds. For 
the irrigation of large cavities solutions of a strength greater than 
1 : 10,000 should rarely be employed, and even these dilute lotions 
have, when used in the peritoneal cavity, given rise to toxic symp- 
toms. The 1 : 2000 solution is the one generally employed for steril- 
izing wounds and irrigating during operations. The stronger solu- 
tions of 1 : 500 or 1 : 1000 are used in cleansing the surface of the 
body. 

The ordinary method of preparing a surface of the body for opera- 
tion is as follows : The part is first thoroughly scrubbed with green soap 
and warm water, is shaved, and is washed again as before. It is then 
cleansed with alcohol or ether, after which a scrubbing with bichloride 
solution of 1 : 500 should follow, and should be continued for at least 
two minutes. If no surgical interference is immediately indicated, the 
whole operative region should be enveloped in towels wrung out in a 
solution of 1 : 1000 or 1 : 2000, and kept thus protected until the sur- 
geon is prepared to operate. The moment the skin is incised no lotion 
stronger than 1 : 2000 should be employed, or if the more powerful 
solutions are used they should immediately be flushed out with one 
of less strength. The dressings, unless some particular form is used, 
may consist of boiled, bleached, and sun-dried gauze, soaked in a 
1 : 500 bichloride solution and subsequently washed and wrung out 
in a 1 : 4000 dilution of the same antiseptic. 

Next in order of importance and in efficacy among the antiseptic 
preparations is Carbolic Acid and its solutions. The particular value 
of this drug lies in the fact that its potency is equally developed in 
both albuminous and non-albuminous solutions. Like the mercury 
salts, its great disadvantage lies in its toxic properties. It is usually 
used in solutions of 1 : 20 and 1 : 40. The carbolic acid of commerce 
is found in a liquid form, dissolved in alcohol, and represents a strength 
of about 95 per cent. In making the solution for surgical purposes 
an ounce of this liquid is added to 20 or 40 ounces of water, accord- 
ing to the strength of the solution desired. Although carbolic acid 
is soluble in 15 parts of water, this solution does not take place imme- 
diately, and in making solutions of a strength of 1 : 20 either the 
water must be hot or a certain amount of time and considerable agi- 



394 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

tation of the mixture are required, otherwise globules of almost pure 
carbolic acid are deposited in the bottom of the tray or vessel into 
which the solution is poured, and these, by coming in contact with 
instruments or with the hands of the operator, exert an undesirable 
cauterant effect. 

The 1 : 20 solution is used for the disinfection of instruments and 
the cleansing of surfaces. For half an hour before an operation it is 
customary to submerge all instruments which will be required in a 
solution of this strength, and when the surgeon is ready to use these 
instruments the solution is diluted to 1 : 40 by the addition of an equal 
volume of water which has been boiled. If a carbolic lotion is em- 
ployed for irrigation or for cleansing sponges during an operation, it 
should not be stronger than 1 : 40. 

A property possessed by carbolic acid, which renders it an unsafe 
medium for the impregnation of gauze, is its volatility. After an 
exposure of a few hours to the atmosphere it entirely evaporates, 
leaving not an antiseptic, but simply a sterile, dressing. This fact is 
utilized by the surgeon in the preparation of the deeper layers of the 
dressing, which come in immediate contact with the lips of the wound. 
Since all antiseptics are more or less irritating to raw surfaces, heal- 
ing will be promoted by a sterile rather than by an antiseptic appli- 
cation. By moistening a piece of boiled and sun-dried gauze, suf- 
ficiently large to cover the wound-edges, in a carbolic solution of 1 : 
20 the antisepticity of this dressing is assured, and in a very few 
hours the heat of the body causes the entire evaporation of all the 
carbolic acid, leaving a sterile, non-irritating surface in contact with 
the wound. If protective is used or oiled silk is applied beneath the 
dressing, these materials should be treated with carbolic acid in the 
same way. 

In addition to its toxic effect upon the patient, carbolic acid greatly 
irritates the hands of the surgeon, and if used in a strength of more 
than 1 : 40 causes so much benumbing of tactile sensibility that 
manipulative skill is seriously interfered with. The cracked and fis- 
sured fingers resulting from the use of carbolic lotions are familiar to 
all, and at times produce results of far more serious import than tem- 
porary pain and discomfort : many recesses are provided in the depths 
of which septic germs may successfully resist the action of antiseptic 
washes. There can be no question that septic poisoning has been 
frequently due to this fact. 

Bichloride-carbolic Acid Solution. — Since bichloride, though the 
most powerful antiseptic, has but little penetrating power and is 
rendered inert by albumin, and since carbolic, though of more feeble 
antiseptic strength, possesses the very qualities of penetration and 
non-neutralization which bichloride lacks, it would seem natural that 
the best results might be obtained by a judicious mixing of these two 
antiseptics. In recent times this procedure has been adopted in many 
clinics and with most satisfactory results. 

For cleansing the hands and purifying operation areas, in place of 
a simple bichloride mixture a solution which represents bichloride 



ANTISEPTICS. 395 

1 : 500 and carbolic acid 1 : 40 is employed. Immediately before ope- 
ration all sponges are wrung out from this solution. 

For flushing wounds, for cleansing sponges during the course of 
operation, and for the final soaking of the antiseptic dressing imme- 
diately before its application, a solution of bichloride of mercury 
1:4000 and carbolic acid 1 : 100 is employed. 

The method of preparing these solutions is of course exceedingly 
simple. If crude drugs are used, these are put into a given measure 
of water in sufficient quantity to represent the strength desired, but 
when, as is frequently the case, these solutions are made up in stand- 
ard solutions, some thought is required to avoid mistake. Thus, 
given a standard solution of 1 : 2000 bichloride and one of 1 : 50 
carbolic, mixture of these two would make the lotion customarily 
employed in clinical practice — i, e. bichloride 1 : 4000 and carbolic 
1 : 100. The calculation involved in making this solution from 
standard lotions of carbolic 1 : 20 and bichloride 1 : 1000 is somewhat 
intricate, and liable to result in error ; hence it is best either to pre- 
pare the entire solution freshly each time or to keep on hand prepa- 
rations of such strength that the calculation is easily and quickly 
made. 

Iodoform occupies a unique place among antiseptics in having been 
almost universally accepted and used by surgeons and clinicians, in 
spite of the fact that its germicidal action has been well proved by 
laboratory research to be practically nil. It is found that nearly all 
forms of pathogenic germs grow abundantly upon culture materials 
the greater part of which is made up of iodoform, and that injections 
of such germs, mingled with large quantities of iodoform, produce 
the characteristic effect upon living tissues with almost as great cer- 
tainty as though this drug had not been used ; furthermore, it has 
been shown that iodoform is not even sterile, and that as employed 
by surgeons it was frequently a cause of infecting previously aseptic 
wounds. 

In spite of this overwhelming evidence against it the drug steadily 
grows in favor. Recent researches have explained, in part at least, 
the reason for this contradiction between experimental and practical 
results. It has been well said that the human body is not a test-tube, 
and that bacteriological research cannot supplant the evidence of 
clinical observation. Elaborate investigation showed that this drug 
acted as a powerful antiseptic, not by destroying the germs, but by 
undergoing a decomposition in their presence, the products of which 
render the ptomaines, the result of germ-growth, inert. In this way 
suppuration is, to a certain extent, inhibited, or if present its disas- 
trous effects upon the system at large are prevented, since these are 
due to ptomaine absorption rather than to a direct effect of the micro- 
organisms themselves. It has been apparently proved that ptomaines, 
in themselves and without the presence of micro-organisms, can gen- 
erate pus, but that where such ptomaines are mixed with iodoform 
before infection no pus is formed. If these septic chemical compounds 
are rendered inert, a powerful adjuvant to the destructive action of 
the germ upon living cells is removed, and thus the system is often 



396 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

enabled to overcome one enemy where two would have prevailed. The 
fact that iodoform is in itself not sterile is, from a practical stand- 
point, most important. Fortunately, sterilization is readily accom- 
plished. A thorough washing in a 1 : 1000 bichloride solution destroys 
all micro-organisms, and the powder, after being washed with freshly- 
distilled water, may then be used without fear of producing infection. 

It will be readily understood from the foregoing that iodoform is 
of little service in aseptic wounds .; that it becomes of utility in direct 
proportion to the foulness of discharge ; and that to exert its influence 
it must be applied directly to the part. It is liable, in suppurating 
wounds, to form a hard crust with the discharges, thus frustrating 
one of the most important indications in antiseptic surgery — i. e. 
drainage. Particular care should be exerted to see that the exuda- 
tion from the surfaces of the wound has a free exit. 

As employed in surgery, iodoform, after having been sterilized, is 
placed in small pill-boxes or wide-mouthed jars, over the opening of 
which is tied a single layer of antiseptic gauze ; through this the iodo- 
form is sprinkled as desired over wound surfaces. 

Kreolin, or Creolin, a preparation obtained from English coal by 
dry distillation, has been steadily and rapidly growing in popular 
favor, and because of its feeble toxic action is often preferred to car- 
bolic acid. In addition to its powerful germicidal eifect, it is non- 
irritant and practically non-toxic. The claim first advanced that this 
preparation was absolutely non-poisonous can no longer be supported, 
since cases have been reported where toxic symptoms have followed 
its use : these were probably due to individual idiosyncrasy, a factor 
which we can never hope entirely to overcome. It is certainly true 
that kreolin is the least poisonous of all the powerful antiseptics 
heretofore used. As an additional advantage, in place of the harsh, 
irritating effect produced upon surfaces by carbolic-acid solutions, 
kreolin exerts an influence very like that of an oily or mucilaginous 
preparation. 

The extravagant claims advanced for kreolin in regard to its 
germicidal property have not been confirmed by bacteriological inves- 
tigation. In solutions containing albumin it is not efficient as a germ- 
icide in strengths of less than 1 : 100, its power being somewhat 
below that of carbolic acid; since, however, its toxic properties are 
much less marked than those of the latter drug, it can be safely used 
in stronger mixtures, and therefore, for practical purposes, its strength 
is greater. 

Kreolin, though insoluble in water, readily forms an emulsion quite 
as efficacious in its antiseptic properties as a true solution. Since this 
emulsion is opaque, it is scarcely applicable for immersing and steril- 
izing instruments, the latter not being readily found. It is admirably 
suited, however, for cleansing the hands, a 5 per cent, solution neither 
cracking the skin nor benumbing the sensory nerves. In irrigating 
large wounds, cavities of the body, and particularly as a means of 
preventing sepsis or aborting it in gynaecological work, kreolin can be 
warmly commended. It may be employed in a strength of from 0.2 
to 5 per cent. 



ANTISEPTICS. 397 

Barring the opacity of its emulsion in water, it would be the 
medium par excellence for rendering instruments sterile and main- 
taining them in this condition during an operation. 

Among the many antiseptic agents of less importance may be men- 
tioned Peroxide of Hydrogen. This drug comes in what is termed a 
fifteen-volume solution. By this it is meant that fifteen volumes of 
feebly combined oxygen are contained in each volume of the liquid. 
It is applicable, not to sterile surfaces, but to suppurating wounds 
and sinuses. It is alleged that peroxide of hydrogen immediately 
destroys the micro-organisms of pus, converting, in one or two applica- 
tions, a septic wound into one which is sterile and which will promptly 
heal. It is used in the strength of from 5 per cent, up to full con- 
centration. Its disadvantages lie in the fact that it is expensive, 
that from higher acidity it is often irritating, and that it readily 
undergoes decomposition. In this latter circumstance, possibly, lies 
the explanation of its want of popularity, since the preparations vary 
so greatly in strength that it is impossible to determine to what 
extent they should be diluted or what may be their potency when 
applied. When this drug is poured into a suppurating sinus or cavity 
an ebullition takes place, which ceases only when the drug is exhausted 
or the infected surfaces are rendered sterile. 

Chloride of Zinc has been extensively employed in some clinics as 
an antiseptic application. It is used in 10 per cent, solutions, and is 
applied when the field of operation is probably infected by pre-exist- 
ing pus-formation. Although bacteriological research has shown that 
this agent possesses feeble antiseptic power, clinical experience dem- 
onstrates its great value when applied to infected surfaces. Lately 
the Sulpho-carbolate of Zinc has to a great extent replaced the chlo- 
ride, as it is less toxic and irritating and far more potent. 

For the sterilization of mucous surfaces a saturated aqueous solu- 
tion of Boric Acid is commonly employed. 

Double Cyanide of Mercury and Zinc. 

This is the latest antiseptic prepared and extensively used by 
Lister. Though it has not become widely popular, Lister's commen- 
dation of it is so warm that a general description of its use is in 
place. 

The drug comes to the surgeon in the form of a fine powder. 
When employed for charging a dressing it is diffused by means of 
pestle and mortar in solution of bichloride of mercury (1 : 4000) in 
sufficient abundance to drench the fabric thoroughly, for which 4 
imperial pints to 100 grains of the salt will be found adequate. This 
will give a percentage of between 2 and 3 of the cyanide to the dry 
gauze. The gauze should always be used moist, and if it be prepared 
for immediate use, as by the dispenser of a hospital, the process of 
drying may be omitted, and the gauze, after being hung up for a 
while to drain, is further deprived of superfluous moisture by placing 
it for a while in a folded sheet. It may afterward be conveniently 
kept moist by wrapping it in a piece of mackintosh cloth. When 



398 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

obtained dry from the manufacturer it should be moistened again with 
a weak corrosive-sublimate solution before it is used." 

The advantages claimed for this dressing are that it is not irritat- 
ing to the skin, and that the antiseptic substance is not soluble, hence 
is not washed out by discharges. 

An omission of the details of cleansing the hands of the surgeon 
and assistants in preparing for an antiseptic operation is scarcely 
permissible in writing upon the subject of antisepsis. The most 
approved method is as follows : 

The hands and forearms are thoroughly brushed in hot soap-suds 
for several minutes, after which the nails are carefully cleaned by a 
knife and brush, and the washing again repeated ; the hands are then 
washed in alcohol for one minute, special attention being paid to the 
nails ; finally they are soaked for three minutes in a solution of 
bichloride (1 : 1000), and during the course of the operation are 
occasionally washed in a solution of the same strength. If it is neces- 
sary to lift a chair, to turn the patient, or to touch any object which 
has not been previously sterilized, the hands should be enveloped in 
towels wrung out in 1 : 1000 solution or immediately washed again. 
Another method which has been found by Kelly to be the best, bac- 
teriologically and practically, is to cleanse the hands and nails by 
scrubbing with hot water and soap, and then to immerse the hands 
and arms in a saturated solution of permanganate of potassium made 
with hot water. After this the skin is decolorized by immersion in a 
saturated solution of oxalic acid. Finally, the oxalic acid is washed 
off with hot sterilized water. 

ANTITOXIN. 

Before we study this method of treatment, let us understand the 
basis upon which it rests. It being universally admitted that the 
bacillus of diphtheria, by its local growth, produces toxins which, 
when carried in the blood or lymphatics, 'destroy the functional and 
organic life of the vital tissues, it is at once evident that in the 
body of the patient there must be two processes looking toward its 
own protection. The first is the effort at elimination on the part of 
the emunctories ; the second is a hypothetical process — namely, that 
the tissues and liquids of the body contain, or at once manufacture, 
an antitoxin, the effects of which are directly antagonistic to the 
toxin of the disease. Although vital resistance consists in far 
more than this simple and single method of defence, it suffices at 
present to discuss only this part of it. If the tissues can form enough 
antitoxin to protect the organism, the patient recovers ; if they fail, 
either because they are feeble or because the dose of the toxin is 
overwhelming, the patient dies. In the case of diseases, such as 
scarlet fever and small-pox, which rarely attack the same person 
twice, it perhaps may be said that immunity is conferred by the 
tissues being trained or educated, as it were, to prepare antitoxin 
in such large amounts when called upon that the entering wedge of 



ANTITOXIN. 399 

a new attack is snapped off at the moment it begins to enter the 
field. While we rest this view of the case upon hypothesis, it fur- 
nishes us with a result which enables us to base the new treatment 
upon rational lines : and it would seem probable that the ability to de- 
velop large amounts of antitoxin possessed by certain animals, added 
to other defensive processes, renders them practically entirely immune 
from an attack of a disease at any time. Thus, the goat and horse 
are by nature practically immune to diphtheria, while the guinea-pig, 
on the other hand, is peculiarly susceptible. Supposing the horse 
and goat to be naturally able to resist diphtheria-inoculation to the 
extent of almost complete immunity, it becomes necessary, in order 
to make the resistance of their blood-serum absolute, to stimulate, if 
we can use such a term, their antitoxin-preparing powers, and with 
this object in view injections of the toxin derived from cultures of 
diphtheria germs are made into the blood of the naturally immune 
brute. As a result, the serum of the blood of the animal possesses the 
power not only of resisting diphtheria poison while in its own vessels, 
but confers immunity of a temporary kind upon any other animal 
into whose body some of it is injected. It has been found experi- 
mentally that antitoxic horse-serum when injected into the susceptible 
guinea-pig renders that animal to a great extent insusceptible to inocu- 
lation by diphtheria. This is a very brief but perhaps sufficiently long 
explanation of the rationale of antitoxin treatment, which opens itself 
like a beautiful fan over many other diseases than the one we are dis- 
cussing. 

Antitoxin for Diphtheria. 

While all of the antitoxins seem theoretically to promise well, in 
practice we find that only one is absolutely reliable, and it has 
received general recognition. This one is the antitoxin of diphthe- 
ria. The following process is followed in its preparation : a pure 
culture of the bacillus of this disease having been grown, colonies of 
the bacillus are picked up off the culture gelatin and placed in tubes 
of blood-serum, which in turn are placed in an incubator until the 
bacillus has developed its full virulency, when flasks of bouillon are 
inoculated by the germs. These flasks are placed in an incubator, 
where there is rapidly produced the diphtheritic poison in the bouillon. 
After a length of time sufficient for the development of the poison 
the fluid has added to it a small amount of some preservative, and is 
then filtered through unglazed porcelain, whereby all the bacilli and 
other particles are separated, the filtrate being a clear straw-colored 
fluid. This is the fluid containing the toxin. The toxin of each flask 
varies in its power, so it is necessary to determine its activity. This 
is done by injecting it into guinea-pigs, which animals are very sus- 
ceptible. Usually from 2 to 100 milligrammes are required to cause 
death within a few days. A young, healthy horse now receives 
about 1.0 cc. of the toxin by injection into a vein ; that is, ten times 
the fatal dose for the guinea-pig, provided the fatal dose was 0.1. 
Horses are chosen because they are naturally immune, have large 
amounts of blood-serum, and are easily handled. Gradually increas- 



400 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

ing doses are given until the horse can readily receive several hun- 
dred times the first dose without any ill effects. The horse is now 
capable of rendering antitoxic serum, and he is bled. The blood- 
serum is separated and purified and is then tested to determine its 
power. Ten times the smallest fatal dose of toxin is now injected 
into a guinea-pig, and at the same time 0.1 cc. of the horse's serum 
is injected. If the guinea-pig survives, the serum is said to contain 
a unit of antitoxic power in each cubic centimetre, and as the dose 
given was only one-tenth of a cubic centimetre it follows that each 
cubic centimetre is ten times the amount of serum sufficient to protect 
a guinea-pig from ten times a fatal dose of toxin. If this strength 
of serum were used, very large doses would have to be given to get 
any effect in man, so we are not satisfied with this result, and by 
continued dosing of the horse we may obtain, from his blood, serum 
which will be active in protecting the guinea-pig, not in the dose of 
0.1 cc, but in the dose of 0.001. Such a serum contains therefore 
100 antitoxin units to the cubic centimetre. A dose of 5 cubic 
centimetres of this strength would therefore give 500 antitoxin units. 
Even this is not satisfactory, so most of the serum on the market is 
so strong as to contain from 200 to 300 or even 1750 antitoxin units 
in each cubic centimetre, so that 2 cc. of the latter would be a dose 
of 3500 units. These very high potency serums lose their efficacy if 
kept for any length of time, and are therefore not as reliable as the 
lower potencies unless they are fresh. All serum of whatever strength 
should be obtained as fresh as possible. 

Antidiphtheritic serum has been used with asserted great success 
in cases of typhoid fever and in asthma. Under these circumstances 
it does not exercise any specific effect, but is supposed to act by 
increasing leucocytosis and aiding in the elimination of poisons. 
McCallum states that its use improves the action of the heart and 
the tone of the vessels. 

The use of antitoxin in diphtheria will be found discussed under 
that disease. (See Diphtheria.) 

Antitoxic serum has been used in tetanus and many other infec- 
tions. In none of them has it given results which render it equal in 
value with that used for diphtheria. 

Antistreptococcus Serum. 

As is well known, infection by the streptococcus produces the 
more severe forms of septicaemia as met with in the puerperium, after 
injuries and operations, in erysipelas, and in association with such 
specific infectious processes as scarlet fever and diphtheria. In the 
latter diseases under these circumstances there is, of course, a double 
infection. While the theoretical basis upon w T hich the use of this 
serum rests is quite as good as that of antitoxic serum for diphtheria, 
the results from its use have not been so valuable, probably because 
in many instances the infectious process has not been purely due to this 
micro-organism and the other disease organisms have produced their 
effects uninfluenced by the serum used. The best results have been 



CLIMATIC TREATMENT— COLD AS A REMEDY. 401 

obtained from its use in puerperal and post-traumatic sepsis, but only 
in the presence of well-marked and positive streptococcic infection 
would the writer resort to it. Its method of employment is identical 
with that of diphtheria antitoxin. Care should be taken to obtain 
the serum from a reliable manufacturer. It would seem probable 
that in some cases of infectious endocarditis this serum is the best 
treatment we can use, and in many cases of pulmonary tuberculosis 
w T ith double infection it may be tried with advantage. The dose of 
this serum is usually 10 to 20 cubic centimetres every twelve hours 
according to the age of the patient and the severity of infection. 

CLIMATIC TREATMENT. 
(See Springs and Climates.) 

COLD AS A REMEDY. 

Cold, or the rapid abstraction of heat, is a remedial measure that 
<;an nearly always be obtained, and is possessed of very great power 
for good in properly selected cases. At the very first we may divide 
its use into its local application, for a superficial limited, deep-seated, 
or distant influence, and its general application for the purpose of 
affecting the entire body. 

When cold is applied for its limited and local action it is always 
used with two objects in view — namely, to cause localized contraction 
of blood-vessels which through inflammation are engorged so that the 
parts are reddened and swollen, or temporarily to anaesthetize or 
benumb a nerve-fibre for the immediate relief of pain, and with the 
hope that the temporary paralysis may ultimately result in such nerve- 
changes as to produce a cure. 

For these reasons cold, in some form, is a popular remedy for a 
burn or sprain or any injury likely to be followed by inflammatory 
processes. In some cases, it is true, hot water or dry heat is equally 
efficacious, and this fact will be referred to again when speaking of 
heat. (See Heat.) It may, however, be stated, as an almost invaria- 
ble rule, that the choice of heat or cold is to be governed by the sen- 
sations of the patient, who will generally assert that one of the two 
is the more agreeable. 

Cold or heat causes relief of pain in inflammation by producing 
contraction of the local blood-vessel walls. As a result, inflammatory 
exudates do not occur, congestion is relieved, and as the pressure on the 
nerve-filaments ceases the pulsating pain of inflammation passes away. 

A very useful remedy for the sprain of an ankle when it is a recent 
accident is to let the patient sit with the foot elevated, with a cloth 
wrung out in ice-water or an ice-bag applied over the part affected. 

In the treatment of localized pain cold is used in a number of 
ways, largely depending in their choice on the will of the physician 
and the wealth of the patient. The simplest, cheapest, and perhaps 
the most efficient method of using cold is to place cracked ice in a 
pig's or sheep's bladder, and, after tying the opening to prevent leak- 
age, to lay the bladder directly on the skin, surrounding it with a 

26 



402 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

towel, so as to prevent the moisture, which appears on the surface 
from condensation, from wetting the clothing. 

Where a very limited and comparatively transient effect is needed, 
chiefly for anaesthetic purposes, it is customary in hospital and private 
practice to use a piece of ice sprinkled with a little fine salt, and held 
against the skin by means of a towel in the hands of the physician. 
Actual freezing can often be produced very rapidly in this manner. 
Where a more rapid method is desired, sprays of various very volatile 
liquids may be driven against the part by an atomizer. Probably the 
most readily employed of these liquids is ether, which is fairly effective 
if it is used in a fine spray and driven against the skin in such a way 
as to favor rapid evaporation. Another of these agents is rhigolene, 
which is one of the lightest and most volatile of the liquid products of 
coal-tar, and is used in a spray from an atomizer in the same manner as 
is ether. Chloride of methyl is a liquid of a sweetish smell and taste, 
used as a substitute for rhigolene as a local anaesthetic through the 
intense cold produced by its evaporation. The fluid is directed against 
the skin over the involved area by means of a nozzle attached to the 
cylinder containing it. (See Ethyl and Methyl Chloride.) 

It is hardly necessary for the w T riter to repeat that, as the last three 
liquids are very inflammable, they should not be used near a light or 
fire. 

Aside from the local effects of cold on inflammatory processes, it is 
largely resorted to for the relief of neuralgia of a superficial type, 
and has often been used for the cure of deep-seated neuralgias, as over 
the course of the sciatic nerve in sciatica. Generally, however, it is 
employed in neuralgia of the supraorbital nerve, where, owing to the 
superficial position of these fibres, the cold can readily reach them. 
The skin should be distinctly whitened and blanched, and even hard- 
ened, by the cold before its application is stopped, and if one applica- 
tion does not cause a cure, it may be repeated every day for several 
weeks in obstinate cases. Sometimes cold is used to benumb the skin 
or subcutaneous tissues in cases where a minor surgical operation is to 
be performed, and it is undoubtedly superior to cocaine where one 
wishes to open boils or small abscesses. It is also valuable when the 
physician is using the actual cautery, and in all these cases may be 
employed as is indicated above. 

The local employment of cold for the influencing of deeply-seated 
organs is a well-recognized therapeutic measure of great practical and 
physiological interest, and is closely associated with, the subject of 
counter-irritation. (See Counter-irritation.) According to Winter- 
nitz, cold applied to the feet affects the cerebral circulation, cold to 
the thighs the circulation in the lungs, and cold to the back the cir- 
culation around about the pituitary region. That these assertions are 
true we do not positively know, but the fact that Winternitz has 
reached them by a series of experimental studies indicates their cor- 
rectness to a great extent, and they also find additional support in 
the popular and medical confidence in the use of cold to the head and 
heat to the feet in cerebral diseases. 

Practically, cold has been employed with no small degree of sue- 



COLD AS A REMEDY. 403 

cess in the treatment of pneumonia and pleurisy in the form of the 
ice-poultice or ice-jacket. The only thing needful for such treatment 
is a condition of strength on the part of the patient, for it should not 
be used in adynamic cases. When the ice-poultice is used it is made 
by taking a mass of finely-chopped ice, draining it of all water, and 
mixing it thoroughly with dry sawdust in sufficient quantity to 
absorb all the water derived from the ice as it melts. This is then 
basted into a quilt, so arranged that all of the contents will not sag 
to the lower border, and wrapped around the chest, the mass being 
thoroughly covered by a layer of well-oiled silk. Cold has also been 
highly recommended when used in pneumonia in another manner, and 
by no less prominent an authority than Niemeyer, who speaks of it 
as follows : 

" I have made extensive employment of cold in the treatment of 
pneumonia, and, relying upon a large number of very favorable 
results, can recommend this procedure. In all cases I cover the chest 
of the patient, and the affected side in particular, with cloths which 
have been dipped in cold water and wrung out. The compresses 
must be reapplied every five minutes. Unpleasant as this procedure 
is in almost all cases, yet even after a few hours the patients assure 
me that they feel a material relief. The pain, the dyspnoea, and often 
the frequency of the pulse are reduced. Sometimes the temperature 
goes doAvn an entire degree. My patients often retain this surpris- 
ing condition of improvement throughout the entire duration of the 
attack, so that their outward symptoms would hardly lead one to 
imagine the grave internal disorder. The relatives of the patient, 
too, who do not fail to perceive the improvement, now readily assist 
in the treatment to which at first they were opposed. In a few cases, 
and only in a few, the use of cold affords no relief, and the trouble- 
some manipulation for its application increases the distress of the suf- 
ferers so much that they refuse to keep it up. In such cases I have 
not insisted upon the further application of cold." 

In endocarditis, and especially in pericarditis, do we find an ice- 
bag placed over the heart a valuable remedial procedure, for it relieves 
palpitation and quiets the heart, decreases the pain and diminishes 
the inflammation. It is also useful in cardiac palpitation. 

The use of a cold bath for the purpose of increasing the tone of 
the system is as old a custom as any which we have, but, like all other 
things in medicine, cannot be used without distinct indications for its 
employment, or, to speak more correctly, the absence of certain con- 
traindications. The most universal exception to its use which we find 
is that class of persons with whom prolonged bathing of any kind, par- 
ticularly when it is frequently repeated, does not agree. The writer 
is sure that a much larger number of persons belong to this class than 
is generally recognized, and he has seen cases of nervous exhaustion 
and general loss of vivacity and vitality occur as a result of too fre- 
quent bathing. This is the case more especially with daily bathers 
who soak themselves in hot or warm fresh water, particularly if the 
bath be taken in the morning. 

Before passing on to a consideration of the physiological action 



404 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

of a bath, and why and when we should use it, it is proper to call 
attention to the fact that a very large proportion of children who are 
bathed daily are allowed to lie and soak in the tub, and as a result 
become debilitated and fretful, only to recover when the bath is used 
once or twice a week, and replaced in the interval by a nightly spong- 
ing off with salt and whiskey or salt and water. 

Through practical experience and much experimental research of 
a reliable character we now know that the following phenomena 
accompany the use of a cold bath in a healthy person with whom 
such a bath agrees : 

On entering the water he shivers, thinks it almost unbearably 
cold, his teeth chatter, and he gasps if the cold suddenly touches the 
belly-wall or an equally sensitive surface. In a moment, however, 
reaction sets in, and the extremities, heretofore blue, trembling, and 
covered with cutis anserina, become warmer and flushed. The pulse 
is increased in force and frequency, and the respirations are deeper 
and more thoroughly performed. As a result of this each portion of 
the body receives a more perfect supply of blood and feels rejuve- 
nated. Following this stage of exhilaration, a third comes on, in 
which the blueness and depression of the first stage recur in an exag- 
gerated degree, but this condition does not ensue unless the person 
remains too long in the water. If he leaves the bath while in the 
acme of his exhilaration, the stimulus may remain with him through- 
out the rest of the day. 

The reason for the occurrence of this train of symptoms is not far 
to seek. The chilliness of the first stage shows that the great abstrac- 
tion of heat is lowering the bodily temperature, the centres for calori- 
fication in the body not manufacturing all the heat that is needed for 
the preservation of the normal temperature. At first the cold drives 
the blood hurrying into the warm recesses of the body, leaving the 
surface of the body cold ; but in a few moments the system is aroused 
to the recognition of the fact that it must increase its exertions in 
the propulsion of blood and manufacture of heat, and so, with an 
effort it puts forth all its power, picks up each corpuscle that is hiding 
from the cold in the internal organs, and, after imbuing it with warmth 
obtained by increased heat-production in the sources of heat-manu- 
facture, forces it out to the surface of the body along with its fel- 
lows, which are driven to all parts of the system. This is not a 
mere figurative way of putting the matter, for cold always contracts 
blood-vessels and reflexly stimulates the vital centres to increased 
activity. 

When the bath is too prolonged the result of over-stimulation 
ensues, and the depression of the nervous system and circulation 
may be sufficiently severe to interfere greatly with normal functional 
activity. 

Just at this point it becomes clear why persons "catch cold," or, 
more technically speaking, are attacked by local or general conges- 
tions. One person who is weak may never reach the stage of stimu- 
lation of which we have just been speaking, because his system has 
not enough units of force in it to unite and expend them upon 



COLD AS A REMEDY. 405 

the functional activities named, and, as a consequence, the blood, 
which at the first shock has hurried into the internal viscera, is not 
driven back to its duty, but, sulking in its retreat like a deserting 
soldier, allows disaster and disease to ensue because its superior 
officer, the central nervous system, cannot gather together enough 
force or authority to make it do its duty. These cases present evi- 
dences, therefore, of circulatory and systemic depression or have con- 
gestion of the lungs, liver, or other parts. In the strong person 
exactly the same state of affairs obtains in the third stage of depres- 
sion, but only after the strength of the system has been expended in 
the activity of the stage of exhilaration. 

Cold salt baths, particularly if they are sea baths, are more stimu- 
lating and not so relaxing as is fresh-water bathing. 

Cold effusions to the head, and, better still, the use of an ice-bag, 
have long held a high position in the treatment of meningitis and head 
injuries, and a hot bottle to the feet and cold to the head will often 
cause sleep in persons who habitually suffer from insomnia. This is 
particularly the case with those persons who have wakefulness from 
mental overwork. On the other hand, cases with insomnia from 
cerebral anaemia do well if a cold plunge-bath is taken before going 
to bed, although in still other cases a hot bath is more efficacious. 
(See Heat.) The latter instances are not due to anaemia, but to ner- 
vous irritability, which the heat quiets, whereas the insomnia of cere- 
bral anaemia is relieved by a cold plunge by reason of the increased 
circulatory activity produced by the bath. 

When cold is to be applied to the head continuously, it is often 
convenient to employ a coil made of rubber tubing and so shaped as 
to fit the vertex. One end of the tubing should reach to a tub of 
cold water on one side of the bed and the other to an empty tub on 
the other side. By sucking on one tube siphonage is established, 
and as soon as the liquid has been transferred from one tub, the 
stream may be reversed and the water passed back again to its former 
receptacle. 

The use of a cold bath after a person becomes heated is popularly 
supposed to be dangerous. On the contrary, every athlete knows 
that nothing is so refreshing and so preventive of muscular stiffness 
after severe exercise and sweating as a cold plunge- or shower-bath ; 
but he also recognizes the fact that a plunge is all that is permissible, 
and it is only the person who possesses the healthy circulatory power 
which will enable him to rebound from momentary depression to 
increased activity that should resort to such procedures. 

Cold water dashed or sopped against the perineum or the scrotum 
and the lumbar region is a favorite remedy for nocturnal seminal 
emissions with some practitioners, and the scrotum may be submerged 
in a tumbler of cold water for a few minutes at night for a similar 
purpose. 

A very useful treatment of dysentery is to gently inject into the 
rectum about one or two quarts of cold water — if necessary it may be 
icy cold ; and a similar application for piles is a useful adjunct to all 
forms of treatment for these troublesome formations. 



406 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS 

So highly do some physicians praise this method that the writer 
has thought it proper to quote from a paper of Dr. J. William White 
upon this subject. He says: 

" I desire to call the attention of the profession to a method of 
treatment which, although not altogether new, is yet not appreciated 
as, in my judgment, it should be. I refer to a moderately forcible 
stream of water of varying temperature in the treatment of a number 
of affections of the rectum, anus, and genito-urinary apparatus. The 
tonic and astringent effect of such a stream of water upon any living 
tissue is, of course, a well-understood fact, and has been employed in 
the arrest of hemorrhage, in the treatment of inflammation, and in 
various conditions. But it has only been in exceptional cases, and 
usually by the aid of more or less troublesome apparatus, that it has 
been used in the class of cases to which I now refer. 

" The bidet, as I have now for a few years prescribed it, should be 
of the variety which can be attached to the water-closet seat habit- 
ually used by the patient. It should have a nozzle capable of throw- 
ing a stream of about the calibre of an ordinary lead-pencil or a lit- 
tle less. The head of water should be sufficient to make it impinge 
upon the parts exposed to it with enough force to excite there a little 
sensation of smarting or tingling. That degree of force will, for 
example, be sufficient to enable the patient to take an enema, or, if a 
female, to take a vaginal injection. The bidet pipe should be mov- 
able by means of a handle, so that the stream can be directed against 
any portion of the external genitals, the perineum, the anus, or the 
surrounding parts. It should also have connection with the hot and 
cold water-supply of the house, so that the water may be used of any 
temperature which the physician may prescribe or which the sensa- 
tions of the patient may make desirable. Stopcocks should regulate 
the size and force of the stream, and should be so placed as to be 
easily reached by the hand of the individual sitting upon the water- 
closet seat. Such an apparatus can be put in place by any experienced 
plumber in any ordinary water-closet at an expense of from fifteen to 
twenty dollars, and, in Philadelphia at least, the usual head of water 
obtainable even in third-story rooms is quite sufficient for all thera- 
peutic purposes. 

" The diseases in which it may be desirable to use this method of 
treatment may be divided into two classes : First, those affecting the 
lower end of the bowel and its outlet ; second, those involving the 
genito-urinary system. Among the first the most important are hem- 
orrhoids, internal and external, prolapsus ani, and slight cases of 
prolapsus recti ; pruritus ani and eczema of the margin of the anus 
should also be included in this group of cases, in which it has now 
for some time been my habit to prescribe the systematic employment, 
twice daily, of the bidet, one immediately after the daily stool, and 
for the second time, by preference, just before going to bed. As a 
rule, in all the midwinter months the ordinary temperature of the 
Schuylkill water is that to be preferred, although I am largely gov- 
erned by the feelings of the patient in this respect. An enema 
should be taken at each of these times, the lower portion of the rec- 



COLD AS A REMEDY. 407 

turn being thus thoroughly washed out at least twice daily, after 
which the stream of water is allowed to play upon the affected region 
for a period of from five to fifteen minutes. The ordinary and useful 
effect of cool sponging or washing immediately after stool in cases 
of hemorrhoids is by this means enormously increased. Internal 
hemorrhoids will, under this treatment, in many cases almost 
entirely disappear, unless they are exceedingly large and have 
been frequently inflamed or strangulated and badly neglected ; 
external hemorrhoids, even when fleshy, will shrivel and become 
scarcely noticeable. 

" I could detail a number of cases of this character taken from my 
practice of the last two years. In some instances in which I had been 
habitually called in, at intervals of a few months, in the case of old 
people, the result has been practically their disappearance from my 
list of patients ; and they speak in the warmest manner of the great 
comfort derived from this simple method of treatment. 

" Perhaps nothing is more distressing among minor affections than 
the trouble described as pruritus ani, and variously attributed to liver 
disease, constipation, gastric troubles, latent gout, uterine disease, 
parasites, neuroses, and a number of other causes, varying from eat- 
ing of shell-fish or excessive smoking to alleged hereditary predis- 
position. There are very few practitioners of any experience who 
have not discovered how difficult it is in any particular case of pru- 
ritus to assign distinctly the annoying symptoms to any one of these 
causes. Often the whole list may be carefully gone through and 
eliminated, or the proper remedies may be applied successively, as 
different theories are adopted, without the slightest benefit resulting. 
Ointments, lotions, and ordinary cool bathing will be tried in great 
variety, but without avail, and such patients will often go from one 
physician to another or fall into the hands of quacks while seeking 
proper professional relief. My list of cases of this character which 
I have now treated by means of the ' bidet ' comprises eight. 

" Nearly all my cases have resulted in cure, requiring to attain 
that end simply different lengths of time of the application of the 
douche, with variations of the temperature of the water and occasion- 
ally the use of some emollient salve. I have been particularly struck 
by the fact that these cases include among their supposed causes 
widely distinct conditions, and the uniformity with which they have 
yielded to this simple treatment has led me to regard with suspicion 
the orthodox etiology of the disease. In procidentia ani and in slight 
cases of prolapsus recti I have had very satisfactory, though of course 
less striking, results. In a few instances the trouble almost entirely 
disappeared, and in all of them it was distinctly relieved. These cases 
require for their successful treatment a much longer application of the 
douche, and the water should, in my judgment, be at one or the other 
extreme of temperature — either quite cool or as hot as can be com- 
fortably borne. 

"lam quite aware that the use of cold water in these affections is 
not in the least a novel plan of treatment ; but the method under 
consideration combines the effects of temperature with a sufficient 



408 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

force of the stream, and admits of the prolonged application of the 
remedy without effort on the part of the patient, who is in the most 
suitable position for this treatment — practical points which induced 
me to make this mention of my results in rectal and anal cases. 

" Agnew says of pruritus that among the local remedies frequent 
ablutions with cold water should be mentioned, and of prolapsus ani 
et recti that ' in all cases where remedies have proved unavailing, or 
where patients have declined an operation, much good may be done 
by douching the parts with cold water and applying an oiled com- 
press;' and Allingham says of the same class of cases that 'the fre- 
quent and bountiful application of cold water is to be most strongly 
recommended ;' but few authors, so far as I know, have especially 
alluded to the method of application by means of a bidet. 

"My second class of cases includes, chiefly, certain prostatic 
troubles, varicocele, atonic impotence in the male, and pruritus of 
the vulva or vaginitis in the female. In case of variocele, although 
I have not succeeded in effecting a cure in any instance by this 
method, I have certainly seen advancing enlargements of the sper- 
matic veins becoming stationary, long relaxed and pendulous scro- 
tums become firm and much smaller, and the mental condition of the 
patient, which is so important an element in many of these cases, 
shares in the improvement. In chronic prostatitis, a most intractable 
and distressing ailment in many instances, it has come to be a part 
of my routine treatment to order the use of cold perineal douches by 
means of the bidet, associated with frequent cold enemata given in 
the same manner ; and I believe to-day that if I had to discard all 
therapeutic measures but one in these cases, I would retain this one. 
In a certain number of cases of impotence associated with general 
muscular weakness, loss of tone, lack of general strength and vitality, 
accompanied by imperfect or rapidly-subsiding erections, I have found 
that the cold douche applied with some force and for considerable 
lengths of time to the perineum and testicles has been productive of 
marked benefit. 

" In two cases of pruritus vulvae my results have been good, 
though less striking than in similar disease affecting the region of the 
anus. In vaginitis, where the woman has sufficient intelligence to 
learn how to take an injection by means of the bidet, it offers an 
admirable method of cleansing the vagina, of carrying away thor- 
oughly all accumulated secretions, of reducing heat and swelling, and 
at the same time of avoiding the frequent introduction into the 
inflamed canal of a foreign body in the shape of the nozzle of a 
syringe. My opportunities for observation in this class of cases have 
been limited, owing to the disinclination of these patients to procure 
the bidet, and owing to their irregular habits of life and their fre- 
quent changes of residence ; but I have seen enough of its good 
results to make me feel confident that it is a valuable addition to 
our therapeutic agencies. 

"After all, in every one of the cases which I have mentioned its 
use is simply the application of the most elementary and common- 
sense principles to every-day practice, but I am satisfied that this 



COLD AS A REMEDY. 409 

particular method of applying these principles has not received the 
attention which it merits." 

Cold in Fevers. 

The proper manner to employ cold water in fever should be thor- 
oughly understood. It may be used at a number of temperatures, 
according to the effect desired, such as cool, moderately cold, and 
very cold. 

Very commonly in the course of a fever the patient is restless, 
uncomfortable, and sleepless, yet has not a temperature fraught with 
any harm. Such a case may be sponged off with tepid water or with 
a little alcohol and water, or salt and whiskey, with great benefit in the 
production of sleep, the reduction of fever, and the advantage of ner- 
vous quiet. Sometimes the sponging is successful when used only 
over the arms and legs, but more frequently it should be extended at 
least to the spinal column. 

If tepid sponging does not lower the fever in a given case, then 
ordinary cool tap-water should be employed ; and it is well to remem- 
ber that the secret of successful sponging lies in the use of a sponge 
not saturated to overflowing, but only sufficiently wet to leave a thin 
film of moisture on the skin, which cools the patient by its rapid 
evaporation and does not wet the clothes and the bed. 

When we come to a study of the use of cold water in prolonged 
and severe fevers we find that its use is now universally recognized 
as the proper treatment, and with good reason. At one time it was 
thought that all the good results from cold bathing were due to the 
reduction of the fever, but we now know that this is the least im- 
portant effect of the bath except when there is such a hyperpyrexia 
that there is danger from that source. The benefit derived from the 
external use of cold water in infectious fevers rests upon the stimula- 
tion of the vasomotor system and general circulation, so that local 
stasis or congestions of blood do not occur in vital organs, in the 
stimulation of the processes of oxidation and nutrition, and in the 
elimination from the body by the skin and kidneys of toxic materials. 
Further, the more frequent cleansing of the skin aids its normal func- 
tion, prevents chafing and bed-sores, and lowers the temperature by 
aiding in the dissipation of heat directly and through the sweat, 
which, even if imperceptible, may be present. 

Whenever cold is used for the reduction of fever and applied to 
the entire body it should be applied rapidly and be accompanied by 
active rubbing of the skin of the entire body to bring the hot blood 
to the surface and to gain the valued effects of massage. As a rule, 
the water should be used at one temperature, and better results will 
be obtained if it is cold enough to produce something of a shock to 
the circulation and nervous system, for the effect sought is the pro- 
duction of a " reaction" — that is, a redistribution of the blood and 
an awakening of all the vital processes. For this reason the writer 
does not approve of graduated baths — that is, the use of water which 
is gradually cooled while the patient is being treated. The whole 
idea of the cold-bath treatment of fever is to produce the reactive 



410 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

stimulating effect sought by the well man who takes a sea bath. 
For this reason persons too feeble to react should be bathed in 
tepid water at first, and the temperature reduced each day a few 
degrees until it is quite cold. The exact degree of cold depends 
upon the bath used as stated below. 

Fever is then to be reduced by the tepid sponging, in old and 
feeble patients using water at 90°, 80°, or 70°, according to the 
ability to react and the needs of the patient. Friction is to be used 
with one hand while the sponging is done with the other. 

If the patient is young enough and strong enough to react, then 
the water used should be from 70° to 32°, according to the needs of 
the case ; and if the fever is persistent and difficult of reduction the 
nurse may use a piece of ice rubbed over the skin rapidly, rubbing 
constantly with the other hand. The patient should be stripped and 
laid on a blanket placed over a rubber blanket which has been spread 
to protect the bed. 

It is essential when the sponging is used that more of it be applied 
to the back than the front of the body, for at the back the great 
muscles and thick skin retain the heat as a reservoir, which is not 
cooled if only the front of the body is sponged. Further, the poste- 
rior surfaces are the ones apt to be congested and sore from the 
dorsal decubitus, and therefore need the stimulant effect of the bath, as 
do the kidneys and other deeply situated organs. That this treat- 
ment is of value is shown by the marked redness of the skin, the 
improvement of the circulation and respiration, and the cleared 
mind. 

If the fever cannot be reduced to 101° by the methods of bathing 
just detailed, the patient should be subjected to the cold plunge or 
tubbing, the so-called " Brand bath," which has been employed almost 
exclusively in typhoid fever. The chief object sought by its use 
has already been described in discussing the effect of sponging. This 
object is reaction. 

The method consists in immersing the patient every three hours, if 
his temperature reaches 102° or 102.5°, in a bath-tub of water at 70° F. 
and allowing him to remain there under friction for fifteen or twenty 
minutes, or until his temperature is reduced to 101° or 100°. Before 
the patient enters the tub he is often given ^ to 1 ounce (16.0-32.0) of 
w^hiskey in a little milk or water to prevent depression. The patient 
will generally complain bitterly of the cold, particularly at first, and 
will also appear blue and chilly after the bath, but these signs are 
not so dangerous as they are alarming. If there be persistent 
and prolonged coldness, then hot bottles may be applied to the 
feet and a little whiskey or brandy given. During all kinds of 
bathing an ice-bag should be kept to the head to prevent cerebral 
congestion. 

When the tub is used the patient should always be lifted into 
it, and not allowed to step into it, for his strength must be pre- 
served. 

The cold bath is contraindicated in the third week of typhoid fever, 
as a rule, because the patient does not react, owing to his feebleness. 



COLD AS A REMEDY. 411 

If it is used from the beginning of his illness, it may be used all through 
the attack, as the system is then trained to react and is rarely so 
asthenic. Other contraindications to the cold bath are intestinal 
hemorrhage and nephritis. Cardiac feebleness is always a contrain- 
dication to it, but pneumonia is not. 1 

All cases of typhoid fever should receive the cleansing and reactive 
effects of sponging and rubbing at least once a day, even if the fever 
is not high enough to need reduction. 

In some cases where sponging is not efficient the patient may 
be placed on a small canvas cot placed by the side of the bed of the 
patient and covered by a large rubber cloth, which, by being raised 
at the head and depressed at the foot, forms a channel for the water. 
Over this, again, is placed an ordinary sheet. The patient, after 
being stripped, is laid upon this sheet, which is then folded over him, 
and a fine spray from an ordinary w r atering-pot for flowers allowed to 
play upon his body from end to end. The temperature of the water 
depends upon the effect required. The bed should be so arranged 
that the water will not remain in puddles under the patient, but drain 
off constantly into a bucket at the foot. The sheet being wet allows 
evaporation to go on, and a rapid fall in the fever results. It is of 
the greatest importance that the attendant lightly but briskly rub the 
patient all over with the hands, so as to bring the blood to the sur- 
face and prevent internal congestions. 

Whenever cold is used in febrile cases a thermometer should be 
placed in the mouth or pushed deeply into the rectum, and the fall in 
the temperature watched. As soon as it reaches 101° or 100° F. the 
bath must cease, lest the fall continue and collapse ensue. 

On the removal of the patient the surface should be gently dried 
writh towels, and the bed-clothing consist of only a sheet, or a sheet 
and one blanket in cold weather. Above all things, it must be remem- 
bered that the patient is not to be wrapped up in a blanket, and not 
only this, but that he must not be placed in a blanket while still in a 
w r et sheet. The wet sheet, if surrounded by a blanket, soon places 
the patient in a typical Russian or warm moist bath, calculated to 
to raise instead of lower the fever. 

Where sunstroke (thermic fever) is present the patient may have 
chopped ice applied or be put directly into a bath-tub of ice-water, 
Dut in any event the attendants must rub the patient's skin to bring 
the hot blood to the surface and prevent congestions. Cold water 
may also be injected into the bowel in cases where the skin is cold but 
the central temperature very high. (See Enteroclysis.) 

The treatment of rheumatic hyperpyrexia by cold is quite as suit- 
able as is this treatment of other fevers when the hyperpyrexia is so 
excessive as to endanger life. 

1 For a careful resume of the " Real Value of the Brand Bath in Typhoid Fever," 
by the author and Dr. C. A. Holder, see the Therapeutic Gazette, March 15, 1898. 



412 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 



COUNTER-IRRITATION. 

Counter-irritation is a term applied to the use of substances irri- 
tating to the surface with which they come in contact, and is employed 
for the purpose of influencing morbid processes in more or less dis- 
tant parts or of affecting the general system. It has been thought 
that this method savors of the doctrine of "like cures like," but in 
reality it is based on sound physiological laws, and is so logical as to 
have been described by the founder of homoeopathy as useless. 

The entire basis for the employment of counter-irritation rests 
upon reflex action, or the conduction of a nervous impulse to a centre, 
which, when so stimulated, sends out an impulse to the part of the 
body which is diseased. 

The use of counter-irritation may be divided into four parts or 
purposes : The first is for affecting inflammations or congestions ; the 
second for causing the absorption or removal of inflammatory depos- 
its after true inflammation has ceased ; while the third purpose is for 
the relief of pain ; and the fourth for the effect which can be exer- 
cised upon the general system by blisters in systemic disease. 

In the same manner that we can divide the indications for coun- 
ter-irritation into four parts, so can we also divide its forms into three 
varieties, according to their severity. The most severe are the caus- 
tics or escharotics, the next the epispastics or blisters, and finally the 
rubefacients or reddeners. 

The proper manner of employing a counter-irritant to affect inflam- 
mations is not to apply it directly to an actually inflamed area, but a 
little to one side of it or at a spot known to be connected intimately 
with the diseased area by nerve-fibres. 

Thus, it is well known that in diseases of the eye the blister 
should be applied back of the ear, and that in abdominal neuralgia 
or in pleurodynia the best results are reached, not from the applica- 
tion of a blister to the spot where the pain is felt, but to the point 
upon the vertebral column where the nerve at fault takes its exit. 
The reason for this is that pain is always referred to the peripheral 
end of an irritated nerve, and pleurodynia or abdominal pain often 
arises from vertebral disease or inflammation about the spinal liga- 
ments or the foramina of exit for the nerves. In a similar manner 
we sometimes apply a blister, in the early stages of hip disease, not 
to the knee or ankle, where the pain is felt, but at the seat of the 
trouble — namely, the hip. Counter-irritation is contraindicated by 
the presence of any acute inflammation directly under the spot where 
it is proposed to place a blister ; that is, if any reddening of the skin 
is present the blister or other form of irritation must not be applied 
there. If used at all, it must be some little distance away, or a series 
of small flying blisters should be placed around the inflamed zone. 
A flying blister is one which is small in area — say as large as a Lima 
bean — and of comparatively slight action, healing rapidly after its pri- 
mary effects have passed by. 

Among the inflammatory affections in which we find counter-irri- 
tation very serviceable may be mentioned pleurisy, pneumonia, iritis, 



CO UNTER-IRRITA TION. 



413 



synovitis (rheumatic or traumatic), cerebritis, and peritonitis (acute 
or chronic). A host of more subacute or chronic inflammations are 
also benefited by this measure, some of which are gleet, chronically 
enlarged joints, and inflamed glands. In all these states the blister, 
or more rarely the rubefacient, is to be resorted to ; and while it is 
true that nearly all of these conditions are accompanied by fever, and 
that fever is generally held to be a contraindication to the use of 



counter-irritation, blisters undoubtedly do 



good 



at such times. In 



Fig. 





J 



Figure showing the areas in which blisters are to be placed. 

P, Pericarditis ; A, appendicitis : L, laryngitis ; V, vomiting or gastritis ; PL, pleuritis ; 
_R, inflammation in joint. 

pneumonia or pleurisy, along with the use of veratrum viride in the 
very earliest stages of the disease, a cantharidal blister of the size 
of a silver dollar should be applied near the spot where the most pain 
is felt or on the back near the spine. Where joints are inflamed 
the blisters should be at some distance from the seat of the swelling, 
although it is often useful to place the counter-irritant on the inner or 
outer aspect of the knee-joint if the skin is not reddened. In peri- 
tonitis the blisters are best applied directly over the seat of tender- 
ness, and in cerebritis at the nape of the neck. In gleet a little can- 



414 



REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 



tharidal collodion may be painted along the under surface of the penis 
or upon the perineum with great advantage in obstinate cases. 

Where an inflammatory process is chronic and resists cantharidal 
blistering, then resort is often had to more severe forms of counter- 
irritation by means of the red-hot — not white-hot — iron, or the use of 
escharotics, such as caustic potash or caustic soda or arsenic. The rea- 
son for using these is that they all cause so much tissue-change in the 

Fig. 4. 




Figure showing the areas in which Misters are to be placed. 

0, earache or vertigo; M, meningeal inflammation or effusion at the base of the brain; H t 
hemoptysis ; PL, pleuritis ; /, intercostal neuralgia ; KS, renal or spinal irritation ; R, rheu- 
matism or inflammation in joint. 

part that the counter-irritation is very prolonged. Sometimes antimo- 
nial ointment is applied constantly until a slough forms, to accomplish 
the same purposes. 

For the removal of the products of inflammation we resort to can- 
tharidal blisters or drugs possessing powers as local irritants and at 
the same time as alteratives. Thus, in pleurisy with effusion it is 
very proper to employ a good-sized cantharidal blister if the effusion 



CO UNTER-IRRITA TION. 415 

has a tendency to remain unabsorbed. Some have thought that the 
absorption which follows is due to the abstraction of serum which 
takes place in the bleb formed, but this is a mistaken idea, as one 
often sees an effusion absorbed which far exceeds in quantity the 
amount of liquid in the blister. Under these circumstances the spot 
for applying the blister is, as a rule, immediately under the arm, 
about two or three inches below the axilla. The blister, while it is 
useful in causing absorption in chronic effusions and deposits about 
joints, is not so good as are alterative irritants ; for example, iodine, 
which in the form of a thorough application at one sitting until the 
skin is black — not yellow or red — is often of service. In other cases, 
particularly in very chronic states, iodine ointment, alone or with 
lard, may be rubbed into the parts with advantage, care being taken 
to stop its use for a day or two as soon as the skin gets red. This 
same treatment is also useful in treating enlarged glands in the neck 
and elsewhere. 

One of the best treatments for epididymitis is to paint the scrotum 
black with many coatings of a strong solution of silver nitrate or 
iodine, to insist on total rest in bed, and to resort to the local use of 
cold. The testicles should also be supported by a suspensory or 
adhesive strips during this treatment, and aconite given if fever is 
present. 

For the relief of pain we very commonly resort to the rubefacients 
rather than epispastics, since the more moderate applications are 
equally effective in most instances, and do not leave skin lesions 
behind to remind the patient of his attack. 

Every one who has had stomach-ache and remembers the relief 
obtained by the use of a mustard plaster or spice plaster recognizes 
the value of this means of obtaining relief, and it only remains for 
the writer to state that headaches are often amenable to similar treat- 
ment. These headaches may be neuralgic or due to dyspepsia or to 
cerebral anaemia or congestion, but counter-irritation will neverthe- 
less do good. If neuralgic, a little menthol or oil of peppermint 
may be applied over the course of the nerve — which application, if it 
be supraorbital, will require care lest the oil gain access to the eye. 

For the treatment of pain in the belly or chest or elsewhere we 
have four means of producing counter-irritation in the shape of rube- 
facients : The first is mustard ; the second, capsicum ; the third, the 
turpentine stupe ; and the fourth, the spice poultice. 

The mustard- plaster should be made by mixing mustard flour with 
warm vinegar or water, and adding varying proportions of ordinary 
flour to modify its action. If the skin is tender, half mustard and 
half wheat flour may be employed, or if a child is to be treated the 
proportion may have to be only one-fourth mustard. The plaster is 
made by placing a stout piece of paper on a table and putting over 
it a piece of heavy muslin or linen. On this is smeared the mus- 
tard, and over the mustard mass is placed a thin piece of linen, 
which prevents the poultice from adhering to the skin and modifies 
the burning according to its density. By folding the edges of the 
paper so that it resembles a picture-frame we have at a hand a cheap, 



416 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

effective, and strong plaster, the back of which is supported by the 
paper. 

The spice plaster is made by mixing equal parts of allspice, cloves, 
cinnamon, and nutmegs, and adding thereto one-half part of black 
pepper. These constituents are made into a homogeneous mass by 
using a knife-blade to mix them, and are then sewed up in a bag 
which is quilted to prevent sagging of the contents. One side of the 
poultice is now wetted with warm brandy, whiskey, or vinegar, and 
applied to the part desired. 

If the skin is tender the proportions of pepper and cloves should be 
decreased. 

This plaster may be allowed to remain over the affected parts for 
hours or even days, and is very useful in the treatment of gastric 
catarrh and indigestion, particularly those forms occurring in children. 

The turpentine stupe (see Turpentine) is not to be allowed to 
remain very long on the skin, as it may blister a tender cuticle, and 
the pepper plaster may be so active as to produce unbearable pain if 
it is not watched. 

The proper way of treating all such burns from counter-irritation 
is to apply simple cerate, cosmoline, or sweet oil, to which may be 
added carbolic acid in the proportion of 1 : 100. The carbolic acid 
not only acts as an antiseptic, but as a local anaesthetic, while the oil 
acts as a protective from contact with the air. 

Much difference of opinion exists as to the proper treatment of the 
blister formed by cantharides. Where the blisters are small — that is, 
the size of the end of a finger — they may be allowed to break of them- 
selves, and then be dressed with dry cotton ; if they are large, the 
blebs should be punctured at their most dependent part with an anti- 
septic needle and dressed with dry absorbent cotton, as by so doing the 
new skin rapidly forms underneath and is soon able to carry on its nor- 
mal functions. 

The proper treatment of the blister while it is forming is to apply 
a poultice, which will decrease the pain and aid in the formation of 
the bleb. 



DISINFECTION. 

Before discussing the subject of Disinfection, we must turn our 
attention to what we mean by the terms employed when speaking of 
this subject. At present we recognize that the word "germicide" is 
a term applicable solely to agents capable of killing the lower forms 
of life, whereas " antiseptics " are substances which simply render 
the material with which they come in contact so antagonistic or 
unsuited to germ-development as to render their presence for any 
length of time impossible, at least in an active state. To use a simile : 
the killing of the inhabitants of a district by shooting them would stop 
all growth and be germicidal, whereas the destruction of crops in these 
same parts would only be antiseptic ; or, in other words, the people 
might remain, but would have to starve to death. (See article on 
Antiseptics.) 



DISINFECTION. 417. 

We now speak of germicides as disinfectants, but never of anti- 
septics as disinfectants if we use these terms correctly. "Germicide" 
and "disinfectants " are therefore synonymous words. 

From what has just been said it is evident that we should always 
resort to disinfectants rather than antiseptics, for although the latter 
are good, the former are better. 

We have three ways of destroying germs which are particularly 
useful : The first is the total destruction not only of the germs, but 
also of their resting-place, by means of fire, which may be used in 
the case of old furniture, mattresses, and similar materials, and which 
may be extended to everything about the patient if it is necessary to 
stamp out a brisk epidemic before it can get well under way. The 
second is the use of moist heat in the form of superheated steam, or, 
better still for common purposes, the use of boiling water; and, 
thirdly, by means of disinfectant materials which have a proved 
reliability. 

Moist heat in the form of superheated steam is infinitely prefer- 
able to dry heat, but as superheated steam cannot be readily obtained, 
physicians usually direct the clothes to be boiled for at least two 
hours. 

Very often the bed-clothes are taken from a sick-room, trailed 
through the house, and finally deposited at any spot until a conve- 
nient time for boiling them occurs. This is radically wrong and capa- 
ble of causing a widespread distribution of the disease. In all such 
cases the bed-clothes should be rolled off the bed in a bundle and com- 
pletely submerged in a bucket or tub of boiling water, or, better still, 
in a corrosive-sublimate solution of the strength of 1 : 1000, before 
they are taken from the room. This tub is now to be carried at once 
to the fire, and the clothes lifted out dripping wet and plunged into a 
clothes-boiler in which the water is actively boiling. The lid of the 
boiler is at once to be put on to increase the heat and prevent the 
escape of any germs in the steam or in the hot air which arises from 
the surface of the water. The active boiling should be continued for 
one or two hours, and water be continually added to prevent scorch- 
ing of the contents of the boiler. 

It is important that food be not cooked on the stove at the time 
the clothes are being boiled, and no food should be in the room. 

If boiling cannot be resorted to for any reason, the clothes may be 
soaked in a 1 : 500 solution of corrosive sublimate or a 1 : 20 solu- 
tion of carbolic acid, although neither of these is so sure a method of 
disinfection. 

The proper care of a room after it has been occupied by a case of 
infectious disease is of great importance, and is generally sadly mis- 
managed. Disinfection is best accomplished by formaldehyde gene- 
rators', which act by disengaging the gas from pastilles of formalin or 
by the heating of wood alcohol. (See Formic Aldehyde.) All key- 
holes, cracks, and window-joints should be well packed with cotton 
before the. gas is used. 

A good method of disinfection is to take all movable objects out 
of doors into the fresh air, and then to wash the floor, sills, and 

27 



HM 



418 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

casings, using a scrubbing-brush, hot water, and soap. The water 
remaining in the bucket should afterward be boiled to kill the germs 
which may be in it. This scrubbing being accomplished, the same 
surfaces should be scrubbed a second time with a solution of corrosive 
sublimate (1 : 500 or 1 : 1000) and left wet, so that the salt of mer- 
cury may remain on them. Cracks and crannies are to receive par- 
ticular attention. After this is done the floor should be flushed with 
a solution of formaldehyde. 

By far the best disinfectant for all diseases is good ventilation. 
Not only should as much air as possible be allowed to enter the sick- 
room, but after the case has vacated the premises the windows should 
remain open for weeks if possible. Fresh air dilutes germs as fresh 
water dissolves or dilutes dirt. 

Disinfection of the discharges of the patient is an important duty 
to be remembered. The urine and faeces should always be received 
in a vessel containing enough corrosive sublimate solution (1 : 500) 
to kill all germs, and to prevent their escape into the air or into 
water or food when the discharges are thrown away. The disinfect- 
ant should be placed in the bed-pan before, not after, it is used. 

The bed-pan or chamber should not be allowed to stand in the 
room, but be removed and emptied at once in such a manner that it 
cannot contaminate any water or food. Its contents should not be 
thrown upon the ground, as the air will dry them and cause the germs 
to fly in the form of dust anywhere and everywhere. In very con- 
tagious diseases bathing or swabbing off the patient with weak anti- 
septics may be tried. Thus 1 : 10,000 of bichloride of mercury may 
be used and the patient afterward wiped off with a wet towel. In other 
instances a 1 : 100 solution of carbolic acid in sweet oil may be employed 
to soften the skin, decrease itching, and disinfect the patient. 

The question as to which are the best disinfectant substances is 
one which has attracted the attention of physicians and original inves- 
tigators for years. The result of a vast amount of study and experi- 
ence shows that corrosive sublimate is the best of all disinfectants in 
the proportion of 1 : 250 to 1 : 500, or even weaker, but that for 
cheapness, activity, and general usefulness chlorinated lime is better 
still. The disadvantages in the use of corrosive sublimate lie in its 
ready decomposition, its formation of an albuminate when albumin 
is present, its uselessness where lead pipes are present, and, above 
all, its expense. Chlorinated lime depends entirely upon its chlorine 
for any disinfectant power which it may possess. Chlorine gas itself 
is not readily handled, but the lime enables us to put it where we 
will. It cannot be employed to disinfect colored fabrics, as it bleaches 
them. (See Formaldehyde, Part II.) 

Whenever chlorinated lime is bought the physician should see that 
all the chlorine has not departed from it, as most of the material kept 
in the stores is so old as to be worthless. 

For scrubbing floors, chlorinated lime may be made into a solution 
by adding a cupful to a bucket of water, and in privies it may be 
spread thickly over the surface of the mass of filth. 

It is useless to place chlorinated lime around the room for the pur- 



ENTEROCLYSIS. 419 

pose of disinfecting the air, as the amount of chlorine to the volume 
of air to be disinfected is as nothing. 

Copperas, or sulphate of iron, while largely used as a disinfectant 
by some persons, is in reality only an antiseptic. 



ENTEROCLYSIS. 

Enteroclysis, or the washing out of the bowel by means of large 
and slowly injected clysters for the purpose of medicating or cleans- 
ing both the large and small intestine, has within the last few years 
become one of the most valuable therapeutic measures we possess. 
Not only is it of value for the purposes named, but for the relief of 
intestinal obstruction, for the preservation of bodily heat by the use 
of hot water, and for the reduction of fever by the use of cold water. 

The treatment of choleraic diarrhoea in all its forms by enterocly- 
sis was first used by Cantani within the last decade. The method 
yielded such good results in his hands that he enthusiastically 
emplo} T ed it in a large number of cases, and caused a number of 
other physicians tc use it. The method consists in the slow irri- 
gation of the large and small bowel by way of the rectum by means 
of a solution urged on by the hydrostatic pressure of a fountain- 
syringe. The solution contains as its chief constituents tannic acid, 
which is added in the proportion of from 1 to 5 drachms to 2 quarts 
of water, with 1J ounces of wine of opium. 

Carbolic acid is too poisonous, salicylic acid too insoluble, corro- 
sive sublimate too poisonous and too easily decomposed, to be used in 
this manner. 

In some cases Cantani employed a mixture made of 

Infusion of chamomile-flowers . . . 1 . . 2000 parts. 

Tannic acid 10 " 

Gum arabic 30 " 

Tincture of opium 2 " 

Cantani considers that the passage of the ileo-caecal valve is essen- 
tial for the success of his methods, and if this is the case the report- 
ers who have failed to obtain satisfactory results from this treatment 
have probably failed to do more than irrigate the colon. The import- 
ance of irrigating the ileum is great, since it is in this portion of 
the alimentary canal that the cholera germs are most active. Nor is 
this treatment by tannic-acid injections founded upon mere empiricism, 
for Cantani and others have found that tannic acid, in the strength of 
1 per cent., inhibits the growth of intestinal germs in one and a half 
hours at 98° F., while J per cent, in six hours seriously impairs their 
vitality. Cantani also asserts that tannic acid neutralizes the toxines 
formed by these micro-organisms. This treatment therefore contracts 
the leaking blood-vessels, stops the growth of the bacilli, prevents the 
absorption of toxines, acidifies the intestine, stimulates the nervous sys- 
tem, warms the body, prevents anuria, and avoids collapse. Many 
clinicians, however, do not believe that it is possible for the fluid to get 



420 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

by the ileo-csecai valve unless so great hydrostatic pressure is used as to 
be dangerous. 

The employment of irrigation of the colon in cases of dysentery 
is by no means of recent date. It is only, however, within the last 
few years that this method of treatment has been widely employed or 
considered. Aside from the fact that we can bring medicaments in 
direct contact w T ith the diseased mucous membranes, there is no doubt 
whatever that the mere passage of water at suitable temperatures over 
the bowel-wall is of value, since by this means we remove mucus and 
pus, and so dilute the poisons manufactured by the germs of the disease 
that their further action is largely inhibited. In adults the use of irri- 
gation in dysentery should be carefully carried out by means of an inflow 
and outfiW tube, the first being attached to a fountain syringe. The 
outflow tube must be large enough to permit of the liquid leaving the 
bowel with a readiness equal to that of its inflow, and must be so straight 
and patulous as to permit of the fluid carrying away with it any flakes 
of mucous or other foreign matter from the bowel. The method em- 
ployed in giving the injection, the temperature of the water, and the 
gentleness of the operation are exceedingly important, and will be dis- 
cussed on the succeeding page. The amount of water employed in irri- 
gation of the bowel in dysentery is not to be measured by quarts, but 
by results. It should continue to flow in until it comes from the out- 
flow tube perfectly clear, showing that our object — namely, thorough 
cleansing of the bowel — has been accomplished. The best medica- 
ment to be added to the water is boric acid or tannic acid, each of 
which is harmless and capable of doing much good. 

The question as to what is the best method of treating a case of 
intestinal obstruction by other than operative means is one which is 
of interest to the physician as well as the surgeon. Such cases gen- 
erally come into the hands of the general practitioner first, and it is 
for him to decide, as a rule, whether the surgeon shall be called in 
consultation. Measures devoted to the relief of the patient without 
the use of the knife are first to be tried. No one who has studied 
this subject can doubt that enteroclysis is the best form of treatment 
which we can apply. Used properly, there is little danger of its 
doing harm, and much chance of its accomplishing good. The author 
is not one of those who place much confidence in the reports of cases 
of volvulus overcome by this means. The true indication for rectal 
injections is intussusception or obstruction due to impacted faeces. 

A very important point to be decided in connection w T ith this sub- 
ject is the amount of pressure that can be used in the stream of water 
which is employed, the length of time during w T hich the injection may 
be given, and, finally, the temperature and character of the fluid 
injected. As is well known, the great majority of cases of intussus- 
ception take place at the ileo-csecal valve, and, if not here, in the sig- 
moid flexure. Pressure by injection is therefore readily brought to 
bear on the area involved. It has been claimed that certain pressures 
will cause rupture of the peritoneal coat of the intestine, but Martin 
and the writer failed to produce this lesion in the dog by any pressure 
we could employ, since before this occurred the liquid passed through 



ENTEROCLYSIS. 421 

the stomach and mouth. To employ a pressure exceeding eight pounds 
is, however, distinctly dangerous, not because the intestinal wall in 
health will not stand this, as a rule, but because it is near the injury 
line, and if any disease or softening of the bowel exist, it is almost cer- 
tain to cause rupture. A pressure of from two to five pounds is, as a 
rule, as much as may be employed, and this pressure should be obtained 
by degrees, starting the injection at such a point of pressure that it 
amounts to hardly more than a trickle, and increasing the pressure as 
the antagonism of the bowel is overcome. Finally, when the bowel is 
fully distended up to the point of obstruction, the pressure on the no 
longer moving column of water may be increased, if necessary, to six 
or eight pounds by raising the bag of water not more than three feet. 
In infants, in whom invagination so often occurs, a pressure greater 
than two pounds is dangerous, and it is of vital importance that the 
pressure be employed properly, otherwise it will do more harm than 
good in several ways. As a rule, in our anxiety to give the patient 
relief at once we are inclined to use too much force and too large a bulk 
of water, and think that active force, if such a term may be used, is to 
be resorted to. Those who have seen these cases have learned by 
experience the harmfulness of such measures, and have also learned 
how great is the expulsive power of the bowel when it is excited to 
contraction. If this power be brought into activity, it will be almost 
impossible to inject fluid into the rectum, and, worse than all, the mus- 
cular fibres of the intussuscipiens take a still tighter grasp on the 
intussusceptum. 

The dangerous practice of using a Davidson or any other kind of 
artificial-force syringe in the treatment of this class of cases is to be 
condemned. Three unreported cases of rupture of the bowel and death 
from the employment of the Davidson syringe for this purpose have 
occurred, because the amount of force used was indeterminable, and 
because it was injected with a jerking instead of a constant flow. The 
amount of fluid injected should be large, and if it is impossible to get 
a large amount into the bowel, it is probably because the inflow has 
been so rapid as to excite intestinal opposition. If, by a slow trickle 
of water into the bowel, gradually increasing the pressure, we are 
unable to give relief in forty-five minutes, it is necessary either to 
give this treatment up as useless, or else allow the liquid to flow away 
and resort to the measure again in some hours. Practical experience 
has shown that the second or third injection sometimes succeeds, prob- 
ably because it is more skilfully given and the first has prepared 
the way for the others, but it is to be remembered that the chances 
for reduction of the obstruction are best with the first injection if it 
is properly given. Frequently-repeated small injections are abso- 
lutely unjustifiable. 

Finally, the author cannot leave this subject without saying a word 
concerning the temperature of the injected liquid and its constitution. 
An injection of this kind goes into the very heat-citadels of the body, 
and if too cold, as it often is, produces dangerous chilling of organs 
which are ordinarily especially protected from cold by the omental 
apron and intestines. By repeated experiment we found that water 



422 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

at 65° F. lowered the bodily heat three degrees in thirty minutes. 
The use of colder water than this (52° F.) resulted in death in twelve 
hours, and the post-mortem showed intense congestion of the colon, 
which contained bloody mucus. 

The use of water of too high a temperature is also dangerous, lest 
it produce heat-stroke. Of course no one would use water hot enough 
to produce local harm, yet it is necessary to have just enough heat 
and no more. Martin and the author proved that the use of water 
at 115° F. caused in twenty-five minutes a rise of bodily tempera- 
ture in the axilla of nearly five degres, and developed marked symp- 
toms of heat-dyspnoea. The temperature which it is right to employ 
we found to be 101° to 103° F. as the water entered the bowel, or 
even as high as 104° F. in the water-bag if a long tube was used, as 
under these circumstances the water is rapidly cooled. An interest- 
ing result of these experiments as to heat is that when cold water 
was used it took four times as long to make the injection as when 
moderately warm water was employed. 

If very large injections are used, a normal saline solution of 
7 : 1000 (1 drachm to 1 pint) should be employed to avoid the abstrac- 
tion of vital salts from the intestinal wall, with consequent passage 
of water into the tissues, making them boggy, according to the law 
of osmosis. Such injections are very useful to relieve thirst and keep 
the kidneys active after abdominal operations. 

In regard to the effect of distention of the bowel by injection on 
the circulation and respiration, there is practically none, but the pas- 
sage of large amounts of warmed fluid directly into the closed ab- 
dominal cavity causes death rapidly. 

HEAT. 

Heat is used locally for a number of purposes in the same manner 
as is cold, and, as was stated in the article on Cold, the choice of heat 
or cold in the treatment of any acute form of inflammation depends 
almost entirely upon the wish of the patient, who generally can tell 
at once which will give him the greater comfort. 

In sprains of the ankle nothing compares to a hot foot-bath pro- 
longed for hours, the object being to decrease the pain and swelling, 
thereby regaining the use of the limb. To carry this out effectively, 
a piece of rubber tubing of small size should be led from a wooden 
bucket, which, being a bad conductor of heat, prevents the water 
from being rapidly chilled, to a sink or large tub near by, when 
by starting the water by suction a continuous but very small stream 
can be made to flow from the bucket, while by means of another sim- 
ilar arrangement running either from another tub — or, better still, 
from a hot-water spigot — a small stream of hot water continually 
enters to take the place of that withdrawn by the first siphon. Under 
these circumstances a very constant temperature of the water can 
readily be maintained. The high degree of heat which can be borne 
by gradually increasing the temperature of the water in the supply- 
tube is very extraordinary, the favorable results obtained being in 



HEAT. 423 

direct ratio to the height of the temperature. Between these soak- 
ings the part should be dressed with lead-water and laudanum, and 
rubbed with ichthyol ointment or camphor liniment and laudanum. 

In spasmodic affections involving either striped or unstriped mus- 
cular fibre the local application of heat is a very useful means of 
relief. Sometimes in lumbago or muscular stiffness in other parts of 
the body the use of an ordinary laundry iron over the affected part 
will prove of great service, the skin being covered by several layers 
of newspaper to afford a smooth surface over which to pass the iron 
and to protect the parts from too great heat. 

In chordee the best means for rapid relief, other than the use of 
drugs or general relaxants, such as amyl nitrate, is to steep the penis 
in hot water. A hot sitz-bath before going to bed is a good prophy- 
lactic against this painful complication of gonorrhoea. 

In croup of the spasmodic type the local application of a hot com- 
press, made by wetting spongiopiline with hot water, is very useful, 
or, if spongiopiline cannot be had, several layers of flannel should be 
wetted, placed on the neck, and covered with cotton and oil-silk so as 
to prevent the roll from becoming chilled. 

Where attacks of dysmenorrhcea depend upon spasmodic closure 
of the cervix, with simultaneous spasm of the fundus uteri, a hot sitz- 
bath or vaginal injection is useful, and this treatment is also of value 
where uterine congestion results in leucorrhoea or a sensation of 
weight in the pelvis. Sometimes attacks of torticollis may be sub- 
dued by applying hot compresses to the sterno-mastoid muscle. 

The use of heat in two forms has been and is largely used at 
present for medicinal purposes, when the skin or kidneys are torpid, 
to aid in the elimination of impure and effete materials from the 
blood and tissues. These two forms of heat, the dry and the moist, 
are commonly called the Turkish and Russian baths respectively, and 
may be taken under home arrangements or in one of the establish- 
ments found in all large cities. 

The first of these is in the form of dry heat, the second is moist 
heat. The Turkish bath consists of a series of rooms ranging in tem- 
perature from 100° F. to 150° F. or more, into which the individual 
passes successively until the hottest room is reached. In each cham- 
ber he lingers until the system becomes accustomed to the high tem- 
perature, and perspiration is well established before he enters the 
hottest room, where he remains for a varying length of time accord- 
ing to the advice of his physician or his own whim or comfort. The 
rule governing his stay is that he must leave it at once if any sense- 
of oppression is experienced or if perspiration does not flow freely. 
Sometimes a glass of cold water taken at this time causes a sudden 
profuse sweat, and also relieves any overheating by abstracting many 
units of heat. The cold water in the centre of the body causes con- 
traction of the blood-vessels in these parts, and the blood, rushing to 
the surface, causes the sweat-glands to pour out their secretion. 

Following the stay in the warm room, the individual passes into 
still another chamber, where he is shampooed from head to foot, well 
rubbed, and the blood made to circulate through the skin. The 



424 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

shower-bath is then used, at first hot or warm, and finally changed to 
a dash of cold, or, better still, the patient plunges into a long tank, 
swims to the other end, and is there met by an attendant who rapidly 
dries his skin, wraps a cover round him, and shows him to a lounge, 
where he is supposed to recline and sleep for an hour or less. The 
air of this sleeping-room is at the ordinary temperature of a living- 
room. 

Reviewing for a moment the effects of this bath, we find that the 
first two-thirds are devoted to the opening and stimulation of the 
pores of the skin, while the last third is devoted to the contraction 
of these pores and their supplying blood-vessels. In other words, it 
is necessary to use the cold to prevent gradual chilling of limited 
areas, which would result in internal congestion. If the patient 
receives a cold douche, the natural rebound prevents congestion of a 
permanent nature, whereas if he is exposed to cold a long time, these 
stagnated areas become permanently diseased. The physician must 
always remember that this cold douche or plunge is a sine qua non, 
and that a rest after the bath before dressing is almost equally 
important. If the patient is too weak to bear the cold, he must not 
use the bath. 

The indication for the Turkish bath as a medicinal measure is any 
condition of the emunctories of the body whereby effete matters are 
not properly eliminated, as in Bright's disease in its various forms. 
The increased action of the skin not only casts off impurities for the 
time being, but frequent repetition of the bath causes functional 
hypertrophy of the sweat-glands, and eventually enables them to do 
more work, or, in other words, to cast off an increased quantity of 
effete material. As a consequence of this the patient is able to avoid 
uraemia or other evidences of Bright's disease, and, employing the 
normal epithelium still left in the kidney for constant use, uses the 
bath once, twice, or thrice a week with the object of abstracting the 
excess of impurities which the impaired kidneys cannot remove. 
The frequency of the bath depends, therefore, upon the rapidity 
with which the effete materials accumulate. In a case of Bright's 
disease the patient should not attempt to use the room containing 
high heat at first, and should be accompanied by a medical attendant 
to watch for untoward effects, particularly if the heart is diseased 
or uraemia is already shown by headache or other signs. If sweat- 
ing does not come on at once, danger is at hand from acute uraemia, 
renal and cerebral congestion, or heat-stroke. 

Not only is the Turkish bath useful for kidney disease, but it is 
often of great service in rheumatism. The acute form of rheumatism 
is rarely so treated, because cardiac complications often forbid expo- 
sure to heat, and fever is generally present. In subacute and chronic 
rheumatism the case is different, and the enlarged joints or inflamed 
muscles yield like magic in some instances to such treatment. Fur- 
ther than this, the muscular stiffness following prolonged or severe 
effort can be so avoided, and neuralgia depending upon rheumatic or 
gouty taint may be relieved by the hot-air bath. 

Acute colds affecting the nasal cavities or other parts of the body, at 



HEAT. 425 

an early formative stage, can often be aborted by a good Turkish bath, 
and when further developed are often greatly relieved by the same 
means. If, however, congestion of the lung, pneumonia, or chronic 
bronchitis, with emphysema or a dilated weak heart, are present, the 
bath may be dangerous. In acute pharyngitis, in which the pharynx 
feels like a raw surface or "as if it were filed or scraped," the bath 
will give relief in many instances. 

Sometimes in suppression of menstruation from cold the flow may 
be restored by a Turkish bath. 

Some persons complain that they are always catching cold upon 
the slightest provocation and apparently without cause. One class 
seem to have delicate mucous membranes readily susceptible to irri- 
tation and inflammation ; the other have dilated or relaxed peripheral 
capillaries, which readily allow the blood in them to become chilled, 
and the individual consequently suffers from internal local congestions. 
Two separate means of treating such cases exist. The first set will 
do well on minute doses of arsenous acid (grain y^-g- to -^) three times 
a day, used for weeks ; the second will be cured of their habit by 
the use of a Turkish bath twice or thrice a week, since by this means 
the peripheral capillaries are toned up and made more active. 

The Turkish bath, as thoroughly carried out in large cities, is not 
obtainable for those living elsewhere, so it is well to describe a home 
modification which, with attention to detail and care, may prove 
almost, if not quite, as effective a remedy. 

The patient is placed upon a chair, naked, and under the chair 
a small alcohol lamp is put, which is lighted. The individual is now 
wrapped thoroughly, chair and all, with one or two large blankets, 
and the heat of the lamp soon causes profuse sweating. Many cases 
are, however, on record where the lamp has been upset and the 
patient badly burned. The best way is to have the lamp a little 
to one side and its flame immediately under the mouth of an inverted 
funnel attached to a piece of tin tubing, the free end of which is 
placed under the blanket, so that the hot air and vapor may surround 
the body. If the tube be covered with cloth, the loss of heat is 
slight and the danger of burning the patient is removed. If this is 
not practicable, several very hot bricks or stones, thoroughly heated 
in an oven, may be placed under the chair, or small heated logs may 
be substituted. When the patient is too feeble to leave the bed, then 
it is wise to place an alcohol lamp at the foot of the couch, with an 
inverted funnel attached to a tube which passes under the bed- 
clothes in such a way as not to bring the hot air directly against the 
skin of the patient. The bed-clothing may be slightly raised to 
allow the hot air to enter. The vapor of the alcohol lamp tends to 
sweat the patient. This is also a valuable mode of using external 
heat in cases of shock. (Fig. 5.) 

The Russian bath differs from the Turkish in that the heat used 
is moist, not dry. As a consequence the danger of heat-stroke and 
similar states is much increased, because evaporation from the skin 
does not go on so rapidly and the body is not cooled so well in con- 
sequence. 



426 



REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 



This method of treatment is useful in the same states as is the 
Turkish bath, but is more rarely used. It may also be employed to 
develop the rash of any of the exanthematous fevers when it is sup- 
pressed by cold or is not "well out" on the skin. 

Under the name of the "hot pack" still another substitute for the 
Turkish or Russian bath is used, not only to cause sweating and so 
relieve the patient of poisons and fluid in renal diseases, but also 
to relax muscle spasm and to relieve nervous excitement and ner- 
vous insomnia. It is particularly efficacious in the nervous insomnia 
of severe chorea in children. 

A bed is prepared by covering it with a rubber blanket. Over this 
is placed a dry woollen blanket. A large, heavy blanket is now dipped 

Fig. 5. 




A method of giving a bed-ridden patient a hot-air bath where a sweat is desirable, or where 
shock with a collapse temperature is to be controlled. The bed-clothing is raised by a 
cradle. An alcohol-lamp is placed under the inverted funnel, and the hot, moist air is 
carried in this way to the patient without any danger of fire or of burning the skin by hot 

bottles. 



in very hot water and then wrung out (see Fig. 6), and the naked 
patient quickly wrapped in it, the dry blanket being folded over him 
after several hot-water bottles have been placed alongside the patient. 
Finally the sides of the rubber sheet are drawn around and over the 
patient and an ice-cap placed on the head. (Fig. 7.) A thermo- 
meter should be placed in the mouth every half hour, and if the patient's 
temperature becomes febrile (101°) he should be taken out of the 
blankets and rubbed dry. Ordinarily the bath should last about one 
hour, and if sweating does not speedily come on a glass of cold 
water should be taken to drive the blood to the skin. In adults a 
little gin may be added to it, or sweet spirit of nitre may be used in 
this way in children or adults. If no sweat develops and the temper- 
ature begins to rise, the patient must be taken out of the bath at once. 
Another wet pack, which speedily becomes a warm one, is used in 
cases in which, during the course of an eruptive fever, the eruption fades 



HEAT. 



427 



and it is desired to bring it out on the surface. It is also useful in those 
cases of severe chorea in which the child can stand the first shock of 






Fi«. 6. 



** 




Nurses using two broom-sticks to wring out a blanket dipped in very hot water for use in the 
hot pack. (From the author's wards.) 

the cold. It consists in wrapping the child in a cold wet sheet and 
over this wrapping one or two blankets. In a few minutes the sheet 



Fig. 7 




Showing arrangement of blankets in giving a hot pack for uraemia. (From the author's wards.) 

becomes heated by the body and the sweating which results is 
profuse. 

The hot moist bath can also be obtained by placing a patient on 



428 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

a wicker chair under which is placed a bucket of hot water. The 
patient is surrounded by a blanket, and a hot iron or stone is 
put into the water, causing the development of a great amount of 
steam. 

A valuable method for using moist heat in a mild form is the 
" bronchitis tent."' (See article on Bronchitis.) 

Whenever the Turkish or Russian bath is used, except in the 
exanthematous fevers, it should be followed by a cold douche. 

Although these baths have been used in the treatment of cases of 
heart disease to relieve dropsy and renal engorgement, they are not 
safe and should not be generally employed. All acute or chronic 
diseases of the lung, except acute bronchitis of a mild form, contra- 
indicate their use. 

The use of a high degree of dry heat for the cure of inflammatory 
states of the sheaths of the joints and muscles has recently been 
made once more popular by the introduction of a double copper 
cylinder closed at one end, inside of which is placed the limb which 
is affected. The limb is prevented from coming in contact with the 
cylinder by means of a board padded with asbestos and by putting 
pads of linen under the parts which touch the asbestos. A thermom- 
eter is placed so that its bulb extends into the cylinder, and a few 
holes permit of the moderate circulation of air. Bunsen burners or 
alcohol lamps are now lighted and placed under the cylinder, and the 
orifice through which the limb enters it is closed by drawing around 
the limb an asbestos curtain. The temperature is allowed to rise to 
200° to 300° F., and the treatment resorted to daily, or several times 
a week, the individual sSance lasting about one hour. The free sweat- 
ing of the limb and the circulation of the blood and lymph prevent 
it from being burnt, but care must be taken that it does not touch 
the metal. Usually the entire surface of the body breaks out in a 
profuse sweat during the sitting. 

The author believes this method to be of great value in cases of 
chronic inflammatory joint-affections due to rheumatism or following 
injuries, but of little service in those due to gouty swelling. In sub- 
acute gout he has seen it precipitate an attack of universal acute 
gout, apparently by setting free large amounts of uric acid from the 
affected joints. 

The apparatus is expensive, and is obtainable from the instru- 
ment-makers. It is always to be considered as a valuable adjunct 
in the treatment of the more obstinate cases of the character 
described. 

HYPODERMOCLYSIS. 

Hypodermoclysis is a method of supplying fluid to the body to 
replace that lost through excessive purging as in cholera, or in cases 
of hemorrhage. Further, it may be used to wash from the body 
various impurities circulating in the blood or other liquids and to 
flush out the kidneys. It consists in the introduction into the subcu- 
taneous tissues of normal saline solution, which is rapidly absorbed by 



I 



HYPODERMOCL YSIS. 



429 



the vessels. As is well known, a quantity of liquid equal to four times 
that of the normal amount may be passed directly into the veins with- 
out producing a rise of blood-pressure, and experiment has shown that 
within fifteen minutes after the fluid flows into the subcutaneous tissues 
an increased flow from the kidneys takes place. It is not safe to infuse 
a greater quantity of liquid than 1 drachm to each pound of body- 
weight in each fifteen minutes, as, if this amount is exceeded, the 
accumulation of the liquid in the system is so great that the tissues 
become bathed and finally drowned, because the kidneys cannot excrete 
the liquid fast enough. In the best article on this subject yet published 
in this country, Hildebrand of San Francisco carefully indicates the 
limits to which the method may be carried, and show T s that if the pro- 
portions already named be preserved, the operation of hypodermoclysis 
of normal saline solution may be prolonged indefinitely, and that as 
the process goes on the urine becomes paler and is lowered in specific 
gravity until it is practically identical with the inflowing stream. To 



Fig. 8. 




The apparatus and method used in giving hypodermoclysis. The ordinary irrigator is attached 
to a needle, and this is placed'in the loose' tissues of the belly-wall. 

carry out the operation the sterilized liquid to be infused — the formula 
on page 442 is the best — is placed in a glass jar which is absolutely 
aseptic, and to which air gains access only by means of a glass 
tube filled with sterilized cotton. From the lower part of the vessel 
leads a tube to which is attached a trocar, also rendered absolutely 
sterile. The skin over the place where the liquid is to enter is to 
be rendered absolutely sterile, the trocar is then inserted into the 
subcutaneous tissue of the thigh, or, preferably, of the abdomen, 



430 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

and the liquid allowed to flow at the rate named, the pressure being 
obtained by raising the container two or three feet above the belly- 
wall. (Fig. 8.) As the liquid enters a swelling appears in the sub- 
cutaneous tissues, which soon disappears after the infusion ceases, and 
is much aided in its absorption by the use of gentle massage. 

When hypodermoclysis is employed after hemorrhage the results 
are often extraordinary. It is of great value in the collapse of 
cholera. The cyanosis decreases rapidly, the pulse improves wonder- 
fully, and the respirations are no longer difficult. Some physicians 
have used hypodermoclysis with very good results in the treatment 
of uraemia, and the author believes that not only are the poisons 
washed out of the system by this method, but, in addition, that the 
dilution of the poisons prevents them from acting so forcibly. In 
septicaemia, diabetic coma, and similar states this method of treat- 
ment should be employed and the results carefully recorded and re- 
ported. Hypodermoclysis has also been used with great advantage 
in the treatment of severe burns to overcome shock and toxaemia. 

In cases of surgical shock warm saline fluid used by hypoder- 
moclysis is often of great service. (See also Intravenous Injection ; 
Transfusion.) 



INTRAVENOUS INJECTION. 

The intravenous injection of medicines is a method which is to be 
employed only under extraordinary circumstances and with only a few 
drugs. Thus in the case of snake-bite it may be advisable to resort to 
such an injection of diluted aqua ammonia or ether, or even warm 
brandy or whiskey. Under these circumstances the injection should 
be made into a vein in the leg, rather than one in the arm, as the drug 
under these circumstances does not reach the heart in so concentrated 
a form and temporary cardiac depression is thereby avoided. 

The objections to intravenous injections are several. In the first 
place, the veins are apt to be collapsed and hard to find, and it is diffi- 
cult to puncture one without wounding the opposite wall of the vessel. 
Again, phlebitis is a very probable sequel, and thrombosis and embo- 
lism are by no means impossible. 

It is needless to say that the solution of the drug which is injected 
into a vein should always be of a neutral or alkaline reaction in order 
to avoid coagulation of the blood. (For Saline Injections, see Trans- 
fusion.) 

KATAPHORESIS. 

By the term " kataphoresis " we mean a method resorted to by 
physicians having for its purpose the introduction into the body of 
drugs through the influence of electricity. Correctly speaking, kata- 
phoresis is an osmosis of medicaments through the tissues, the 
osmosis being carried on by the galvanic current and the drug being 
carried through the tissues between the two poles. Quinine, iodide 



LAVAGE. 431 

of potassium, the various soluble salts of mercury, and chloroform 
and ether may be so used. The ordinary sponges or absorbent cotton 
tips of the electrodes may be saturated with the medicament to be 
used, and the constant current employed, the current being reversed 
every few minutes. The positive pole of the battery is placed over 
the affected part, and the negative at a little distance away. 

In cases of neuralgia, chloroform and alcohol, of each one-half, or 
even pure chloroform, may be employed, and in syphilitic nodules, 
when the patient's stomach cannot bear drugs, kataphoresis with 
iodides over the part affected may be resorted to. The iodide of 
lithium is commonly employed in the strength of 5 per cent, in these 
cases. The strength of the current depends upon the size of the 
electrodes and the sensations of the patient. It is not necessary to 
use a stronger current than the patient can bear with comfort. 



LAVAGE. 

This is a term applied to washing out of the stomach in cases of 
gastric dilatation, fermentative dyspepsia, and more rarely in cases 
of gastric carcinoma. It is particularly valuable in the two first- 
named conditions, not merely for its curative power, but also to rid 
the stomach of mucus and render it clean before fresh food is placed 
in it. 

Originally proposed by Epotius in 1863, it has been most widely 
employed in children by Epstein, who in one article alone records its 
employment in 286 cases of gastric disease in infancy, the patients 
being less than one year of age. 

Epstein employs a No. 8 or a No. 10 Nelaton catheter for the tube, 
and warm water holding in solution a little benzoate of magnesium or 
boric acid, the latter being resorted to chiefly when fermentation- and 
decomposition-products are present. If none of these conditions are 
present, ordinary water will usually suffice. The liquid employed 
should always be warmed. Others — as, for example, Lorez — use the 
ordinary catheter, of the size known as No. 13 or No. 15, in children, 
but for an adult a tube should be used of at least four and a half to 
five feet, of which eighteen inches pass into the mouth, the remain- 
ing portion reaching to the basin when lowered to allow siphonage. 
The question as to the variety of tube to be employed is a vital 
one, since a poorly-devised apparatus not only gives no relief, but 
disgusts both the patient and the physician with the technique of the 
method. The tube should be more like a hollow bougie than a cathe- 
ter, in order that its calibre may be great enough to carry off some 
of the semi-solid materials present. If this rule is not carried out, 
two evil results follow : In the first place, the tube and its apertures 
rapidly, or even at once, become clogged; secondly, the liquid is 
drained away, leaving behind a mass which is semi-solid, to be sure, 
and less bulky, but which is nevertheless the quintessence of the 
nastiness of fermentation, and quite as qualified to leaven any fresh 
food on its entrance as the liquid would be. 



432 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

The holes in the gastric end of the tube should therefore be of suf- 
ficient size to take in fairly large masses. In some cases the ordinary 
siphon may be used, but where there is any solid food or resistance 
suction by means of a stomach-pump is necessary. 

The best tube is No. 10, made of red Para rubber with a closed 
end and lateral holes. 

The methods by which lavage is employed, further than those 
we have named, are as follows : The tube should be passed back- 
ward against the roof of the mouth, so that by following the curve 
of the hard and soft palates it is directed into the pharynx and 
oesophagus, and then by gentle pressure forced on down into the 
stomach. At the same time the patient should be directed to swallow. 
The mucus in the throat sufficiently lubricates the tube, and oil is to 
be avoided. If gagging is excessive, the pharynx may be first painted 
with cocaine. The irritability of the pharynx usually rapidly disap- 
pears, and it is surprising how quickly the patient may become accus- 
tomed to the operation, and submit to it without any feeling of dis- 
comfort. After the tube has reached the stomach a small funnel is 
to be fitted in its external end, which is then held above the head of 
the patient while water prepared in the way we have mentioned is 
poured into it until the stomach is filled, when the funnel end is low- 
ered and the stomach is emptied by siphonage. 

The stomach-pump has one very serious disadvantage, which is 
present with even more force in the case of a child than in an adult — - 
namely, the danger of injury to the coats of the organ. This appa- 
ratus is also more costly and cumbersome, and for children the siphon 
is powerful enough in its action to take away all excuse for the use 
of the more complicated apparatus unless the contents of the stomach 
are in bulk. 

It is particularly necessary in children, if a catheter is used and 
on account of the lack of intelligent aid and their liability to gulp, 
that every care should be taken that the tube does not slip entirely 
out of reach into the stomach ; and for the prevention of this danger 
a string should be attached to the external end of the catheter before 
it is introduced, and the tube should always be at least thirty inches 
in length. 

LEECHING. 

Leeching is a method of abstracting blood for the purpose of 
relieving local inflammations or acute congestions. There are two 
forms of leech commonly employed in medicine, both of which are 
imported. A small leech is found in many streams in the United 
States. Leeches, after attaching themselves to the skin by means of 
their sucking apparatus and teeth, secrete a liquid which prevents 
coagulation of blood, and this accounts for the persistent hemorrhage 
sometimes seen after a leech-bite. 

Therapeutics. — The reasons for using venesection or depletion have 
already been considered, and we can therefore pass directly to the 
uses to which leeches are put. In cases of meningitis they may be 



REST CURE. 433 

applied to the temples or to the nape of the neck, and in the treat- 
ment of swollen joints, such as occur after sprains, they are useful. 
In orchitis they should not be placed upon the scrotum, but on the 
perineum. In conjunctivitis or inflammation of the eye they should 
be applied upon the temple or back of the ears, not upon the lid 
itself. 

Employment. — Leeches if singly applied may be placed on the skin 
under an inverted wineglass or under a large pill-box. If they will 
not take hold, a little sweetened milk may be placed on the skin or a 
drop of blood extracted from the finger may be placed there. In all 
cases the skin should be carefully washed before the leech is used. 
"When the leech has taken enough blood, it can be made to let go its 
hold by sprinkling it with salt. Each leech will take about 1 drachm 
of blood. Leech-bites should be watched lest prolonged consecutive 
bleeding exhaust the patient. In case of such an accident styptics 
are to be employed. As leech-bites make permanent scars, the ani- 
mal should not be applied on the face or other exposed surface of the 
skin. 

REST CURB. 

The rest cure, so called, is a method devised and elaborated by Dr. 
S. Weir Mitchell of Philadelphia for the relief of a large class of 
patients who, for various reasons, are generally ailing from apparently 
no organic disease, and yet whose condition is often so alarming as to 
lead to the belief that some hidden cause of a severe train of symp- 
toms must be present. In many such instances a careful study of 
the case will show that there is a cause, near or remote, which has 
exhausted the patient's vital forces without producing anything else 
than functional disturbances of the body. Thus a prolonged nerve- 
strain in nursing a sick relative may so exhaust the strength of a 
hitherto healthy woman as to produce hysteria, anaemia, and great 
disturbances of nutrition, or, in another instance, cause neuralgia, 
disordered menstruation, and uterine or ovarian pain. In males 
mental, sexual, or physical vigor may be impaired, owing to pro- 
longed anxiety in business. Be the symptoms what they may, as 
long as they are dependent upon nerve-strain this "cure" is to be 
resorted to, and if properly carried out is often blessed with surpris- 
ing results. Before describing the method in detail it is proper to 
state that its entire rationale rests upon the remembrance that every 
movement is an expenditure of force, and that a system which has 
already overdrawn its reserve fund of strength must be as careful 
with its funds that remain as a bank should be under the same cir- 
cumstances. 

It having been decided that the rest cure is to be employed, the 
directions are given as follows : 

A bright, airy, easily-cleaned, and comfortable room is to be 
selected, and adjoining it, if possible, should be a smaller one for an 
attendant or nurse. The patient is put to bed and kept there for 
from three to six weeks, as may be necessary, and during this time is 

23 



434 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

allowed to see no one except the nurse and the doctor, since the pres- 
ence of friends requires conversation and mental effort. The patient, 
in severe cases, must be fed by the nurse, in order to avoid the expend- 
iture of the force required in the movements of the arms. No sitting 
up in bed is allowed, and if any reading is done it must be done by 
the nurse, who can read aloud for an hour a day. 

In the case of women the hair should be dressed by the nurse to 
avoid any physical effort on the part of the patient. 

To take the place of ordinary exercise two measures are employed, 
the first of which is massage or rubbing of the body, the second elec- 
tricity. By the kneading and rubbing of the muscles and skin the 
liquids in the tissues are absorbed and poured into the lymph-spaces 
and a healthy blush is brought to the skin. This passive exercise is 
performed in the morning or afternoon, and should last for from a 
half to one hour, every part of the body being kneaded, even to the 
face and scalp. In the afternoon or morning the various muscles 
should be passively exercised by electricity, each muscle being made 
to contract by the application of the poles of the battery to its motor 
points. Both these forms of exercise do not call for any expenditure 
of nerve-force, though they keep up the general nutrition. The fol- 
lowing programme for a day's existence is an example of what the 
physician should order : 

7.30 a. m. Glass of hot or cold milk, predigested, boiled, or raw 
as the case requires. 

8 a. m. The nurse is to sponge the patient with tepid water or 
with cold and hot water alternately, to stimulate the skin and circu- 
lation, the body being well wrapped in a blanket, except the leg or 
portion which is being bathed. After this the nurse should dry the 
part last wetted with a rough towel, using some friction to stimulate 
the skin. 

8.30 a. M. Breakfast. Boiled, poached, or scrambled eggs, milk 
toast, water toast, or a finely-cut piece of a mutton-chop or chicken. 

10 A. M. Massage. 

11 A. M. A glass of milk, or a milk-punch, or egg-nog. 

12 M. Reading for an hour. 

1 p. M. Dinner. Small piece of steak, rare roast beef, consomme 
soup, mutton broth, and any one of the easily-digested vegetables 
well cooked. 

3 p. M. Electricity. 

4.30 p. M. A glass of milk, or milk-punch, or egg-nog. 

6.30 p. M. Supper. This should be very plain, no tea or coffee, but 
toast and butter, milk, curds and whey, or a plain custard. 

9.30 p. M. A glass of milk or milk-punch. 

In this way the day is well filled, and the time does not drag so 
heavily as would be thought. If the stomach rebels at over-feeding, 
the amounts of food must be cut down, but when all the effort of the 
body is concentrated on respiration, circulation, and digestion a large 
amount of nourishment can be assimilated by the exhausted body, 
which before this treatment is undertaken may have had its resources so 
scattered as to be unable to carry out any physiological act perfectly. 



MINERAL SPRINGS AND CLIMATE. 435 

For the treatment to be successful the rules laid down should be 
rigidly followed and never remitted for a single hour. 



MINERAL SPRINGS AND CLIMATE. 

This article is intended to give the practitioner and student a gen- 
eral idea of where to send patients who can afford to resort to treat- 
ment depending upon watering-places and climates. It is manifestly 
impossible to include the names of all the health-resorts, and the 
object has been to indicate the diseases which are benefited by these 
treatments, taking certain well-known resorts as types of each class. 

Springs. 

Medicinal springs are usually resorted to for the double purpose 
of drinking and bathing in the waters, although in many instances 
one of these methods so far exceeds the other in popularity that it 
alone is employed. 

For general purposes we may divide these medicinal or beneficial 
waters into four classes — namely, those which act, first, by their 
purity chiefly ; second, by the presence of more or less active alkaline 
ingredients ; third, by the heat which the waters contain as they 
leave the earth ; and, fourth, by reason of the sulphur and iron which 
they contain. The first class — namely, those which act by reason of 
their purity — are indicated chiefly in cases where through high living 
or other cause the system becomes laden with impurities through 
imperfect elimination of tissue-waste. Most of the popular lithia 
waters depend chiefly upon this ability to dissolve effete materials, 
and very little upon the lithia, which is often present in very small 
amount. (See Lithium.) Aside from their purity, they also act by 
reason of the salts of sodium and calcium which they contain. Good 
results follow their use in the uric-acid diathesis where the urine is 
scanty, high-colored, and acid. They do good in cases of irritable 
bladder by washing out this viscus with mild urine in large quantities, 
and because of this influence are credited with wonderful cures of 
vesical calculus. When vesical calculi have broken down while these 
waters were being taken, the fortunate result has been coincidence 
rather than medicinal interference. It is impossible for them to dis- 
solve stones, but their constant use may prevent the formation of new 
ones. Perhaps the best representative of such waters is Londonderry 
lithia water. 

A subdivision of this class consists of those waters which contain 
somewhat larger amounts of mineral substances, chiefly potassium, 
sodium, and calcium salts. Because of the power possessed by alka- 
line salts in aiding in oxidation, these waters are used in cases where 
the effete matters of the body seem to escape only partly oxidized, and 
where the kidneys, and perhaps the liver, seem torpid. Such springs 
are the Kissingen and Vichy at Saratoga. If very mild purgative prop- 
erties are also desired, the Geyser Spring at Saratoga may be used. In 



436 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

Europe the most famous springs of this class are at Vichy (Grande 
Grille), Vals, and Contrexeville in France, and Kissingen in Bavaria. 

The second class of springs are those which contain salts of sodium, 
calcium, potassium, and magnesium in sufficient amount to possess 
very active diuretic and purgative properties. They find their thera- 
peutic application in cases of hepatic torpor or congestion associated 
with gouty or rheumatic tendencies, particularly in those individuals 
who have been high livers, who lay on too much fat, so clogging their 
organs, and, finally, in those who through illness or exposure to hot 
climates have subacute or chronic atony of the liver, of the organs 
of digestion, and of the lymphatics. Nearly always these patients 
also suffer from more or less constipation and gastro-intestinal catarrh, 
and are often obese. The sulphate of sodium is an ingredient of 
many purgative mineral waters, and the activity of a water depends 
very often on the percentage of this salt which is present. The pur- 
gative action of a water also depends upon the time at which it is 
taken. When taken on an empty stomach it is of course more active. 
When taken early in the morning before eating and at the natural 
temperature such a water produces a loose watery movement, not 
only unloading the bowel of faecal matter, but by its alkalinity loosen- 
ing catarrhal secretions and unloading the liver of congestion. The 
quantity to be taken in twenty-four hours varies from 1 to 4 pints, 
but this question can only be decided by the local physician, who 
studies the effect of the water on the patient. The best-known waters 
of this class are the Champion, Congress, Hathorn, and Carlsbad 
Springs at Saratoga, New York, the Crab Orchard in Kentucky, and 
the springs of Carlsbad and Marienbad in Bohemia, and Friederich- 
shall in Germany. 

The hot springs depend chiefly on their heat, as already stated, 
and differ in chemical composition. They find their value in the 
treatment of chronic skin diseases, specific or otherwise, and also are 
useful in aiding in the treatment of rheumatism, gout, and syphilis. 
Their good results are produced by their heat, which varies from 
93° F. to 150° F., and the advantages always derived from properly 
employed hydrotherapeutic measures. It is in chronic or subacute 
cases that they do the most good. Hot baths are also of great value 
in the treatment of chancroid and malignant syphilis. The results 
achieved depend upon the increased activity of the skin, the improve- 
ment of the peripheral circulation, and the increased powers of absorp- 
tion produced through increased cellular activity. 

Patients should always select a competent local physician at such 
places. 

In cases of syphilis the methods of treatment to be followed are as 
follows: The patient should take the bath at a temperature of 90° F., 
and remain in it for about twenty minutes. After this he is rapidly 
but thoroughly dried by an attendant, who at once proceeds to rub into 
the skin of one thigh an amount of mercurial ointment varying from a 
few grains to a drachm. This is well rubbed into, not smeared over, 
the skin of a different limb after each bath. The number of baths and 
inunctions depends upon the condition and necessities of the case, 



MINERAL SPRINGS AND CLIMATE. 437 

care being exercised not to push the mercury too freely in those who 
are very susceptible to its use. These baths also aid in the absorp- 
tion of mercury when it is administered by means of fumigation. 

The most celebrated of these springs are the Hot Springs of 
Arkansas and those found at Aix-la-Chapelle in Germany. 

As types of the fourth class of springs we have the White Sulphur 
Springs in West Virginia and the Richfield Springs in New York, 
which are used for the relief of catarrhal inflammations of the mucous 
membranes of the alimentary canal and respiratory passages, and 
more rarely for catarrhal states of the genito-urinary tract. Not 
only do they exert the peculiar remedial powers long known to belong 
to sulphur and its compounds by reason of the sulphuretted hydrogen 
gas contained in them, but they also possess distinct purgative effects. 
Their chief mineral constituents consist of sulphate of sodium and 
magnesium, which unload the bowels and portal system in the same 
manner as do the Champion, Congress, Hathorn, and Carlsbad 
Springs at Saratoga and those at Crab Orchard. Taking the White 
Sulphur as a type of its class, it is better than the Saratoga springs 
in catarrhal states for the reasons given. 

Rockbridge Alum Spring in Virginia is used in cases of chronic 
diarrhoea with very useful results in many cases. It is not so useful 
in acute inflammations of the intestine as in the diarrhoea due to 
chronic disorder. As iron is present in it and in most alum springs 
in considerable amount, this water is useful in anaemic cases, but is 
contraindicated by fevers, by chronic congestions, chiefly of the liver, 
and by plethora. Often in place of alum we find salines associated 
with the iron, and these waters are particularly indicated in the 
catarrhs associated with anaemia. Such a spring exists at Bedford, 
Pennsylvania. In Europe the chief iron springs are at St. Moritz in 
Switzerland and Tunbridge Wells in England. Neither of these 
contains much sulphur or alum. 

Climates. 

The practitioner is most frequently consulted as to the possible 
benefit of climatic changes by persons suffering from pulmonary dis- 
ease, such as tuberculosis of the lungs, asthma, chronic bronchitis, 
and emphysema — more rarely by those convalescing from pneumonia 
or other severe acute illness. 

The general rules to be followed in all cases are — first, choose 
a climate having as large a number of clear days as possible, in 
order that an out-of-door life in the sunshine may be had in plenty; 
second, the nearest place to the home which is available in order to 
avoid fatigue, expense, and home-sickness ; and third, see that the 
resort chosen has comfortable accommodations, good drug-supplies, 
and a capable physician to be called in case of need. In a case of 
tuberculosis and in all patients suffering from the pulmonary com- 
plaints named above the following ■ rules may be adhered to, except 
in persons suffering from attacks of acute bronchitis, who always 
need a climate providing moisture and warmth. Some tubercular 



438 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

patients do best in a nigh, dry air, and others in a lower and more 
moist temperature — the first being represented by that of Colorado 
Springs (6000 feet) in America and by San Moritz (6000 feet) and 
Davos Platz (5000 feet) in Switzerland, where the altitude is not 
only very great, but the air very cold in winter. The days in these 
places are many of them clear, but apt to be windy. Feeble persons 
cannot stand high winds, as a rule. The second climate is repre- 
sented by that of Florida. 

In many cases, however, some more moderate climate is useful, and 
this can be obtained in Lower California, as at San Diego, a place 
where there is virtually perpetual summer, or at Asheville, N. C. (2200 
feet), or Thomas ville, Georgia (330 feet), where the air is moderately 
dry and the climate not subj ect to sudden changes of temperature or to 
frequent storms. In other words, a spot is desirable where a patient 
can remain the year round, and, if well enough, engage in business, 
avoiding the cold, sharp March winds of the Middle, Eastern, or 
North-western States, and the necessity of leaving Florida on the 
advent of summer. 

Physicians have attempted for years to formulate rules for phthis- 
ical patients as to the climate to be sought. In very many cases 
the various health-resorts have to be chosen by experiment, not by 
judgment beforehand. In cases of phthisis with profuse bronchial 
secretion a high, dry climate is generally the better, but in cases 
which suffer from dryness of the air-passages a sea-voyage or a warm 
moist climate is better, on general principles. It is probably true, 
however, that high altitudes and rarefied air are not to be sought 
where a distinct tendency to hemorrhage is present, unless the ascent 
or removal to the rarefied air is very gradual, several weeks being 
passed before the lung is exposed to the low pressure of great 
heights. The cases in which high altitudes do good are those which 
have poor thoracic development or chronic pleurisy with deficient 
expansion of the lung after tapping. The following excellent advice, 
given by White in his General Therapeutics, is worthy of repe- 
tition : 

" It is of such importance that only suitable cases should be sent 
to high altitudes that we must point out those that are unsuitable : 

" 1. Those in whom there is considerable affection of the bronchial 
tubes, for the dryness of the climate increases the kind of bronchitis 
which commonly accompanies phthisis. 

" 2. Patients with much emphysema or bronchiectasis, because of 
the probably diminished absorption of oxygen and the difficulty of 
respiration experienced on first arriving. 

" 3. Patients with disease of the heart must not go to a high alti- 
tude, because of its effect upon the pulse and upon respiration. 

"4. Cases liable to acute febrile attacks, whether or not these 
indicate an occasional increase of mischief in the lungs, should 
remain on a low level. 

" 5. Patients who are very excitable or suffer from insomnia 
should not go, for a visit to a place at a great elevation promotes 
these symptoms. Women do not acclimatize so well as men. 



MINERAL SPRINGS AND CLIMATE. 439 

"6. Cases in which there are very extensive lesions, or which are 
very advanced, are unsuitable. 

" Pneumonic phthisis, if at all acute, is made worse by a high 
altitude. 

" 8. Patients who cannot take exercise should not go. 

" 9. The very old and the very young had better be treated at 
home. 

" 10. Sir Andrew Clark (London Lancet, January 5, 1889) states 
that patients who go to Alpine health-resorts suffering from albumin- 
uria, or those who develop it whilst there, seldom derive any good 
from their change. 

" There are many conditions which have been thought to contra- 
indicate this treatment, but which do not, and they had therefore 
better be mentioned. They are — 

"Pulmonary Hemorrhage. — It is now known that this, so 
far from being a contraindication to treatment by high altitudes, is 
actually relieved by it. The exact explanation cannot be given." 

With this the author of this book cannot agree. 

" Fever. — If this is not excessive, and if it does not indicate any 
active changes in the lungs, it is often improved. 

" Simple Diarrhcea and Simple Dyspepsia. — These are both 
benefited. 

" Night-sweats. — There is a common belief that these forbid this 
treatment ; on the contrary, they often disappear on removal to a high 
altitude. 

"The Presence of Cavities. — This is not a contraindication, 
unless a very large area of lung is destroyed. 

" There is no need, after these two lists, to say what cases are suit- 
able for this climatic treatment : it may, however, be observed that 
those in which there is threatened phthisis, with a strong hereditary 
predisposition, and those of imperfect thoracic development, are much 
benefited. According to most authorities, it cannot be too strongly 
urged that so long as the condition and disease of the patient allow 
the reverse indications to be neglected a mountain climate should be 
tried." 

To these rules the author would add the following invariable rule : 
viz. Do not send a case away to die. If the disease is so far advanced 
that no good can be derived from a trip abroad, it is cruel to make a 
wretched patient exhaust his strength, his money, and his happiness 
by seeking health which it is impossible for him to obtain. A patient 
of the writer's returned on one occasion from a stay of a few days at 
a noted Southern resort for consumptives, and, when reprimanded for 
his imprudence, replied : " Doctor, I would rather be at home, and 
die at once, than drag out a few more years surrounded by a crowd 
of coughing, hawking, and wasting consumptives." This reply evi- 
dences clearly the necessity of avoiding' " consumptive resorts" as 
much as possible in these cases, and in directing the mind of the 
patient from depressing thoughts and his own ailment. 

In the treatment of renal and cardiac disease high altitudes are 
not particularly desirable. The chief desideratum is out-of-door life, 



440 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

with avoidance of chilling of the skin by sudden changes in tempera- 
ture or strong winds. San Diego represents the necessary climate in 
such cases. 

There is a class of persons who often have no actual disease of a 
chronic type, who nevertheless pass healthier lives if away from rig- 
orous climates for at least part of the year. Without having acquired 
tuberculosis, their lungs are delicate naturally or because of attacks 
of disease, or, again, they become asthmatic or rheumatic in cold 
weather. In this country Asheville, N. C, and Thomasville, Ga., or 
San Diego or Coronado Beach, California, afford the climate desired, 
while in Europe patients are sent to what is known as the " Riviera," 
which is the district bordering on the Mediterranean Sea from Genoa 
to Nice and which is dotted with climatic resorts. This district has 
often as many as two hundred clear days between October 1st and 
May 1st. In the French Riviera the resorts are Cannes, Nice, 
Monaco, Monte Carlo, and Mentone; in the Italian Riviera, Bordi- 
ghera and San Remo. In Naples and Spezzia the climate is more 
damp and colder, but nevertheless quite sunny. So much depends 
upon the location of the hotels in these places, as far as their salubrity 
in relation to air and dampness is concerned, that the patient should 
always consult a local physician before settling down permanently at 
any of these resorts. 

SUSPENSION. 

The treatment of locomotor ataxia and allied affections by means 
of suspending the patient has, during the last few years, been found 
so valuable for the relief of symptoms as to have taken a permanent 
place in therapeutics. The method is not confined to cases depend- 
ing upon diseases of the vertebrae producing lesions in the spinal cord, 
but is equally useful in instances where the lesion is primarily situated 
in the nervous centres. The pain, nervous shootings, and tinglings, 
as well as the muscular contractions, which often trouble the patient 
very greatly, are all relieved, and in some cases walking is possible 
where, before the treatment, crutches were entirely relied upon. The 
knee-jerk, when absent or excessive, tenets to return to the normal 
state, and the bladder and rectum become more regular in their 
functions. 

The patient should use one of the apparatuses made by most large 
surgical-instrument makers, which consists in a cushioned head-strap 
and a cushioned leather loop for each axilla. The traction on the 
head should not be sufficient to cause discomfort ; in other words, the 
weight of the patient should be equally distributed between the shoul- 
ders and the head. A rope is run from the harness to a pulley in the 
ceiling, and by this means the patient may be slightly raised from his 
chair — say two inches — once a day, for thirty seconds at first, which 
may gradually be increased to ten minutes. The swinging should be 
resorted to at first every second or third, and finally every, day. If 
several pulleys are put in the circuit of rope, the patient can soon 
learn to lift himself, making the rope fast to a cleat in a heavy chair 



TBANSFUSION. 441 

or table, or even holding it in the hands. It is important that the 
patient after each swinging should rest for thirty minutes to an hour, 
and when let down to his chair the movement should be most gentle 
and not jerking or sudden. The same rule as to gentleness applies to 
the raising of the patient. 

TRANSFUSION. 

The term Transfusion was originally applied in medicine to the 
transference of blood from a healthy person (the donor) to the sick 
patient (the receiver), who was usually suffering from the results of 
profuse hemorrhage. When direct transfusion was not resorted to the 
blood was defibrinated after being drawn from the arm of the donor 
and the serum injected into the vein of the sick man. Both of these 
plans are now practically obsolete, for it has been proved that the 
blood-corpuscles of the donor always die in the vessels of the receiver 
and the kidneys are overwhelmed by an effort to eliminate the results 
of their destruction. Further, it is almost impossible to perform trans- 
fusion of pure or defibrinated blood without producing clots which will 
form emboli in the vessels of the patient. Finally, we now know that 
the blood-serum of one man differs greatly from that of another in its 
physiological effects and is not to be regarded as identical w T ith the 
serum that is lacking in the patient. The use of milk as a transfusion 
fluid has been found to result in albuminuria, in infections of various 
kinds, and in the development of emboli. It ought never to be used 
for this purpose. 

At the present time the profession employ a saline solution, injected 
gently into a vein of the arm or leg, not only to overcome the collapse 
of hemorrhage, but — far more important — for the relief of various 
forms of toxaemia. Commonly in hemorrhage and in toxaemia hypo- 
dermoclysis is used, as already described, because the danger of embo- 
lism and the possible results of opening a vein are not to be disregarded. 
Therefore, while hypodermoclysis is the safest and preferable method 
ordinarily, on the other hand when the case is very urgent, or the 
tissues are oedematous from dropsy, or the circulation is so feeble that 
absorption is impossible, then the intra- or endo-venous injection is to 
be employed without hesitation. 

Various formula exist for the preparation of the so-called normal 
saline solution. Some persons are satisfied to employ the ordinary 
solution of common salt in the strength of -^ of 1 per cent. (1^ 
drachms to the quart), in distilled and sterilized water. Others prefer 
to use a formula suggested by the well-known French clinician Prof. 
Hayem, as follows : 

Sodium sulphate 10.0 

Sodium chloride . 5.0 

Distilled water 1000 c.cm. 

A still better solution, however — because it at once supplants the 
blood which has been lost or is impure, and because it supports the 
heart, is — 



442 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

Calcium chloride 0.25 

Potassium chloride 0.1 

Sodium chloride 9.0 

Sterilized water 1000 c.cm. 

The method of injection is as follows: The thoroughly sterilized 
saline solution, after being warmed to the temperature of 101° F., is 
placed in a warm glass irrigation-flask. The patient's skin over the 
elbow is bared and sterilized ; the skin over one of the veins, which is 
made prominent by a bandage about the upper arm, is incised by a 
scalpel, and the sheath of the vein raised by means of a pair of dis- 
secting forceps. This sheath is thoroughly dissected off the vein until 
this vessel lies free of any attachments for the space of half an inch. 
A small and gentle bull-dog clip is applied on the vein at the proximal 
end of the incision so as to keep the lower part of the vein full of 
blood. A ligature is now passed around the vein at the distal end of 
the incision and tied. Another ligature is then passed under the vein 
and left untied. The distended area of the vein, between the ligature 
which has been tied and the clip, is now snipped by means of a pair 
of fine scissors ; and a glass canula, previously dipped in the saline 
solution to prevent the few drops of blood from coagulating on its tip, 
is inserted into the opening in the vein. The loose ligature is now tied 
around it and the vein, to hold the canula in place. This canula 
should have a shoulder at its tip to prevent the ligature from slipping 
off, and its other end should be attached to a piece of sterile rubber 
tubing not more than four inches long. By means of a sterilized glass 
pipette some of the saline is now run into the rubber and glass canula 
until all air is displaced and they are filled to the utmost. The saline 
is then allowed to flow out of the tubing attached to the irrigator, 
which is armed by a glass tip, till all the air is displaced, when 
one tube is slipped inside the other. By this means all danger of 
air-embolism is excluded. The irrigator is now held about two feet 
above the arm and the fluid allowed to slowly enter the vein, a half 
hour being spent in injecting about a quart. (Fig. 9.) As the injec- 
tion is given the pulse begins to improve, the respirations are deeper 
and less hurried, and if fever is present the temperature usually falls. 
The patient is evidently better, but soon enters the critical stage, which 
may come on in from two to thirty minutes. There is often a violent 
chill, a strong rapid pulse, and in the course of three-quarters of an 
hour a flushing of the skin followed by a profuse sweat. The respira- 
tion may be labored. The kidneys also increase the urinary flow and 
sometimes water escapes from the bowel. Several hours later the real 
benefit appears in convalescence or marked improvement. 

The conditions in which the intravenous injections are to be per- 
formed are severe hemorrhage, toxcemia arising from the various forms 
of infection as in septiccemia, urcemia, and the comatose state in diabetes 
mellitus. They can be employed in threatened eclampsia, and even in 
the toxcemias of the infectious fevers. 

The author has used them in urgemic and septic intoxication with 
the best results. The principle of this treatment is that it causes the 
rapid elimination of impurities from the body. 



TRANSFUSION. 



443 



This method is to be regarded as a fairly promising method of treat- 
ment for cases otherwise doomed to death, and will afford permanent or 
temporary relief according to the severity of the underlying disease. 
When diabetes exists or Bright's disease is present the benefit is often 
only temporary. The European clinicians are loud in their praises of 



Fig. 9. 




Apparatus used for intravenous injection of saline solution. An ordinary glass irrigator has 
placed in it a glass funnel, the stem of which is dilated for the holding of some absorbent 
cotton. The sterile saline solution is formed in the funnel, and all foreign bodies filtered 
out by the cotton as the fluid runs into the glass container, which is graduated in half litres 
or pints. The flow of liquid in the rubber tube leading from the container is controlled by 
a clip. The pipette and vein canula are also shown. By the use of the glass tubes air em- 
boli can be seen and displaced. 



the results they have obtained by this plan in the various forms of 
sepsis. In umemia the patient should be bled if the arterial tension 
is high. 

Abdominal transfusion of both saline solutions and milk have been 
successfully carried out, the reason being that the peritoneal cavity is 



444 REMEDIAL MEASURES OTHER THAN DRUGS. 

a vast absorbent surface which rapidly takes up liquids if the systemic 
vessels are not as full as they normally should be. The method con- 
sists in puncturing the abdominal wall as if for aspiration for dropsy. 
The tube from a hydrostatic syringe is now attached to the canula, 
and the liquid, having been warmed, is allowed to slowly flow into 
the belly. This method is not to be relied on where death seems 
very imminent, and the use of milk is dangerous. 



VENESECTION. 

Bleeding, or Phlebotomy, is so rarely practised to-day that very 
many of the profession have never abstracted blood for therapeutic 
purposes or have even seen it done by some one else. Furthermore, 
it is to be feared that many of the younger physicians would hardly 
know how to bleed if called upon to do so at a crisis. All this is 
wrong, for bleeding is a measure undoubtedly of the greatest value 
and one which every one may be called upon to resort to. Like many 
therapeutic measures, it was sadly abused in the early part of this cen- 
tury, and people were bled when taken ill with the same regularity 
that they were put to bed. 

The indications for venesection are as clear and well defined as are 
the indications for any remedy. Briefly stated, we may say that all 
states of the circulatory apparatus denoting high arterial tension and 
excitement are indications, and that weakness, low arterial tension, 
and systemic or circulatory depression are contraindications. Since the 
use of veratrum viride has become more common, the conditions indi- 
cating venesection have been lost sight of, because this drug so dilates 
the blood-paths that a man is bled into his own blood-vessels. 

Having made clear the general indications for the use of venesec- 
tion, we may pass on to state some of the diseases in which it may be 
well resorted to. Of these, pneumonia, pleurisy, meningitis, and peri- 
tonitis, if they are sthenic, are typical examples, since all of them 
are accompanied by arterial excitement and characterized by local 
congestions affecting the lung, pleura, cerebral membranes, or peri- 
toneum. (See Pneumonia.) By the abstraction of blood the vascular 
tension is lowered and the engorged area relieved. In the first place, 
the congested area is made up of relaxed blood-vessels, whereas the 
remaining blood-vessels of the body are tense, and, as a consequence, 
the blood is urged to the spot already engorged. In the second place, 
the abstraction of blood from the tense blood-vessels renders the gen- 
eral pressure lower than that in the diseased area, and the congestion 
is relieved. 

In apoplexy the extravasation of blood into the brain causes great 
arterial excitement, as a general rule, and this in turn results in 
increased intracranial hemorrhage. Bleeding is therefore strongly 
indicated, not only to prevent inflammation, but also to prevent further 
leakage into the brain-substance. 

The method by which venesection is practised is yet to be described. 
It is a very simple operation if an assistant is present to make pres- 



VENESECTION. 445 

sure on the vein or entire arm. Often this pressure is best exercised 
by means of a handkerchief or bandage tightly twisted about the 
arm above the spot where the incision is to be made. Under these 
circumstances the veins of the arm become prominent and distended, 
and one of them may be readily bared by a short longitudinal incision 
of half an inch, the fascia being separated until the glistening blue 
surface of the vessel appears free from fat or connective tissue. Into 
this vessel, with the edge of the knife turned upward, a small longi- 
tudinal incision is made, care being taken that the point of the blade 
is not driven in far enough to injure the posterior wall of the vein. 
If a clot forms and stops the flow, it must be removed by an aseptic 
cloth, while if the flow is to be stopped we may remove the bandage 
above and apply a compress over the incised vein, which compress 
may be held in position by a bandage. 



FOODS FOR THE SICK. 



PEPTONIZED MILK. 



Take a perfectly clean, clear glass quart bottle and place in it one 
of Parke, Davis & Co.'s peptonizing tablets, or the contents of one 
of Fairchild's peptonizing tubes, and a teacupful of cold water, and 
after shaking pour into the bottle a pint of perfectly fresh, cool milk 
and stir the mixture thoroughly. Next place the bottle containing the 
milk in a can of water at such a temperature that the whole hand 
may be submerged in it without pain. If complete digestion of 
the milk is desired, this application of heat may be continued as long 
as twenty minutes, but in most cases five minutes are sufficient. If 
carried on longer than five minutes, the milk will become bitter 
and disagreeable to the taste through the development of peptone in 
excess. 

Immediately after taking the bottle from the hot water it should 
be placed on ice, in order to check further peptonizing and to keep 
the milk from spoiling ; or if the ice is not available the water-bath 
should be quickly brought to a boil in order to prevent further action 
of ihe ferment, and the bottle corked and then be put in a cool place. 
This recipe may be used where it is thought necessary to digest the 
milk before it is swallowed. Where we desire simply to aid digestion 
it is best to follow the directions already given, except that the bottle 
is not heated, but at once placed upon ice and allowed to remain 
there, being slightly warmed when it is desired to give it to a child, 
or it may be given as a cool and refreshing drink to an adult, the 
heat of the body rapidly causing the ferment to do its work as soon 
as the food enters the stomach. When irritability of the stomach 
exists in adults, this peptonized milk may be made more agreeable to 
the taste by following the directions given in the first recipe, except 
that it must remain in the hot water for no less than two hours, when 
it is poured out into a tin cup or pan and rapidly brought to the 
boiling-point. After this it is strained through a piece of coarse 
muslin and placed upon ice. Before giving it to a patient this mix- 
ture may be flavored with lemon- or orange-juice or any form of acid 
that is desired, without the milk becoming curdled. Peptonized milk 
punch is made from milk prepared in the way already described in 
the first recipe by adding St. Croix or Jamaica rum or brandy, 
and is a pleasant nutrient, particularly if the surface of the liquid 
is sprinkled with a little grated nutmeg. 

446 



PEPTONIZED ENEMA. 447 

A very refreshing and agreeable drink may be made by diluting 
peptonized milk one-half with highly-charged carbonic-acid water, 
and swallowing it while effervescing. 



PEPTONIZED BEEP. 

The following method of preparing Peptonized Beef is recom- 
mended by the Fairchilds, and is very useful, as is also peptonized 
oyster stew, as first introduced by the author's friend, the late Dr. N. 
A. Randolph. 

Take J pound of finely-minced raw lean beef; cold water, J pint. 
Mix in a saucepan. Cook over a gentle fire, stirring constantly until 
it has boiled a few minutes. Then pour off the liquor for future use, 
beat or rub the meat to a paste, and put it into a clean fruit-jar with 
J a pint of cold water and the liquor poured from the meat, and add 

Extracti pancreatis 20 grains (1.3). 

Sodii bicarb 15 " (1.0). 

Shake well together, and set aside in a warm place, at about 110° to 
115° F,, for three hours, stirring or shaking occasionally; then boil 
quickly. The liquid may then be strained or clarified with white of 
egg in the usual manner, and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. 

In the great majority of cases it is not necessary to strain the 
peptonized liquor, for the portion of meat remaining undissolved will 
have been so softened and acted upon by the pancreatic extract that 
it will be in very fine particles and diffused in an almost impalpable 
condition, and is therefore in a form ready for assimilation in the 
body. 

Peptonized Oysters. — Peptonized Oysters are prepared by mincing 
six to twelve large oysters, and adding to them, when mixed with a 
moderate amount of their own liquid, 5 grains (0.35) of pancreatin 
or peptonizing powder and 20 grains (1.3) of sodium bicarbonate. 
The cup containing this mixture is now placed in warm water at 
100° F., and allowed to remain there from ten to twenty minutes, 
according to the degree of digestion desired. After this the liquid 
mass is quickly brought to a boil to cook the oysters and stop diges- 
tion, and served with pepper and salt as required. Any condiment 
or flavoring substance may be used. 



PEPTONIZED ENEMA. 

A very useful nutrient enema may be prepared by following the 
directions given above for peptonizing milk, except that an egg, yelk 
and white, should be beaten up in the milk before the ferment is 
added. The effect of this enema may be increased by the addition 
of a teaspoonful to an ounce of whiskey or wine. This should be 
warm when injected into the rectum. 



448 FOODS FOB THE SICK. 



DIGESTED GRUEL. 

Digested Gruel may be made by taking thoroughly boiled hot 
gruel made from oatmeal, barley, wheat, or from arrow-root, to the 
amount of J pint (250 cc), and adding thereto, while it is hot, \ pint 
(250 cc.) of fresh, cold milk ; to this may now be added the contents 
of one peptonizing tablet or tube, and the mixture allowed to stand in 
moderately hot water or in a warm place for twenty minutes before it is 
placed upon ice. 

KOUMYSS. 

This is a preparation of milk which is very useful for children and 
adults during convalescence from acute or subacute exhausting dis- 
eases. Even young children of three or four years will take a fancy 
to it if it is not made too sour by continuing the fermentation process 
too long. The liquid is prepared as follows : Add to 1 pint (500 cc.) 
of cool, perfectly fresh milk 2 teaspoonfuls (8.0) of sugar, and place 
it, after shaking thoroughly, in a clear beer or claret bottle. Then add 
\ of a cake of Fleischman's compressed Vienna yeast, and tightly cork 
the bottle, standing it in a warm place or in a water-bath at 99° to 
100° F. for eight to ten hours. Then place in a cool place or on ice 
and use as needed. It must be remembered that the development of 
carbonic gas is very great in this liquid, and that if an ordinary cork 
is inserted it must be tied in before the heat is applied. Further 
than this, the cork must be pulled very gently or the liquid will 
spurt all over the room. The best thing to use when about to open 
a bottle of koumyss is a "champagne tap," by means of which the 
liquid may be drawn off as needed. 



DIET LIST. 

The following bills of fare are used in the Children's Hospital in 
this city with good results, are easily prepared, and the directions 
readily carried out by the inexperienced : 

Diet in G-astro-intestinal Catarrh for a Child of Seven Years. 

Breakfast, 7.30 a.m.: Milk, with lime-water; 4 teaspoonfuls of 
lime-water to each tumblerful of milk. The lightly-boiled yelks of 
two eggs, thin slices of well-toasted bread or stale bread. 

Dinner, 12 M. : A mutton-chop without fat, broiled, or a slice of 
roast beef or mutton, occasionally a bowl of meat broth. Stale bread 
or toast. 

Supper, 7 P. M. : Milk and lime-water. Stale bread or toast, or 
milk-toast. 

For drink : Filtered or boiled water. 

Starch foods to be avoided as much as possible. 



BEEF TEA. 449 

Diet for a Child Two Years Old. 

Breakfast, 7.30 a. m. : Milk. The lightly-boiled yelk of an egg. 
Thin bread and butter (the bread to be one day old). 

Lunch, 11 a. m. : Milk. A thin slice of bread and butter. 

Dinner, 1.30 p. M. : Beef-tea or small piece of minced roast beef 
or mutton devoid of gristle. One well-mashed potato, moistened with 
gravy. Rice and milk. 

Supper, 6 p. m. : Milk. Bread and butter. 

For drink : Boiled or filtered water. 

Diet for a Child One Year Old (5 meals a day). 

First meal, 7 A. M. : 2 teaspoonfuls of grated flour-ball (prepared 
as directed below) in J a pint of milk. 

Second meal, 10.30 A. m. : J a pint of milk with 4 tablespoonfuls 
of lime-water. 

Third meal, 2 P. M. : The yelk of 1 egg beaten up in 1 teacupful 
of milk. 

Fourth meal, 5.30 p. m. : Same as the first. 

Fifth meal, 11 p. M. : Same as the second. 

Flour-ball is to be made by taking one pound of good flour — 
unbolted, if possible — tie it up very tightly in a pudding-bag ; put it 
in a pot of boiling water early in the morning, and let it boil until 
bed-time, then take it out and let it dry. In the morning peel off 
the surface and throw away the thin rind of dough, and with a grater 
grate down the hard, dry mass into a powder. To use this, take from 
1 to 2 teaspoonfuls of the powder, rub it down until smooth with a 
tablespoonful of cold milk, and add 1 tumblerful of hot milk, stirring 
it well all the time. 

Diet for a Child from Six to Twelve Months Old (5 meals a day). 

First meal, 7 A. M. : Mellin's food 1 tablespoonful or flour-ball 
grated 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls (prepared as directed above), hot water 4 
tablespoonfuls ; warm milk enough to make \ a pint. Dissolve the 
Mellin's food or rub down the grated flour-ball in the hot water by 
stirring, then add the milk ; mix thoroughly. 

Second meal, 10.30 a. m., and third meal, 2 p. M. : A breakfast- 
cupful of milk with 4 tablespoonfuls of lime-water. 

Fourth meal, 5.30 p. m. : Same as first. 

Fifth meal, 10.30 p. M. : Same as second. 



BEEF TEA. 

Take 1 pound of lean beef and mince it. Put it, with its juice, 
into an earthen vessel containing a pint of tepid water, and let the 
whole stand for one hour ; strain well, squeezing all the juice from 
the meat. Place on the fire, and slowly raise just to the boiling-point, 
stirring it briskly all the time. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
In administering this always be careful to stir up the sediment. 

29 



450 FOODS FOR THE SICK. 

Or, take 2 pounds of beef, without fat or bone, half a breakfast- 
cupful of cold water ; place it in a jar in a saucepan of water. Sim- 
mer four hours. 



RESTORATIVE BEEP ESSENCE (Ringer). 

Take 1 pound of fresh beef, free from fat, chop it up fine, and 
pour over it 8 ounces of soft water, add 5 or 6 drops of hydrochloric 
acid and 50 or 60 grains of common salt ; stir it well, and leave it 
for three hours in a cool place. Then pass the fluid through a hair 
sieve, pressing the meat slightly, and adding gradually toward the 
end of the straining about 2 ounces more of water. The liquid thus 
obtained is of a red color, possessing the taste of soup. It should 
be taken cold, a teacupful at a time. If preferred warm, it must not 
be put on the fire, but heated in a covered vessel placed in hot water. 

Should it be undesirable for the patient to take the acid, this soup 
may be made by merely soaking the minced beef in distilled water ; 
or, take 1 pound of lean beef, free from fat and skin, chop it up 
very fine, add a little salt, and put it into an earthen jar with a lid, 
such as is used for roasting venison, fasten up the edges with a thick 
paste, and place the jar in the oven for three or four hours. Strain 
through a coarse sieve, and give the patient two or three teaspoonfuls 
at a time ; or, cut up in small pieces 1 pound of lean beef from the 
sirloin or rump, and place it in a covered saucepan, with \ a pint of 
cold water, by the side of the fire for four or five hours, then allow it 
to simmer gently for two hours, skim it well, and serve. 



BARLEY-WATER. 

To prepare barley-water, put two good-sized teaspoonfuls of washed 
pearl barley with 1 pint of cold water in a saucepan, and boil slowly 
down to two-thirds. Strain. 



Barley-water for Adults. 

Take of finest barley \ pound; to this add 1 quart of water and 
boil to 1 pint ; strain and add 1 quart of boiled milk. To this add 
6 ounces each of brandy and lime-water ; sweeten to taste ; flavor 
with nutmeg and rind of lemon rubbed with sugar. This forms a 
most nourishing and palatable drink when kept cold on ice. 



RICE-WATER. 

Rice-water is made by boiling 2 ounces of clean rice in 2 quarts 
of water for an hour and a half. 



BRAN BREAD FOR DIABETICS. 451 



WINE-WHEY. 



Boil 1 pint of fresh milk ; while boiling pour in 1 small tumbler- 
ful of sherry wine (8 tablespoonfuls) ; bring it to the boil a second 
time, being careful not to stir it ; as soon as it boils set it aside until 
the curd settles, and pour off the clear whey. 



ALMOND BREAD FOR DIABETICS. 

Take of blanched sweet almonds J pound ; beat them as fine as 
possible in a stone mortar ; remove the sugar contained in this meal 
by putting it into a linen bag and steeping it for a quarter of an hour 
in boiling water acidulated with vinegar ; mix this paste thoroughly 
with 3 ounces of butter and 2 eggs. Next add the yelks of 3 eggs 
and a little salt, and stir well for some time. Whip up the whites of 
3 eggs and stir in. Put the dough thus obtained into greased moulds, 
and dry by a slow fire. 



BRAN BREAD FOR DIABETICS. 

Take a sufficient quantity (say 1 quart) of wheat bran ; boil it in 
two successive waters for a quarter of an hour, each time straining it 
through a sieve ; then wash it well with cold water (on the sieve) 
until the water runs off perfectly clear ; squeeze the bran in a cloth 
as dry as possible, then spread it thinly on a dish and place it in a 
slow oven ; if put in at night, let it remain until morning, when, if 
perfectly dry and crisp, it will be fit for grinding. The bran thus 
prepared must be ground in a fine mill and sifted through a wire 
sieve of such fineness as to require the use of a brush to pass it 
through ; that which remains in the sieve must be ground again until 
it becomes quite soft and fine. Take of this bran powder 3 ounces 
(some patients use 4 ounces), the other ingredients as follows : 3 
new-laid eggs, 1J ounces (or 2 ounces if desired) of butter, and about 
J pint of milk ; mix the eggs with a little of the milk, and warm the 
butter with the other portion ; then stir the whole well together, add- 
ing a little nutmeg or ginger or any other agreeable spice. Bake 
in small tins (patty-pans), which must be well buttered, in a rather 
quick oven for about half an hour. The cakes, when baked, should 
be a little thicker than a ship's biscuit : they may be eaten with meat 
or cheese at breakfast, dinner, and supper ; at tea they require rather 
a free allowance of butter, or they may be eaten with curd or any of 
the soft cheeses. 

" It is important that the above directions as to washing and dry- 
ing the bran should be exactly followed, in order that it may be 
freed from starch and rendered more friable. The bran in its com- 
mon state is soft, and not easily reduced to fine powder. In some 
seasons of the year, or if the cake has not been well prepared, it 
changes more rapidly than is convenient, owing to moisture. This 



452 FOODS FOR THE SICK. 

may be prevented by placing the cake before the fire for five or ten 
minutes every day." 



MULLED WINE. 

Boil some spices, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, or mace in a little 
water, and add as much of this decoction as is necessary to flavor a 
wineglassful of sherry or any other wine. Add sugar to taste, and 
bring the mixture to the boiling-point. If claret is used, it will 
require more sugar than if a less sour wine is employed. The vessel 
for heating the wine should be scrupulously clean. 



WATERED TOAST. 

Brown several pieces of bread, and carefully butter the toast so that 
the butter is equally distributed. Place enough salt over the toast to 
flavor it and add pepper to taste. Finally pour as much boiling water 
on the edges of the crust as is necessary to thoroughly soak them, and 
serve to the patient. This is a more agreeable dish than would be 
imagined, and is useful where milk toast is distasteful. 



JUNKET. 

Add from f to 1 teaspoonful of Parke, Davis & Co.'s pepsin cor- 
dial or Fairchild's essence of pepsin to a pint of milk, which should 
be at body-heat. Place the milk in a cool place, and after the curd 
has formed serve cold and flavor with powdered nutmeg or vanilla. 
If there be too great feebleness of digestion to digest the curd, the 
liquid whey may be given, as it contains the salts and soluble albu- 
minoids of milk. 



PART IV. 
DISEASES. 



ABORTION. 



The treatment of abortion divides itself into three parts : the first 
for its prevention, the second for its arrest when threatened, the third 
for its proper care when inevitable. 

In the preventive means we find, as in nearly every branch of 
medicine, that the use of hygienic measures is more important than 
the employment of drugs. If the previous abortions are known to be 
due to syphilis, endometritis, or uterine displacements, these conditions 
must be relieved by the proper remedies. If there exists no apparent 
cause for the interruption of normal gestation, the patient should use 
a simple diet, lead a quiet life, avoid all sexual intercourse, sleep on a 
hard bed, and resort only to gentle exercise. Fresh air is, however, 
a necessity, and should be plentifully supplied. The food should be 
light, but nutritious and palatable, and a sufficient variety supplied to 
avoid any repugnance to a given dish. In many cases abortion rests 
upon deficient nutrition of the foetus, either by reason of faulty assim- 
ilation on the part of the mother or because of poor food, so that if 
anaemia, debility, or other impoverished states of the maternal system 
be present, these should be treated at once. The clothing should be 
loose, the night's sleep undisturbed and of full length, and the mind 
be set at rest as far as possible in respect to household and other wor- 
ries, and particularly diverted from the thought of possible uterine 
disturbance. 

The use of drugs is to be limited strictly to the fulfilment of a dis- 
tinct indication, and the employment of cathartics is to be avoided, 
the bowels being kept in order by fresh fruits in moderate quantity 
or by mild laxatives, such as cascara sagrada in small doses and com- 
pound liquorice powder. If these fail, rhubarb may be resorted to, 
and castor oil in capsule may be used. Podophyllin, senna is. full 
doses, saline purges in active amounts, and aloes are not to be used 
if they can be avoided. If the woman be exceedingly stout and pleth- 
oric, saline purges are indicated to act as depletants. It is hardly 
necessary to add that elaterium and scammony or jalap are not safe, 
and can only be used if dropsy and ascites are present, and where we 
must choose the least of two evils. Strychnine, which stimulates the 
spinal cord, should never be employed, and cantharides, oil of erigeron, 
and manganese ought not to be used unless they are for some reason 

453 



454 DISEASES. 

very necessary. Although quinine is not of itself an abortifacient, it 
is unsafe in very large doses if an abortive tendency is present, and can 
only be used as a prophylactic in cases in which the abortion is brought 
on by malarial poisoning. 

The only drug which seems to be of any service as a prophylactic 
to be taken all through pregnancy is the fluid extract of viburnum 
prunifolium, the dose of which is ^ to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0). This drug 
is said to be a uterine sedative and to have no injurious effects upon 
the mother or child. 

The arrest of threatened abortion is one of the most difficult duties 
which come to the physician, and there is no doubt that large doses 
of morphine or opium are the best means we have of quieting the ute- 
rus. While viburnum prunifolium may be resorted to, we do not 
know enough of it to rest assured of its value, but it should be tried 
if opium is not at hand or fails. The patient should be at once quietly 
placed in bed in the most comfortable position, be so covered as to 
prevent overheating and taking cold, and receive by the hypodermic 
needle \ grain (0.016) of morphine, or, better still, a rectal injection 
of warm starch-water containing 45 drops (3,0) of laudanum. The 
bulk of the injection should be small in order not to disturb the 
bowels, and must be at the bodily temperature. If this is not done, 
a suppository of the aqueous extract of opium, containing \ to J grain 
(0.016-0.03), should be used. Ice-cold drinks should be given, and no 
tea or coffee allowed. This treatment quiets the uterus, allays ner- 
vousness and restlessness, and at least puts off the abortion for a few 
hoars. Venesection has been practised in very plethoric women with 
advantage. 

When an abortion is inevitable, it is to be treated by measures directed 
to the avoidance of hemorrhages, the thorough delivery of the ovum 
and its appendages, and the prevention of inflammation and septi- 
caemia. The latter accident is to be prevented by the most rigid 
asepsis of the patient and physician. For the prevention of hemor- 
rhage a number of balls of aseptic absorbent cotton tightly wound 
with thread to the size of a small egg should be packed into the 
vagina back of and around the cervix until the bleeding is con- 
trolled, and, while a small amount of iodoform may be dusted 
over them before they are inserted, no astringents are to be applied, 
unless it be tannic acid to coagulate the blood in the cotton, as 
astringents cannot reach the bleeding spot. Sponges ought never to 
be used, as they often fail to control the bleeding and rapidly become 
septic. By means of this packing the blood in the uterus cannot 
escape, and, as the uterine walls contract, they urge the liquid between 
the membranes, thereby causing complete separation. Ergot should 
be used after the tampons are applied in the dose of a fluidrachm of 
the extract or a tablespoonful or two of the wine. Generally after 
twenty-four hours the removal of the tampons will show the ovum to 
be in the vagina, but if part of it remains in the uterus, the following 
measures should be resorted to : The administration of ergot should 
be stopped unless the hemorrhages are severe, and the uterine cavity 



ABSCESS. 455 

is to be cleared by the use of the fingers of the attendant, who grasps 
the membranes and draws them away. In skilful hands the curette 
may be employed. If the cervical canal is too small, it must be 
dilated by dilators or by packing it with sponge tents. After the 
membranes are removed the tincture of iodine may be applied to the 
inner surface of the uterus as a haemostatic, antiseptic, and alter- 
ative, or, better still, the uterus should be douched with a 2 per cent, 
solution of creolin in warm water, about a quart being used. 

The after-treatment consists in the use of small doses of ergot and 
quinine, of vaginal antiseptic irrigation, or even of uterine irrigation 
if it is needed, and the maintenance of perfect rest for one or two 
weeks, or longer if possible. Ergot ought not to be given if there is 
reason to believe that portions of the membranes or blood-clots are in 
the uterus, as by contraction of the os uteri it may imprison materials 
which then become septic. (See Puerperal Diseases.) Should fever 
arise, the uterus should be carefully curetted and the intra-uterine 
douches of creolin continued until the fever disappears. 



ABSCESS. 

The medical treatment of abscess resolves itself into the use of 
drugs to prevent the further formation of pus, to cause its fatty degen- 
eration and absorption, to quiet the systemic disturbance if the inflam- 
mation be severe, and to support the body if the suppuration be pro- 
longed or in large amount or if debility exists. The treatment may 
also be divided into that suited to acute and that to chronic abscess. 

As acute abscess in its early stages is simply a localized inflamma- 
tion with hyperemia and an outpouring of leucocytes, it may often 
be modified by the use of aconite or veratrum viride in full dose to 
quiet the circulatory excitement and relieve the congestion. This is 
particularly true where the pain is pulsating. At the same time, if 
the swelling is superficial, a poultice, made by moistening bread- 
crumbs with lead-water, should be placed over it, or lead-water may 
be placed on lint and applied in this way. Belladonna ointment 
smeared over the same area may be of service, and the tincture may 
be used internally if aconite cannot be had. If a gland be involved, 
the needle of a hypodermic syringe may be inserted obliquely into 
its centre and 5 to 10 minims (0.3-0.65) of a 2 per cent, solution of 
carbolic acid injected into the swelling. This method has been found 
of singular efficacy in bubo where pus seemed just about to form. It 
is very often curative, but should not be used in a stronger or weaker 
solution than that named. Another useful abortive method for the 
treatment of the early stages of abscess is the application, exter- 
nally, of a strong solution of nitrate of silver, 20 to 40 grains to 1 
ounce (1.3-2.6 : 32.0) of water, by means of a camel's-hair brush, all 
over the skin covering the area involved, or by the use of the tinct- 
ure of iodine in a similar manner. 

Internally, calx sulphurata, in the dose of ^ grain (0.006) given 
every hour or two, may be used as an abortive, or at least to promote 



456 DISEASES. 

arrest and cause absorption. If it becomes evident that pus is going 
to form, then resort must be had to poultices, which by their heat and 
moisture will aid in the formation of pus by favoring the escape of 
leucocytes and by softening the tissues. The best form of poultice for 
this purpose is to use lint which has been saturated with a 1 : 4000 
solution of mercuric chloride, the moisture being retained by a piece of 
rubber dam placed over the lint. If pus forms and fluctuation ensues, 
the abscess should be freely opened, drained, washed out by a solution 
of carbolic acid in the strength of 1 : 20, or of bichloride solution 
1 : 5000, and dressed with antiseptic gauze. If it is tubercular, the 
abscess may be opened in the ordinary manner, all diseased tissues 
removed by scraping, and the cavity packed with iodoform gauze, or it 
should be drained by aspiration, and an ethereal solution of iodoform 
injected and allowed to remain in the abscess-cavity if it is a small one. 
The opening is now closed by a pledget of cotton wet with tincture of 
benzoin, and an antiseptic dressing applied over it. Not more than 20 
grains (1.3) of iodoform should be so used in the treatment of tuber- 
cular abscess, as larger amounts have caused poisoning. 

A very good treatment for slow abscess is to wash out the cavity 
with a 10-volume solution of peroxide of hydrogen, provided there is 
a free exit for the gas which is given off. 

If the abscess is chronic (cold abscess) and associated with great 
weakness, resort must be had to the internal use of iron in the form 
of the tincture of the chloride, cod-liver oil with hypophosphites, qui- 
nine as a tonic to prevent hectic fever, and the use of nutritious, 
easily-digested food. Alcohol may be used and should be given with 
milk or in egg-nogg. 

The following tonic pill or solution is of service : 

R. — Strychninse sulph gr. j (0.05). 

Ferri redact gr. xv (1.0). 

Quininee sulph . . . gr. xx (1.3). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One t. d. after meals. 

Or, 

R . — Tr. cinchonse comp. "j 

Tr. gentian, comp. > aa f^ii.j (96.0). — M. 

Tr. cardamom, comp. j 
S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) t. d. after meals. 

Having described the means of treatment, it is to be explained 
how these measures act. The aconite quiets the circulation and 
thereby relieves the inflammation, the lead-water acts locally as an 
astringent and sedative, while the belladonna by its action on the 
blood-vessels contracts the dilated capillaries and allays pain. When 
carbolic acid is injected into an enlarged gland, it acts as an anaes- 
thetic, as an antiseptic, and as an astringent and stimulant. The 
nitrate-of-silver applications act by constringing the blood-vessels, as 
local sedatives, and as counter-irritants. The iodine applications do 
likewise, and also exercise an alterative influence. 

The physiological action of calx sulphurata is unknown. The 
object in using the antiseptic irrigations is self-evident, and the 
employment of iodoform in tubercular abscess rests upon the studies 



ACNE. 457 

of Brims of Tubingen and many others, who have found by experi- 
ment that the use of iodoform is fatal to the bacillus tuberculosis. 

As large numbers of corpuscles are destroyed in the formation of 
pus, and other sources of vitality are sapped by its formation, the use 
of hypophosphites and iron to replace the loss is necessary, and of 
cod-liver oil and tonics to increase the blood-corpuscles and the abil- 
ity to assimilate food. 

ACNE. 

This affection occurs in so many forms and arises from such differ- 
ent causes that a thorough consideration of its treatment cannot be 
here given : suffice it to state that arsenic is a remedy which will often 
aid in the cure and prevent a relapse if used in small doses for a long 
period; that is, 1 to 3 drops (0.06-0.18) of Fowler's solution three 
times a day for a month or two. This is particularly useful if debility 
and anaemia underlie the disease. If the anaemia be marked, the 
proper treatment is that directed to the cure of this condition (see 
Anaemia) ; if obstinate constipation is present, relief must be obtained 
by saline purges and the bowels kept in order by cascara sagrada or 
some similar drug. If scrofulosis exists, cod-liver oil is of great ser- 
vice, or if much pustulation is present, calx sulphurata, in the dose 
of jig- to -§- of a grain (0.006-0.008), may be used in pill form three 
times a day. In menstrual acne sulphur may be used internally to 
open the bowels and applied as a wash to the face in the following 
form : 

R.— Sulphuris 3j (4.0). 

Glycerini fgj (32.0). 

Aquse rosae q. s. ad fjviij (250.0). — M. 

S. — Apply twice or thrice a day. 

Or the following may be used in cases of severe inflamed acne : 

R. — Sulphuris iodidi gr. xxx (2.0). 

Cerati simplicis §j (32.0). — M. 

S. — Apply to the parts night and morning. 

If the skin is very atonic, muddy, and torpid, it should be bathed 
night and morning with hot water and castile soap, or even Avith the 
tincture of green soap, and well rubbed with a wet towel. After this 
the following salve may be thoroughly applied : 

R . — Sulphur, precip £ss. 

Lanolin, ") .. 7 ,, 

Adepis. } aagss.-M. 

S. — Apply as directed. 

If the green soap causes irritation, some bland application should 
follow it, such as simple cerate or the emulsion of the oil of bitter 
almonds. If the pustules be large, they may be incised and vent 
given to their contents, the sac being touched with a drop of carbolic 
acid. If induration is great, ichthyol ointment of the strength of 20 
parts of ichthyol to 100 of lard should be well rubbed in, or resorcin, 
10 to 20 grains to the ounce of lard (0.65-1.3 : 32.0), be applied. Mer- 
curial ointment may also be used to relieve induration, but several 



458 DISEASES. 

days must elapse between its use and that of sulphur, as a black sul- 
phuret of mercury may be formed and stain the face. 

The diet should be carefully regulated and fatty foods avoided. 

ADENITIS. 

Adenitis is an inflammation of the lymphatic glands, generally 
arising from scrofulosis, unless there be some speeific trouble, such as 
syphilis, present. Less commonly it occurs in the neck from the irri- 
tation produced by the eruption of milk-teeth, sometimes from blows 
or exposure to cold. 

If the condition consists in a simple enlargement, it should be 
treated by inunctions of iodine ointment and lard, half-and-half, night 
and morning, care being taken that the use of the ointment is stopped 
as soon as any reddening of the skin appears or if fluctuation develops. 
If the ointment cannot be used, the tincture of iodine should be thor- 
oughly painted over the swelling with a brush, but this treatment is less 
efficacious. The following prescription makes a useful application : 

R.— Ichthyol . . < ^iy (16.0). 

Adipis benzoinat ^ij (64.0). — M. 

S. — Eub a small piece of the ointment into the swelling t. d. 

Syrup of the iodide of iron, in the dose of 5 to 20 drops (0.35- 
1.3), is to be given if the patient is a child, and tonics must be used 
to improve the systemic condition. As soon as fluctuation or redden- 
ing shows the formation of pus, all this treatment should be stopped, 
and a poultice be applied for twenty-four or forty-eight hours till the 
swelling goes down or is ready for lancing. Lancing is better than 
allowing the abscess to break, as the scar left in after years is a mere 
line instead of a large cicatrix. 

If the enlargement be tuberculous — and a large number of these 
cases are so infected — the following treatment, recommended by Treves 
and Griinfeld, is of value and should be insisted upon. 

The entire removal of the glands should be effected by dissection 
alone ; directors, handles of scalpels, or fingers should be used to 
separate the glands from the surrounding cellular tissue as closely 
from the capsule as a nerve is cleaned in the dissecting-room. When 
sufficient of the anterior surface is exposed, a thick thread is passed 
through the gland and drawn gently, when, by continuing the dissec- 
tion, the operator may gradually get to the back of the gland, remov- 
ing portions of the mass at a time. The cavity should be packed with 
iodoform gauze, and the walls scraped if an abscess has existed. 

ALCOHOLISM. 

(See Alcohol.) 

ALOPECIA. 

This disease, when due to a parasite, is best treated, according to 
Crocker, by first pulling out all the loose hairs around the bald spot 
and then painting the affected surface with linimentum cantharidis 



AMBLYOPIA AND AMAUROSIS. 459 

(liquor epispasticus). Three coats of this liquid should be employed, 
and each coat allowed to dry before the next is applied. In other 
cases an ointment of chrysarobin, | to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0) to the 
ounce (32.0) of lanolin, may be used, but care must be exercised that 
too much staining of the skin and clothes does not result. Another 
equally good application is 2 grains (0.1) of mercury bichloride to 1 
drachm (4.0) of rectified spirit and 7 drachms (28.0) of oil of turpen- 
tine. This mixture maybe rubbed in with the finger over and around 
the patch. If the patient's skin will stand it, 5 grains (0.3) of the 
corrosive sublimate may be used in place of 2 grains (0.1). 

AMBLYOPIA AND AMAUROSIS. 

Amblyopia (or dull vision) and amaurosis (or blindness) usually 
refer to defective sight or its total loss, the result of functional dis- 
turbance of the retina, optic nerve, or visual centres, and unaccom- 
panied by changes in the eye-grounds in the beginning of the disease. 
These terms, however, also include cases of partial or complete blind- 
ness in which optic-nerve atrophy subsequently develops, and are often 
used to describe ocular disorders not limited by the definitions here 
employed. 

These cases may be gathered into certain groups : 

I. Congenital amblyopias and amblyopias from non-use of the 
eyes. 

In the former there is often a high degree of error of refraction, 
usually far-sightedness ; the latter is seen when an eye is debarred 
from binocular vision by a squint. In both the treatment consists in 
as perfect a correction of the optical error as possible, and, in case 
one eye alone is involved, the separate exercise of its functions. Con- 
genital amblyopias may include incurable defects in the structure of 
an eye. 

II. Amblyopias the result of (a) general diseases or conditions — 
typhoid fever, the exanthemata, syphilis, scurvy, malaria, colds, etc. ; 
(b) local diseases or conditions — hemorrhoids, hemorrhage, pregnancy, 
disordered menstruation, kidney disease, diabetes, migraine, disorders 
of the nervous system, etc. 

The remedies indicated by the special cause are to be employed, 
the medicinal agents most usually needed being mercury, iodide of 
potassium, pilocarpine, particularly in ursemic amaurosis, emmena- 
gogues, and tonics, especially hypodermics of strychnine. As local 
measures repeated fly-blisters to the temples, wet and dry cups, and 
the constant electric current are used. The nape of the neck may be 
cauterized. In hysterical cases metallotherapy may be tried. 

III. Amblyopias the result of the action of certain medicinal and 
toxic agents. 

The abuse of alcohol, and particularly of tobacco, produces a form 
of amblyopia characterized by the development of a scotoma or an 
area in the centre of the field of vision in which the appreciation of 
red and green is lost or greatly diminished. Quinine in excess has, 
in a number of instances, being followed by temporary blindness, 



460 DISEASES. 

which is usually denominated quinine amaurosis. Of less frequent 
occurrence are the cases of amblyopia produced by the toxic action of 
salicylic acid, lead, silver, mercury, osmic acid, nitrobenzol, filix mas, 
and the vapor of sulphide of carbon. In all instances the patient must 
be withdrawn from the influence of the poison ; in tobacco amblyopia, 
in its early stages, this is usually sufficient to effect a cure. The rem- 
edies which have proven of the greatest utility are digitalis, inhala- 
tions of nitrite of amyl, nitroglycerin, and strychnine. Iodide of 
potassium should be exhibited in chronic cases, and always in ambly- 
opias the result of lead-poisoning. The constant current has also 
been employed. 

IV. Amblyopias the result of direct or indirect injury or from 
reflex irritations. 

Traumatic amblyopias may follow a blow upon the eye itself or an 
injury to the skull or spinal cord. To carious teeth, intestinal irrita- 
tions, and the presence of parasites a certain number of amblyopias 
have been attributed, but, while it is not possible to disprove the 
association, such cases must be received with doubt. After the 
removal of the cause strychnine should be exhibited. 

Optic neuritis most frequently depends upon coarse diseases of the 
brain (tumor, abscess) or inflammation of its membranes (meningitis). 
It is also a symptom of numerous disorders — suppression of the 
menses, exposure to cold, rheumatism, anaemia, syphilis, uraemia, 
lead poisoning, etc. The remedies are those naturally suggested by 
the disease or condition which has called it into existence. The prog- 
nosis depends upon the cause. Mercury, iodide and bromide of potas- 
sium, the salicylates, pilocarpine, local bloodletting, and fly blisters 
are the remedies commonly employed. 

Optic-nerve atrophy is either primary or secondary to disease of 
the brain or spinal cord or consecutive to an antecedent neuritis. 
After all irritation has subsided the greatest improvement may be 
expected from hypodermic injections of strychnine, which should be 
pushed to the point of tolerance. Temporary improvement follows 
the inhalation of nitrite of amyl, and, in the hope of improving the 
circulation in the optic nerve, nitroglycerin, digitalis, and similar 
cardiac tonics may be employed. The constant electric current has 
been employed with benefit, especially by voltaic alternations, which 
are more active than simple closures. The following remedial agents 
have also been employed : Suspension, stretching the optic nerve, 
Sequardian injections, nitrate of silver, lactate of zinc, phosphorus, 
and, quite recently, hypodermics of antipyrine. Mercury may be 
used with benefit in early stages of the degenerative process, but is 
of doubtful value in advanced cases. It may be administered in the 
usual manner or by subconjunctival injection in the dose of 2V m g- 
Suspension and injections of testicular juice have little or nothing 
to commend them. 

AMENORRHCEA. 

This condition depends upon so many causes for its existence that 
it must be treated in many different ways. If ordinary anaemia or 



ANJEMIA. 461 

chlorosis shows that there is a deficient supply of blood, measures 
adapted to the relief of such a state are required (see Anaemia). In 
amenorrhoea due to constipation saline purges or other laxatives may be 
used, and the best of these purges is aloes; and, as constipation and 
anaemia often exist hand in hand, a combination of aloes and iron in a 
pill is commonly resorted to. The iron improves the blood, and the 
aloes stimulates and congests the pelvic viscera by bringing blood to 
the sexual organs. Aloes also seems to increase the assimilation of iron 
in some unknown manner. The following pill is often of service, and 
is especially recommended by Goodell : 

R. — Extract, aloes aqueosi ^j (4.0). 

Ferri sulphat. exsiccat '. . . . ^ij (8.0). 

Asafoetida? jiv (16.0). 

Ft. in pil. No. c. 
S. — From one to three pills three times a day. 

Cimicifuga has been highly recommended in chronic and appa- 
rently causeless amenorrhoea in the dose of 30 drops (2.0) of the 
fluid extract at the time for a proper flow to occur. Within the last 
few years the binoxide of manganese, in the dose of 1 to 3 grains 
(0.05-0.15), has come prominently forward as a remedy in simple idio- 
pathic amenorrhoea, and is undoubtedly of service, but it should be 
taken for at least two weeks before the date upon which each men- 
struation is expected to occur. Potassium permanganate is also use- 
ful during the same period, but it is inferior to the binoxide of manga- 
nese in the author's experience. 

Apiol, the active principle of parsley, may be given in capsules in 
the dose of 3 to 10 grains (0.15-0.65) in the same manner, and oils 
of rue, savine, and tansy have also been employed in capsule in the 
dose of 5 drops (0.1) three times a day. 

In all forms of amenorrhoea a hot sitz-bath at the time for the 
expected " period " is of service, more particularly if the patient has 
" caught cold." The bath should be persevered in for several nights, 
and care should be taken to avoid exposure. Often a little mustard 
added to the water will increase the efficacy of this treatment. 

Under the name of " Dewees's Emmenagogue Mixture," first 
devised by Professor Dewees of Philadelphia, the following formula 
has been largely used in functional and organic amenorrhoea : 

R .— Tinct. ferri. chloridi f^iij (12.0). 

Tinct. cantharidis f^j (4.0). 

Tinct. guaiac. ammon fzjss (6.0). 

Tinct. aloes f%ss (16.0). 

Syrupi q. s. ad f^vj (192.0).— M. 

S. — Tablespoonful (16.0) three times a day. 



ANEMIA. 

It is, unfortunately, only too true that the entire subject of blood- 
making and blood-breaking is as yet very imperfectly understood, but 
many of our therapeutic facts rest on rational ground now, if not before, 



462 DISEASES. 

and if the pathologists will give us more information upon these sub- 
jects, new remedial measures will be introduced or their empirical employ- 
ment placed on a rational basis. Practically speaking, the therapeutist 
recognizes two very important points, the causes of which the patholo- 
gist must eventually solve — namely, that one class of anaemias are due 
to defective or deficient haemogenesis, and another to excessive haemo- 
lysis. The former are generally believed to form the simple class, and 
the latter the essential or pernicious class. It is in the excessive haemo- 
lysis class that we most frequently fail to produce good results. More 
than this, the causes of excessive haemolysis are so various that we can 
further divide them into removable and permanent, the removable being 
represented by the cases in which copraemia or auto-intoxication takes 
place, while the others are represented by the true pernicious anaemia, 
about which we really know very little, save that most observers find 
evidence of profound haemolysis in the percentage of iron in the liver, 
while in the dark-colored urine they believe a destructive agent exists 
which prior to its excretion has slaughtered many corpuscles. Unfor- 
tunately, it is at present impossible for us to separate clinically the 
haemogenous anaemia from that of haemolytic excess, unless we find 
evidence of great corpuscular disintegration in a copious elimination 
of haemoglobin in the urine, or a jaundice evidently haematogenous in 
character, or a large number of defective corpuscles, which would per- 
haps indicate defective haemogenesis rather than that they were 
scarred veterans of a battle with a poison in the liver-cells or else- 
where. Post-mortem signs often aid us in the differential diagnosis, 
but this is too late to be of any benefit to the doctor or patient. 

There is one point, however, about which there can scarcely be 
any doubt, and that is that in many cases iron is greatly abused, being 
given when there is no indication for it or more frequently given in 
excessive dose. By excessive dose the author refers to as much as 6 to 
10 grains in a day of reduced iron. The amount of iron in the human 
body is very small, and every study ever made of its absorption and 
elimination after absorption has shown that these processes are very 
slow. Hamburger recovered from the faeces nearly all the iron admin- 
istered, and Jacobi proved that even when the iron was injected into 
the veins 10 per cent, was at once eliminated by the bowels, liver, 
and kidneys, and the remainder deposited in the liver, spleen, and 
other tissues in the same manner as is any metallic substance. The 
researches of Gottlieb have also been in confirmatory lines. When 
we consider that there is in the human blood only about 39 grains of 
iron, all told, we can see that the use of 12 grains a day in the course 
of a little over three days places a double quantity of the metal in 
the economy, which is not needed, and is either cast out or deposited 
at any convenient spot, there to lie undisturbed until it can be 
extruded. 

Much, of course, depends upon the cause of the anaemia, but there 
is only one excuse for the use of the large doses of iron just named — 
viz., a condition of the digestive apparatus which results in the forma- 
tion of a sulphide of iron in great quantity, so that only an infinitesi- 
mal amount escapes into the system. This perhaps explains the empir- 



ANJEMIA. 463 

ical fact that in some cases of chlorosis or intense anaemia iron has to 
be given in large doses to accomplish good results. 

Perhaps the best and most recent studies on this subject are those 
of Ralph Stockman, who has given us a masterly summary of the sub- 
ject of the absorption of iron in chlorosis. In this summary he points 
out that we have three chief theories as to the action of iron in anaemia. 
The first, the absorption theory, is based on the fact that as iron is 
taken into the body with the food, the iron of the haemoglobin must 
be obtained from this source, and therefore that medicinal iron given 
by the mouth must be absorbed. The second theory rests upon the 
belief that iron is not absorbed when given by the mouth in addition 
to that in the food, but simply acts as a stimulant to the mucous 
membrane of the alimentary canal, therefore increasing the digestion 
of food, and so overcoming anaemia by the general improvement coin- 
cident upon proper nutrition. The third theory is that of Bunge — 
namely, that in chlorotic conditions there exists an excess of sulphur 
or sulphuretted hydrogen in the bowel, w T hich changes the iron in the 
food into a sulphide of iron, which Bunge states cannot be absorbed. 
He believes that the inorganic iron w T hich is given as a medicine saves 
the organic iron of the food by combining with the sulphur, and so 
indirectly cures the anaemia by the protection afforded the food-iron. 
It is important to remember that each of these theories has been 
supported by many careful experiments, but it is also well to bear in 
mind that the hypotheses and the experiments supporting them may 
be erroneously based. Thus, we have no right to imagine that the 
inorganic preparations of iron have a stimulating power over the ali- 
mentary mucous membrane, or, even if they have, that this power is 
exercised in the peculiar line of aiding in the absorption of the 
organic iron of the food. Again, the researches of Hamburger, 
Damaskin, Gottlieb, Muller, Jacobi, and Socin, which show that after 
the internal use of inorganic iron there is no increase in the iron in 
the urine, are valueless so far as the conclusions drawn by them are 
concerned — namely, that as there is no increase in iron in the urine, 
there is none in the blood, and therefore it is not absorbed. These 
conclusions are not justified, because they are based on the erroneous 
view that because iron is not in the urine it is not in the blood, and 
because it is not in the blood it is not absorbed. Every one know T s 
that in the case of chronic lead poisoning, when the body is saturated 
with the metal, there is often no lead in the urine, the poison being 
deposited in the tissues ; and if this is true of lead, it may be of iron. 
Particularly is this to be remembered when we find Stockman quoting 
the researches of Mayer, Bidder, and Schmidt, and a host of others, 
w T ho have proved that we are not to look to the kidneys as the path 
for the excretion of iron, but to the intestinal walls. Finally, Stock- 
man has proved that when iron is used hypodermically it cures anae- 
mia when it cannot stimulate the digestion or counteract sulphides. 

We learn from practical experience several things which science 
does not tell us — namely : Iron will not cure all cases of anaemia, 
even if they belong to a functional type, but other methods must be 
resorted to at the same time or separately for their cure. The insol- 



464 DISEASES. 

uble salts of iron are better remedies for absorption than the soluble 
salts, because they are not precipitated in the stomach, and for this 
reason reduced iron is the best chalybeate for uncomplicated cases. 
Besides using iron in this form, we should employ laxatives if the 
bowels are confined ; mineral acids, particularly nitric and nitromuri- 
atic, for their effect on the function of the small intestine and liver ; 
and, in addition, bitter tonics of a more or less simple form, accord- 
ing to the exigencies of the case, using quinine if malaria seems lurk- 
ing in the body, simple bitters if the stomach lacks tone, aromatic 
bitters if from atony of the muscular coats the digestive tract seems 
sluggish, with a resulting formation and accumulation of flatus and 
digestive juices. 

In many cases of anaemia there exists either as a cause or effect 
well-developed intestinal indigestion, and it is thought this results in 
the production of poisons which are responsible for the decrease in the 
corpuscular elements of the blood. The use of laxatives with the 
iron is not only necessary as already stated, but in addition, to over- 
come this production of toxic products, intestinal antiseptics, such as 
ealol and beta-naphthol, are found useful. 

The preparations of iron best employed in anaemia are the insoluble 
salts just named, such as Quevenne's iron and the carbonate, but there 
are indications for each salt which must be regarded. In many anaemic 
persons, particularly females, the tongue is broad and white, not from 
coating, but pallor — is flabby and torpid-looking. Under these cir- 
cumstances the bowels should be kept moving by mild purges, and the 
sulphate or some other astringent preparation of iron be taken by the 
patient. In the anaemia caused by rapid childbearing and lactation 
cod-liver oil, the hypophosphites and phosphates of lime, should be 
used, while iron and quinine in tonic dose may be also of service. 
With some practitioners Blaud's pill is very much used, made as 
follows : 

R. — Ferri. sulph. exsiccat. 1 -- - ,g qx 

Potassii carbonatis J • i • 6 j \ • )• 

Syrupi q. s. — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xlviii. 
S. — One to three pills three times a day, after meals. 

Although it is perfectly true that we have almost no knowledge of the 
manner in which alteratives act in instances of disease where, through 
morbid functional activity, enlarged glands or growths appear, it is 
evident that they must act upon the trophic nerves or directly upon 
the nourishment of the affected parts. One thing we do know, how- 
ever, and that is that small doses of most of the so-called alterative 
drugs act as very distinct stimulants to the development of normal 
structures, and in no instance do we find this more typically represented 
than in the effect which they exert upon the blood. Quite a number 
of years ago Keyes of New York emphasized the value of minute 
doses of mercury bichloride in syphilitic and other anaemias, and 
abundant clinical observation has certainly confirmed his views. The 
dose of bichloride of mercury in anaemia should be about -^ of a grain 
(0.0016). Not only will minute doses of the bichloride of mercury act 



ANAL FISSURE. 465 

in this way, but small amounts of calomel or mercury itself will have 
such an effect. 

Inunctions of very small amounts of mercurial ointment once a 
day or every other day, in adults and in children, will increase the 
fulness and redness of the cheeks and lips and the number of the 
corpuscles, the piece of ointment used being no larger than the half 
of a very small pea. This treatment will be found of service in cases 
not necessarily dependent upon specific taint or scrofula. The marked 
increase in the nutrition of children of a syphilitic taint who are suf- 
fering from marasmus under the internal use of gray powder and such 
inunction is most extraordinary. 

Arsenic is also of value in anaemic conditions, and may be em- 
ployed in relatively larger doses than mercury bichloride. Many clin- 
icians have shown the value of this drug in anaemia. Any one of the 
preparations of arsenic may be employed, and should the anaemia be 
pernicious in its type, or should it depend upon the disease leukaemia 
or pseudo-leukaemia, the arsenic must be pushed in ascending doses 
until marked evidences of its general effects are manifested. Most 
of the drug, under these circumstances, is in excess, and is cast off in 
the urine and faeces unused and wasted, straining and irritating the 
emunctories of the body during its passage through them. Arsenic is 
of particular merit in those forms of anaemia in which the blood-cells 
are lacking in number rather than in haemoglobin. 

Arsenite of copper is also a remedy of very considerable value 
under these circumstances in the dose of from j-J 7 to -^ of a grain 
(0.0006-0.003) three times a day. 

Bullock's blood, fresh or dried and redissolved, may be used by 
the rectum in the treatment of anaemia in those cases where iron 
fails, and a change of air and diet may often produce a cure which no 
drug can bring about. 

Diet is an important part of the treatment of anaemia. The food 
should be good, well flavored, and varied, as well as easy of digestion. 
It should contain, as far as possible, the remedies needed by the sys- 
tem, such as bone salts, iron, and alkalies, and its ingestion should be 
accompanied by some red wine, such as port. 

At present we are forced to conclude that pathology has not found 
out the real cause of these troublesome cases, and that until physiology 
can put its finger upon the most intricate mechanism of blood-making 
with a positive, clear statement of its function and the physiological 
chemistry of the manufacture of haemoglobin, we must remain satisfied 
to resort to the remedies which experience or common sense tells us 
will be of value to our patients. 



ANAL FISSURE. 

This is one of the most painful affections to which man is subject, 
and requires intelligent treatment, generally by surgical means if the 
result is to be curative, although great relief can be obtained by the 
use of drugs. 

30 



466 DISEASES. 

The most painful and annoying feature of the lesion is the violence 
of the pain on defecation, which is so severe that any emptying of the 
bowel is impossible except on rare occasions, when the pain is concen- 
trated in one effort. 

To relieve this pain and enable the patient to have a fairly com- 
fortable stool, nothing is so good as an iodoform suppository containing 
2 to 10 grains (0.1-0.65) of the drug. Iodoform being a local anaes- 
thetic, the passage takes place almost without the patient's knowledge. 
If much spasm of the sphincter is present, extract of belladonna, \ 
grain (0.015), may be added to each suppository. For the cure of the 
fissure a drop of strong carbolic acid may be applied to the spot, and 
a lotion of tannic acid, glycerin, and water used if hemorrhoids are 
also present. Ringer highly recommends the application to the fissure, 
by means of a brush, of a solution of bromide of potassium, 1J 
drachms to 1 ounce (6.0 : 32.0) of glycerin. In order that the passages 
may be soft and yet the patient not be purged, sulphur may be given 
in the dose of 20 to 40 grains (1.3-2.6) every night, or, if this cannot 
be used, castor oil may be administered. The best way to" give the 
sulphur is by combining it with powdered cinnamon or aromatic 
powder. 

Sometimes relief is obtained by the use of flexile collodion painted 
over the fissure. 



ANEURISM. 

The treatment of aneurism by drugs is, unfortunately, not very suc- 
cessful, but is at least worthy of trial in all cases. Vascular disease 
resulting in such a lesion depends upon so many causes which may 
modify the treatment that the history of the case should be carefully 
considered. The most common causes are syphilis and traumatism, and 
very often injury is superimposed upon one of the systemic taints. 
'Whatever the cause of the disease may be, iodide of potassium is par 
■excellence the remedy most apt to do good, and it will nearly always 
give relief, even if it does not cure. The doses should be large, 10 to 
20 grains (0.65-1.3) three times a day if the patient will bear them, 
and the prognosis under this treatment is far more favorable if the 
cause be syphilis than if the disease be idiopathic or traumatic. 

For successful treatment the recumbent position must be insisted 
upon, the patient being kept quiet in bed, changing his position as 
little as possible and confining himself to the most simple and easily 
digested diet, with entire avoidance of all stimulating substances either 
in the way of food or drink. Often it is best to adhere to an absolute 
milk diet. If the heart is excitable and irregular in its action, the 
vascular system irritable, and a high arterial tension is present, the 
circulation must be quieted by small doses of veratrum viride, say 1 or 
2 drops (0.05-0.1) twice or thrice a day, but digitalis is not to be 
employed, since it increases the strain upon the aneurysmal sac, although 
it does quiet the irregular heart beat. Aconite may also be used with 
care, but it is inferior to veratrum viride. If the pain be very great 
— and it often is severe, particularly at night — opium is indicated and 



ANGINA PECTORIS. 467 

sleeplessness should be allayed, not by full doses of morphine, but by 
morphine and chloral ; or, better still, croton-chloral should be so 
ordered that the patient receives J grain (0.075) of morphine and 10 
grains (0.65) of croton chloral in pill at bed-time. All attempts to cure 
aneurism by the use of other drugs, unless syphilis indicates mercury, 
are useless when the lesion is thoracic or abdominal, and when it occurs 
in the extremities, as in popliteal aneurism, pressure or surgical meas- 
ures are to be resorted to as the chief means of cure. If dyspnoea is 
marked in thoracic aneurism, slight inhalations or "whiffs" of chlo- 
roform are sometimes useful. 

The author has recently performed the operation of introducing 
gold wire and using electrolysis in thoracic aneurism, with great bene- 
fit to the patient. 



ANGINA PECTORIS. 

The exact pathological changes existing in angina pectoris are by 
no means clearly understood, but without doubt many cases are due to 
spasm of the blood-vessels, which results in distention of the left side 
of the heart, which organ is already dilated or enfeebled by disease. 
Often, too, the coronary arteries have undergone degenerative changes, 
thereby increasing the cardiac debility. Remedies which ordinarily 
relieve pain act too slowly or too feebly to be of service in angina pec- 
toris, and even if successful would only relieve the symptom without 
removing the cause. The indication in the great majority of cases is 
to relax the vascular spasm, thus relieving the overburdened heart. As 
first pointed out by Brunton, the nitrites possess this power, and to him 
belongs the credit of first applying this class of drugs to this ailment. 
All the nitrites are useful, but the nitrite of amyl and nitroglycerin 
are the best remedies for the attack itself, and the nitrite of potassium or 
sodium for the intervening periods or where the paroxysm is prolonged. 
The reason for this lies in the fact that the sodium and potassium 
compounds are more stable than the other two compounds, are more 
slowly broken up in the body, and therefore more prolonged in their 
effects. In an attack a few drops of the nitrite of amyl should be 
given by inhalation from a handkerchief, or the nitroglycerin can 
be used in the dose of 1 drop of a 1 per cent, solution by the mouth. 
The dose of the sodium and potassium nitrites is 3 grains (0.15) three 
times a day, but all these drugs are useless unless the arterial ten- 
sion is high and the heart throbbing or irregular in its exercise of 
power. 

If vascular relaxation is present, they should be supplanted by stim- 
ulants, such as alcohol, in full dose, in warm water. Digitalis tincture 
in the dose of 10 drops (0.65) may be given hypodermically during the 
attack to stimulate the heart if it is weak, and between the attacks to 
improve its condition. The writer has found 20-grain (1.3) doses of 
antipyrin of great service in some cases. Ether given hypodermically 
is often of service, but Hoffman's anodyne may be used instead of 
ether by the mouth or hypodermically with better results. 



468 DISEASES. 

If the nitrite does not relieve the pain, or if it cannot be used 
because of some contraindication, morphine must be given hypoder- 
mically in the dose of J to J grain (0.016-0.03), but it should never 
be given by the mouth under these circumstances, as its absorption 
will be too slow and its effects will come on after the pain has ceased. 

The cure of the patient rests upon the elimination of all causes which 
can possibly produce a nerve-storm from cardiac irritability, and in the 
administration of arsenic in full dose for long periods of time. Phos- 
phorus is another remedy which is of undoubted value, and should 
always be tried in the dose of t ^-q grain (0.0006) three times a day 
after meals. 

The following is a valuable prescription for use between the attacks : 

R.— Tine, digital T^xlviij (3.0). 

Tine, strophanthi "ttlxlyiij (3.0). 

Nitroglycerin! (1 per cent.) rr^xxiv (1.6^. 

Tine, cardamomi q. s. f^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) three times a day. 

The diet should be moderate and easy of digestion, and salads, 
lobster, and similar articles of food avoided. If the patient is in- 
clined to take exercise of a violent character he must be restrained, 
but on the other hand some exercise must be insisted on if it is 
possible. 

Tonics, fresh air, freedom from mental worry and avoidance of 
exposure and cold are also necessary, and running for a car, or per- 
forming any act calculated to suddenly increase arterial pressure and 
cardiac work, is to be avoided. 

In that form of angina pectoris occurring in nervous females, some- 
times called pseudo-angina pectoris, 1 drachm of ether in ice-water or 
capsule will often abort the attack, or if the paroxysm is caused by 
dyspepsia and if the stomach be overloaded, the sufferer may be 
relieved by the stomach-pump. Between the attacks aconite tincture 
in the doses of 2 to 3 minims (0.1-0.15) three times a day is useful. 



ANOREXIA. 

Anexoria, or lack of appetite, is only a symptom of disease, gen- 
erally associated with debility or other systemic disorder, such as 
fever or many exhausting diseases. 

It is best treated by a careful, well-cooked, and daintily-prepared 
diet, the use of the bitter tonics, such as gentian, cardamoms, and 
the mineral acids, or by the use of one of the following prescrip- 
tions : 

R. — Acid, arsenosi gr. J (0.03). 

Extract, nucis vomicae gr. iv (0.3). 

Quinina? sulph gr. xx (1.3). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One t. d. after meals. 

0r > 

R. — Acid, hydrochloride dil f^ss (16.0). 

Tinct. cinchona? comp f^vj (192.0).— M. _ 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) three times a day, after meals, well diluted with water. 



APOPLEXY. 469 

(For the use of other bitter tonics see Calumba, Quassia, Chamo- 
mile, Cardamom, and Nux Vomica. None of these drugs are suit- 
able if there is any acute irritation or inflammation of the stomach 
or intestines. (See Indigestion.) 

APOPLEXY. 

When a person suffers from a stroke of apoplexy, the chief aim of 
the physician must be to lower the blood-pressure if it be high, and so 
to decrease the intracranial hemorrhage, and, as the blood-pressure is 
nearly always excessive under these circumstances, its reduction may 
be considered as a routine treatment if the patient is seen very soon 
after the onset of the attack. If the person be full-blooded, copious 
venesection is to be employed upon any one of the veins in the arm on 
its anterior surface. (See Venesection.) At least 1 pint (500 cc.) of 
blood should be withdrawn and the condition of the pulse carefully 
noted. If bleeding is impossible, veratrum viride or aconite must be 
used to lower blood-pressure, the latter in full dose, 5 drops (0.35) of 
the tincture. Hot mustard plasters must be applied to the feet, or a 
hot mustard foot-bath be used if this is practicable. Ice in an ice-bag 
or wrapped in a towel may be applied to the head. If vomiting comes 
on care must be taken that the stertorous breathing does not draw into 
the lungs particles of the half-ejected food. Sometimes croton oil, 1 
drop (0.05), placed on the tongue with 5 drops of sweet oil, may cause 
a depletant catharsis which will relieve cerebral engorgement, or J grain 
(0.01) of elaterium may be used. The head must be kept high and 
the feet low down. These are the methods to be used immediately after 
the rupture of the blood-vessel. 

The object to be sought, after the " stroke" has occurred and the 
hemorrhage has ceased, is the removal of the extravasated blood, the 
restoration of function in the paralyzed parts, and the prevention of 
secondary lesions consequent upon inflammation of the brain as a 
result of the injury to its substance. If the patient survives the 
attack, no drugs should be used save arterial sedatives for one or two 
days, until the clot in the ruptured vessel has become firmly fixed, 
unless symptoms of meningitis arise, when these drugs must be 
pushed if the pulse is tense, and opium and calomel administered in 
small antiphlogistic doses, J grain (0.016) of each every four hours. 
Meningitis and cerebritis rarely occur if the veratrum viride or aconite 
is properly used. After the clot has firmly formed and has plugged 
the blood-vessel, we may proceed to take measures for the absorption 
of the exudate, the chief measure consisting in the use of iodide of 
potassium in as large doses as the patient will bear without the produc- 
tion of iodism. This drug should not be resorted to until several days, 
or even two or three weeks, have elapsed after the attack. Mercury in 
small doses may also be given. 

In order that the muscles of the extremities may not waste and 
become powerless from disuse, passive exercise, rubbing, and, if pos- 
sible, massage, must be resorted to. Electricity may be applied to 
them in the form of the slowly-interrupted current, and strychnine 



470 DISEASES. 

may be used hypodermically or by the mouth as a stimulant to the 
trophic centres in the spinal cord. None of these measures are to be 
employed if any inflammation exists in the brain, as they will increase 
the cerebral disorder, and at least three weeks should elapse after the 
attack before they are resorted to. (See Strychnine.) 

Electricity applied to the head to remove the lesion is useless, as 
the current does not go through the brain, but around the skull by 
means of the scalp. 

A very careful diet is to be maintained. Meats are to be used 
very sparingly, the bowels maintained in perfect regularity, and no 
wines are to be taken nor any stimulants used, lest they cause a 
second rupture of the weakened vessel in the brain. 

Apoplexy must be carefully differentiated from acute alcoholism 
and opium poisoning, which it much resembles. (See Alcohol.) 

If respiration fails, nothing can be done with much advantage, but 
belladonna or strychnine may be given hypodermically. The use of 
electricity to stimulate the phrenic nerve and diaphragm when respi- 
ration fails is a remnant of senseless medical practice, and is partic- 
ularly useless in apoplexy. (See Asphyxia.) 

Above all things, stimulants are contraindicated during the acute 
attack, even though the pulse fails, as they increase the hemorrhage 
into the brain. 



APPENDICITIS. 

It is to be remembered that many cases which years ago would 
have been called idiopathic peritonitis are now recognized as arising 
primarily from inflammation of the appendix vermiformis. For this 
reason it is incumbent upon every physician who is called to see a case 
of severe abdominal pain with symptoms of peritonitis or appendi- 
citis to carefully examine into the condition of the appendix. No 
routine treatment for appendicitis can be followed, as each case pos- 
sesses distinct individuality. There are many surgeons, holding ex- 
treme views, who assert that the mere presence of appendicular 
inflammation for a few hours renders an extirpation of this organ 
necessary. On the other hand, there are doubtless many cases in which 
the physician postpones consultation with a surgeon until it is too late 
to save the patient. All cases of appendicitis may be divided into 
three classes : First, those which are fulminating or gangrenous, and 
almost invariably result in death whether treated medically or surgi- 
cally ; second, those which need surgical interference ; and third, 
those which undoubtedly get well, some of them permanently so, 
under proper medical treatment. With the first class we shall not 
deal, for obvious reasons. In all cases of acute appendicitis of the 
third class which we have named the method to be followed is briefly 
as follows : The patient is to be put to bed and absolute rest on the back 
insisted upon. He must not rise to the sitting posture even for defe- 
cation or urination. An ice-bag is to be placed over the appendix, 
or, if this cannot be done, leeches may be applied in this region. The 



ASPHYXIA. 471 

bowels may be moved by half to one ounce of magnesium sulphate or 
citrate of magnesium in its official solution, but it is far better to unload 
the colon by rectal injections. After the bowels have been moved, 
sufficiently large doses of opium or morphine are to be given to relieve 
pain and act as an antiphlogistic. The doses should be of such size as 
to " take the edge off the pain," but they must not stupefy the patient, 
so that he fails to give clear answers to questions. If in spite of this 
treatment there is persistent tenderness in the right iliac region, with 
increase in the area of dulness on percussion over the appendix, and a 
sense of deep-seated tension exists, then a surgeon should be at once 
called in — not, necessarily, to operate, but to decide as to the advis- 
ability of an operation, and to perform it if it is considered a wise pro- 
cedure. Generally, it is best to postpone surgical interference in mild 
cases until after the acute attack is over, but this preference is to be 
waived in pressing cases, when there is rigidity of the belly and great pain. 

In the second class of cases which we have named the treatment is 
too largely surgical to be considered in a book devoted only to medical 
therapeutics. It is unnecessary to give a purgative before the opera- 
tion, unless we think the bowel contains undigested food, since the caput 
coli never contains faeces in any quantity, and furthermore, in those 
fairly severe cases which demand operation at once the possibility of 
perforation of the appendix, with escape of the contents of the bowel 
into the peritoneal cavity, is always to be remembered, for if perfora- 
tion has occurred the purgative will force the faeces out through the 
patulous appendix. 

Instead of a milk diet, the patient should receive a diet of broths or 
beef-tea, since the casein in the milk is apt to cause fermentation and 
the formation of gas in large amounts in the intestine, thereby causing 
distressing tympanites. 

If attacks of appendicitis are recurrent, the appendix should be 
removed in an interval of quiescence. (See Article on Peritonitis.) 

ASPHYXIA. 

When practising artificial respiration in cases of asphyxia Sylves- 
ter's method should always be employed. This consists of laying the 
patient on some hard, flat surface, kneeling above his head, and then, 
after grasping the arms at the elbows, bringing them upward and 
outward, so that they follow the plane on which the body is extended. 
This movement causes expansion of the chest, or inspiration. After 
a moment's pause the arms are lifted up and brought toward one- 
another, and then, while still approximated, pushed down to their 
original position upon the floating ribs, upon which they are pressed. 
This last movement drives out the air from the chest, or causes expi- 
ration. These movements should be at the rate of from sixteen to 
twenty per minute, about that of normal respiration, and be persisted 
in for at least forty-five minutes, even though the case seems hope- 
less, as cases have recovered after as long a period of apparent death 
as an hour. While these movements are being carried on, the patulous- 
ness of the upper air-passages is to be maintained. 



472 DISEASES. 

In some researches made by Dr. Martin and the writer the follow- 
ing rules regarding the position of the head, neck, epiglottis, and 
tongue were formulated : The fingers are passed behind the angles 
of the lower jaw and the latter is pressed forward; this elevates the 
epiglottis and the base of the tongue about a quarter of an inch from 
the post-pharyngeal wall. Extending the head and pushing it for- 
ward so that the neck makes an angle of forty-five degrees with the 
plane of the table draws the base of the tongue and the h}^oid bone 
far forward, this motion being at the same time imparted to the epi- 
glottis, so that the latter stands upright and is separated from the 
posterior wall of the pharynx by an interval of about an inch. By 
tightly closing the jaw the antero-posterior space is still further 
increased. 

The epiglottis may prevent free entrance of air to the lungs, even 
though the tongue is pulled forward. Any means which accom- 
plishes the anterior projection of the hyoid bone immediately and 
infallibly raises the epiglottis and the base of the tongue, and the 
hyoid bone may be made to project anteriorly by direct pressure 
upon its cornua, by direct pressure or traction applied to the tongue 
far back behind the anterior half arches of the palate, and by the 
action of gravity in the abdominal decubitus, or by extension of the 
head upon the neck, although flexion of the neck with extension of 
the head upon the neck does away with the epiglottis as an obstruct- 
ing factor as completely as any other posture. 

A very useful method in treating asphyxia is Laborde's method by 
rhythmic traction of the tongue. The tongue is grasped with forceps 
and pulled well forward and upward from ten to fourteen times a minute 
until voluntary respirations occur. The sensory nerves of the tongue 
carry impulses to the phrenic centre, which in turn causes the diaphragm 
to contract. A very large number of recoveries from apparent death 
as a result of its use renders this method most worthy of trial. 

The absurdity of the application of the rapidly-interrupted electric 
current to the phrenic nerve is not alone dependent upon the points we 
have named. (See Ether.) It has recently been proved by careful ob- 
servation on the part of Dr. Martin and the author that the application 
of the electrode over the phrenic nerve in the neck may cause cardiac 
arrest through diffusion of the current to the vagus nerve, and Griswold 
reached conclusions of an identical character in 1885. 

If electricity is used, it should be employed solely as a peripheral 
irritant, with the object of arousing the patient, as would a dash of 
cold water. 

ASTHENOPIA. 

Asthenopia, or weak sight, depends upon exhaustion of the power 
of accommodation in cases of refractive error, usually hypermetropia, 
or upon insufficiency of the external ocular muscles. The former is 
sometimes called accommodative asthenopia, and the latter muscular 
asthenopia. The treatment of these conditions requires the prescrib- 
ing of the proper pair of glasses, combined, if necessary, with prisms 



ASTHMA. 473 

and with systematic exercise of the ocular muscles. Locally, a weak 
solution of the sulphate of eserine or pilocarpine acts as a stimulant 
to the ciliary muscle, and good results follow the internal use of 
large doses of the tincture of mix vomica or strychnine. 

R.— Eserinse sulph gr. -fa (0.002). 

Aq. destill f£j (32.0)— M. 

S. — 2 drops (0.1) night and morning. 

Or, 

R.— Pilocarpin. nitrat gr. fa (0.003). 

Aq. destill 13J (32.0).— M. 

S. — 2 drops (0.1) night and morning. 

Another form of asthenopia is termed neurasthenic asthenopia or 
retinal anaesthesia, and presents a number of eye-symptoms in con- 
nection with a general depression or debilitated state of the nervous 
system, the eye itself, however, being a healthy organ. The chief 
symptoms are fluctuation in visual acuity, rapid disappearance of 
objects looked at, contraction of the field of vision, imperfect retinal 
images, often associated with dread of light. The mere prescription 
of glasses in these cases to correct any refractive error is not suf- 
ficient. Much relief will often be obtained if hot compresses at 110° 
F. be made to the closed eyelids for five minutes at a time. The 
patient requires the same general treatment that would be applied to 
any neurasthenic case. All the functions of the body must be care- 
fully examined into and placed in as normal a condition as circum- 
stances will allow. Especially valuable are rest, massage, salt baths, 
and full doses of strychnine, together with iron if there be anaemia. 



ASTHMA. 

Asthma is one of the most difficult diseases to successfully treat 
that the physician has to deal with. 

The disease in all its forms depends upon interference with the 
free entrance and exit of the air to and from the lungs, and this is 
generally, if not always, dependent upon a spasm of the muscular 
fibres in the walls of the bronchial tubes, although it has been 
asserted to be due to a sudden swelling or hyperemia of the bronchial 
mucous membrane. Both of these states are probably present in 
varying degree in all cases 

The spasm has been proved by Longet, Williams, Romberg, Paul 
Bert, Bierner, and more recently by Sandmann, to be due to a neurosis 
of the pneumogastric or vagus nerve, while the swelling of the mucous 
membrane has been seen by Stoerk and others. This has formed 
two schools of teaching concerning the pathology of this disease, 
when a little attention to the physiology of the subject would at least 
show that no difference need exist, the vagus nerves governing not 
only the muscular fibres, but also the blood-vessels of the bronchial 
tubes. The discovery of Michaelson that injury of the recurrent 
laryngeal nerves causes catarrhal inflammation of the bronchial tubes, 
particularly those of the upper lobes, renders the analogy between 



474 DISEASES. 

acute asthma and laryngeal spasm which has been spoken of by 
many writers still more interesting. 

One other step remains for a thorough understanding of the man- 
ner in which the disease is produced. Gastric, dyspeptic, or intestinal 
asthma arises from indigestion, as its name implies, and is caused by 
the irritation of the afferent filaments of the vagus in the walls of 
the stomach and intestine, thereby causing reflexly a contraction and 
hyperemia of the bronchial tubes. In a similar reflex manner hyper- 
trophies of portions of the nasal chambers or abnormal conditions of 
the nasal mucous membranes in general may result in an asthmatic 
attack. 

Having obtained some idea of the cause of an attack, let us turn 
to the treatment of the affection. 

By far the most serviceable remedy in asthma is belladonna, which, 
as has been pointed out when that drug was studied (see Belladonna), 
exercises in medicinal dose a decided sedative and depressing influ- 
ence on the peripheral filaments of the vagus nerves, not only so far 
as the heart is concerned, but also, through the pulmonary fibres, upon 
bronchial secretion, which is always diminished by the drug, probably 
by this vagal influence. 

It is evident, therefore, that the use of belladonna or atropine, 
although originally employed in an empirical manner, rests upon a 
rational basis, and as the physiological action of stramonium, hyoscy- 
amus, and similar members of this group is nearly identical with 
belladonna, their influence for good is also explained. The experi- 
ments of Ott prove that lobelia is a peripheral pneumogastric de- 
pressant, and those of Rosenthal and the author likewise showed 
that tobacco has a similar effect. The same is also true of nitrite of 
amyl and the other nitrites, which also relax unstriped muscular 
fibre. We have before us, therefore, a list of the most efficacious 
and best antiasthmatics, all of them being depressant to the periph- 
eral vagi. 

The other remedies commonly employed are chloroform by inhala- 
tion, which relaxes the spasm of muscular fibre by its local influence, 
and morphine, which acts as a nervous sedative, prevents reflex irri- 
tation, and quiets the patient, acting at the same time as a heart stim- 
ulant and unloading the engorged cardiac cavities. The relief obtained 
by the inhalation of the fumes of nitrate of potassium, See asserts, 
depends upon the formation of the protoxide of nitrogen and carbonic 
acid gas, which act as local anaesthetics. 

The practical treatment of an attack of asthma consists in the use 
of morphine hypodermically in the dose of ^ to J grain (0.01-0.015), 
alone or in combination with atropine. Cigarettes made of paper 
soaked in a solution of nitrate of potassium and belladonna may be 
smoked (see formula under Belladonna), or they may be made in the 
following manner : 



R. — Foliorum belladonna 
Foliorum hyoscyami 
Foliorum stramonii 
Extracti opii . . . 
Aqua? lauro-cerasi . 



gr. vj (0.36). 
gr. iij (0.2). 
gr. iij (0.2). 
gr. J (0.015). 
q. s. — M. 



ASTHMA. 475 

These various leaves are broken up like commercial tobacco, and 
moistened by adding the cherry-laurel water, which should contain 
the opium. Finally, a whole leaf soaked in the same fluid is used as 
a cover, or a piece of cigarette paper may be employed in the same 
manner. 

In some cases a very useful treatment is the smoking of nitre- 
paper cigarettes, which are prepared, before rolling, not only by soak- 
ing the paper in a solution of nitrate of potassium (see Nitrate of 
Potassium), but also by dipping them, after drying them, in tincture 
of belladonna or stramonium, and allowing the alcohol to evaporate 
from the paper while it is hung in the air. 

A remedy very recently brought forward in this country for the 
relief and cure of asthma is euphorbia pilulifera, the fluid extract of 
which may be given in the dose of J to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0) once, twice, 
or thrice a day. (See Euphorbia Pilulifera.) 

The author finds the following formula very useful in asthma : 

R. — Sodii iodidi gr. ij (0.1). 

Potas. bromidi gr. ij (0.1). 

Ext. euphorbia? piluliferse fl rr^iij (0.15). 

Nitroglycerin! - gr. ^ (0.0003). 

Tr. lobelise n\,ij (0.1).— M. 

Ft. in tabel. vel capsul. No. i. 
S.— From 1 to 4 three times a day. 

It will be seen that each ingredient of this pill has a different action. 
The action of iodides in asthma is well known, as is also that of the 
bromides. The euphorbia pilulifera has been found useful in asthma 
empirically. The nitroglycerin depresses the peripheral ends of the 
vagus nerves, and acts as a stimulant to the heart when engorged with 
blood by removing the inhibitory action of the vagus and relieving the 
blood-vessels elsewhere. The tincture of lobelia acts as a depressant 
to the vagus also. 

A valuable prescription for asthmatics, to take between the attacks, 
particularly in those cases which have cardiac symptoms, is the one 
calling for digitalis, strophanthus, and nitroglycerin in the article on 
Angina Pectoris. 

Sometimes a strong cup of coffee taken at the beginning of a 
paroxysm will abort it. 

The use of amyl nitrite by inhalation, 3 to 6 drops (0.15-0.4) on 
a handkerchief, is invaluable in many cases, and it rarely fails to 
relieve the spasm. Owing to the engorgement of the heart consequent 
upon the embarrassment of respiration, this nitrite must be used with 
care, and in one or two instances it has proved dangerous by causing 
cardiac failure. 

Sometimes tobacco may be smoked, and it is particularly efficacious 
in those who are not accustomed to its constant use. 

Lobelia when employed should be used in full emetic dose (1 
drachm [4.0]) in the form of the tincture if an attack is imminent. If 
an attack is feared, 10 drops (0.65) of the tincture every four hours 
may be given if the heart is in good condition. 

A treatment of asthma which is very successful when it arises from 



476 DISEASES. 

nasal disorder consists in the application to the nasal cavities, at the 
onset of the attack, of the following solution by means of a brush or 
spray : 

R. — Cocain. hydrochlorat gr. xv (1.0). 

Aquae destillat. . q. s. ad f£iv (16.0) — M. 

S. — Apply as directed. 

If this solution is thoroughly applied and the other directions given 
are carried out, very rapid relief will often be obtained. Unfor- 
tunately, we cannot readily separate those cases which are due to 
nasal disease and those produced by other causes, and in consequence 
this treatment w r hen tried for the first time in a given case is purely 
experimental. 

The curative treatment of asthma to a very large extent rests 
upon the use of iodide of potassium, and in the careful regulation of 
the diet and bowels, particularly if the trouble seems to be dependent 
upon indigestion. As the attacks are generally nocturnal, the even- 
ing meal should be taken early, be light and easily digested, and tea 
and coffee should be avoided at this time. The patient should avoid 
dusty streets and live in the open air as much as possible, and a damp 
atmosphere is usually preferable to a dry one, provided it is not too 
cold. This rule is subject to many variations, and each case will be 
found to be a law unto itself. Each patient must try different climates 
until the proper one is found. Arsenic may be used, particularly if 
the mucous membranes are below par, and a dose of bromide of potas- 
sium or sodium, 30 grains (2.0) half an hour before retiring to bed, may 
be of service. 

Grindelia robusta is largely used as a prophylactic in the dose of 10 
to 30 minims (0.65-2.0) of the fluid extract three times a day. Lobe- 
lia may also be used in the form of the tincture, 10 drops (0.65) three 
times daily. 

The use of compressed and rarefied air is sometimes of service. 
Inhalations of oxygen are valuable if the cyanosis is extreme. 

In many cases the greatest relief will be given by the use of the 
bronchitis tent. (See .Bronchitis.) 

In those cases in which the presence of nasal polypi or other irrita- 
tions of the air-passages is the provoking cause of the attacks those 
causes must be removed before a cure can be attained. In other 
instances arsenical wall-papers are the cause of the trouble. In all 
cases of asthma the physician should from time to time examine the 
urine and the heart. 



BED-SORES. 

Bed-sores depend upon disturbances of nutrition resulting from 
pressure exercised in such a manner that the local circulation is inter- 
fered with at a time when the vitality of all of the tissues is depressed 
by disease or injury. In most instances the part involved becomes 
chafed by creases in the sheets, by crumbs of food, or by moisture 
from the discharges of the rectum and bladder. 



BILIOUSNESS. 477 

The chief thing to be done is to prevent the trouble by careful 
nursing and cleanliness, which must be supplemented by measures 
devoted to the hardening and improving of the skin covering the parts 
where the sores are apt to appear, as over the buttocks and sacrum. 
To permit of a good supply of blood, the patient should be turned on 
one side or the other every few hours and the skin of the part which 
has been pressed upon rubbed thoroughly with a dry towel to cause a 
healthy transudation and absorption of the nutritive juices. Salt and 
whiskey, 2 drachms (8.0) to the pint (500.0), may be rubbed over the 
skin, and tincture of catechu or the dilute solution of the subacetate of 
lead applied to harden it. If this is not used, a mixture of alum and 
spirit of camphor is useful, made by adding 1 ounce (30.0) of pow- 
dered alum to the whites of 4 eggs and mixing this with 2 ounces (64.0) 
of the camphorated spirit. Where the skin is very red and angry- 
looking, but still intact, a solution of nitrate of silver of the strength 
of 20 grains to 1 ounce (1.3 : 32.0) is to be thoroughly painted over the 
spot. All these remedies act in hardening the skin through their 
astringency, or by acting as sedative astringents to the inflamed capil- 
laries of the part. 

When a bed-sore is developed measures must be taken for its cure 
and the prevention of its spread. With this object in view the body 
must not rest on the part affected if this can possibly be avoided, and 
in order that the sore may be protected and the pressure equalized, a 
large piece of soap-plaster, with its edges deeply incised to make them 
pliable, should be applied after the sore has been thoroughly washed 
out by means of a swab or syringe filled with a 1 : 5000 solution of 
bichloride of mercury, and afterward dusted with iodoform. Some- 
times large squares of lint heavily covered with zinc ointment are ser- 
viceable in lieu of the soap-plaster. If the sores spread and burrow 
through the parts, the sinuses should be freely opened and irrigated 
with peroxide of hydrogen, all dead tissues being cut away to avoid 
sepsis. 

Nitrate of silver in the strength of 20 grains to ounce (1.3 : 32.0) may 
also be used locally as the patient recovers if the ulcers seem sluggish. 
A smooth slip-sheet should always be placed under the buttocks. If 
possible, supportive measures and an increased amount of predigested 
food should be given if the sloughs are large. The internal use of iron 
is particularly valuable in the form of the tincture of the chloride in 
full doses (say 20 drops [1.3]) every four hours. 



BILIOUSNESS. 

This is a term used to designate a state which presents different 
symptoms in different cases, but always includes languor, headache, or 
dizziness, perhaps some yellowing of the skin and conjunctiva, and a 
general sense of atony, mental depression, and discomfort. It depends 
not upon an excessive secretion of bile, but upon some perversion of 
the functions of the liver or the retention of bile in the bile-ducts. 
Further than this, most of the symptoms do not depend directly upon 



478 DISEASES. 

the changes in the bile, but upon failure of proper digestion in the 
stomach and intestine, coupled with the development of irritative decom- 
position-products of various kinds. The stomach, intestine, liver, pan- 
creas, and their juices all form a complex interwoven chain of function 
in which if one link breaks the entire chain becomes disturbed. The 
entrance into the stomach of certain food-stuffs which are either ill 
prepared or improper for gastric digestion rapidly causes the develop- 
ment of active fermentation, with the formation of lactic and butyric 
acids, which irritate the gastric mucous membrane, and thereby bring 
about a faulty gastric secretion of mucus, which makes still further 
trouble. By the same means the circulation of the stomach is dis- 
turbed and becomes abnormal, and the intestine, liver, and pancreas 
receive reflex irritation to which they are not normally exposed. Further 
than this, the irritated stomach fails to convert its contents into pep- 
tones and the general features of chyme, and too early or too late 
drives out into the duodenum a mass of semi-digested and fermenting 
material utterly unfit for intestinal digestion and absorption, thereby 
disordering the functions of these parts still further at a time when 
they are not prepared for the reception of any food. The secretion 
poured out by the different glands varies from the normal ; the alka- 
line juices are not able to overcome the normal acid of the gastric 
juice plus the lactic and butyric acids; and finally the reaction of 
the intestine becomes acid instead of alkaline, with resulting irrita- 
tion and secretion of morbid juices and mucus. The trouble when 
existing in the stomach gives rise to headache and discomfort, a bad 
taste in the mouth, and perhaps pain, and is followed by fever, lan- 
guor, jaundice, and flatulence when the intestine is affected. The 
cause of these symptoms rests upon the fact that, while gastric juice 
and bile are antiseptic, pancreatic juice mixed with food undergoes 
rapid decomposition, with the development of products of decomposi- 
tion, such as skatol and indol and a large number of poisonous alka- 
loids. Normally, these are not allowed to form, owing to the pres- 
ence of antiseptic bile, which also hurries on the absorption of the 
food ; but if the bile is retained in its ducts, its secretion is impaired 
and its constitution altered by the disorder of the liver which results 
reflexly from the gastric and intestinal irritation. Unfortunately, 
the complication does not cease at this point, for the liver in health 
has other functions to fulfil, one of the most important of which is 
the arrest and destruction of all poisons of an organic character which 
come to it from the stomach and bowel. Not only are decomposition- 
products destroyed by it, but all the vegetable alkaloids are rendered 
innocuous if present in ordinary amounts. 1 The disorder of hepatic 
function, therefore, permits the entrance into the general circulation 
of these substances, which are very various as regards their powers 
and effects. Thus, Brunton has pointed out that one of these com- 
pounds closely resembles curare, in that it poisons the peripheral ends 
of the motor nerves, and thereby is at least partly responsible for the 
muscular relaxation and languor often seen in patients suffering from 

1 See studies of Schiff, Lautenbach, and many others, including Ludwig and 
Schmidt-Mulheim. 



BILIOUSNESS. 479 

so-called "biliousness." Other substances act as do digitalis, atro- 
pine, muscarine, and picrotoxin, and the number of these various 
compounds is infinite. 1 

It is impossible to give space to a further consideration of these 
poisons, but what has been said shows clearly that " biliousness " 
only expresses a state in which absorption of the bile is not the sole 
cause of the symptoms, but that other poisons are at work. The 
methods of treating biliousness are therefore not to be considered as 
depending upon some regular routine, but upon a study of the case 
and its symptoms. 

Very frequently, after several days of minor discomfort, the disorder 
culminates in a severe sick headache, after which vomiting comes on 
and relief is obtained almost at once. Such patients can generally 
be relieved in the very first part of their discomfort by emetic doses 
of ipecac or apomorphine, 30 to 60 grains (2.0-4.0) of the former, or 
jig- grain (0.004) of the latter hypodermically. The manner in which 
this treatment does good is very evident. It compresses the liver and 
expels inspissated bile by the compression exercised by the abdom- 
inal walls and diaphragm in the effort of vomiting, and thoroughly 
excites to normal secretion the torpid glands of the stomach and 
intestine. 

The vomiting also rids the stomach of the fermenting masses and 
bacteria contained in them, and renders the alimentary canal more pure. 
This purity may be increased between the paroxysms of vomiting by 
draughts of warm water or water containing a few grains of bicarbo- 
nate of sodium or salicylic acid. 

When it becomes evident that an attack is about to begin — that is, 
when constipation, slight drowsiness, or languor after meals shows 
the tendency present — one of two drugs should be used, either podo- 
phyllin if the stools be dark, or calomel if they be light-colored : 
jr grain (0.01) of the former to an adult is generally enough, or 1 
grain (0.05) of calomel divided into six powders, one of which is to 
be taken every fifteen minutes, is a good dose, to be followed in four 
hours by a saline. If the attack is sudden in its onset, no time is 
allowed for these hepatic stimulants, and a saline should be used in a 
good-sized dose at once, not because it causes a flow of bile, but 
because it sweeps the poisonous matters out of the gut before com- 
plete absorption can occur, and aids in restoring the normal intestinal 
alkalinity. 

The prevention of "biliousness" depends upon the maintenance 
of a normal, easily digested diet, upon the formation and excretion 
of normal bile, and the prevention of fermentation and decomposition 
in the alimentary tract. 

The term " normal diet " is a very elastic one, and varies with each 
case. While certain forms of food are generally considered good or 
bad, easy of digestion or difficult of assimilation, it nevertheless remains 
a fact that many of the simplest foods are capable of acting as poisons 
in susceptible persons. A large number of persons cannot take milk 

1 See the researches of Schweringer, Zuelzer and Sonnerscheim, Bence Jones, 
Dupre, Korch and Fassbender, Brieger, Schmiedeberg, and Harnach. 



480 DISEASES. 

or eggs because their digestion of these substances is faulty, and the 
writer is cognizant of one case where lobster salad can be eaten at bed- 
time without discomfort, while an egg at breakfast will cause a severe 
headache or pain in the belly. Rules as to diet must not be " iron- 
clad," but based on observation. 

By far the best means of maintaining hepatic activity in cases 
where this organ is torpid is horseback exercise, particularly if the 
exercise is taken on a trotting horse, as the jolting of the liver keeps 
the chain of digestive functions active and prevents the secretions 
from becoming clogged. Along with this exercise massage of the 
hypochondrium and belly-walls is useful, and the movement of stoop- 
ing over, bending from side to side, and bending backward with the 
feet close together, is of value. Coffee is often the cause of bilious- 
ness because of its oil. 

The use of pure, dark orange-colored, undiluted nitromuriatic acid 
in these cases in the dose of 3 drops three times a day in half a 
tumblerful of water is invaluable, and the fluid extract of stillingia 
in the dose of 20 drops (1.3) is of service, as is also the solid extract 
of euonymus in the dose of 3 grains (0.15). 5-grain (0.35) doses of 
extract of chirata in pill are also useful in hepatic atony of a mild 
type. 

R— Ext. chirata? gr. xl (3.0). 

Podophyllin .... - gr. iv. (0.2). 

Euonymin gr. viij (0.5). 

Leptandrin gr. viij (0.5). 

Creosoti gr. x (0.65). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One pill every night. 

The knowledge of the action of many of the poisonous materials 
formed in the alimentary canal renders it possible for us to relieve the 
patient by other means than those which may be generally resorted to 
when the attack is present. Thus, if the pupils are dilated, the skin 
hot and dry, the eyesight dim, and the pulse rapid, the alkaloid pro- 
ducing these signs of atropine poisoning may be antagonized by opium 
in small dose, or if the pulse be slow and full, the arterial tension 
high, and there is throbbing in the head with frontal headache, the 
alkaloid representing digitalis may be antidoted by the use of aconite. 
If nervousness and irritation are present, the bromides and chloral 
may be used. 

For some unknown reason the use of caffeine in the headaches of 
biliousness nearly always makes them worse, particularly if the head- 
ache is due to over-indulgence in coffee. 

If the face is flushed, a mustard plaster or cup to the nape of the 
neck may be used, and a hot foot-bath is often of service. 

In cases where the bilious attacks are associated with catarrh of 
the stomach, intestines, or bile-ducts, chloride of ammonium, in 5- 
grain (0.3) doses, three times a day, is very useful, as is also the 
protiodide of mercury, when triturated with sugar of milk, in the 
dose of -g^ to -J^ of a grain (0.001-0.0015) three times a day. Fre- 
quently the use of salol or salophen in 10-grain (0.65) doses, three 



BLEPHARITIS— BOILS. 481 

times a day, does much good in these cases, acting as an intestinal 
antiseptic. (See Salol.) 



BLEPHARITIS. 

Blepharitis is divided clinically into an ulcerative and non-ulcera- 
tive variety. The indication of prime importance in the treatment 
of this affection is the removal of the scabs and crusts before the 
application of the local remedies. This may be accomplished by the 
use of alkaline solutions, bicarbonate of sodium or biborate of sodium 
(8 grains to the ounce [0.6 : 32.0]), or a 5 per cent, solution of chloral, 
as recommended by Gradle. The salves that have met with the great- 
est success are Pagenstecher's ointment (yellow oxide of mercury, 1 
grain [0.05], vaseline 1 drachm [4.0]), dilute citrine ointment, pyro- 
gallic-acid ointment, or a 3 per cent, milk-of-sulphur ointment, to 
which resorcin may be added. The latter application is useful in the 
squamous variety alone. In the ulcerated form, if the crusts are 
tenacious, these, as well as the stunted cilia, must be removed with 
forceps, and yellow-oxide-of-mercury salve or some similar application 
applied. Excellent results follow touching the crater-like abscesses 
which exist in edges of the lid with nitrate of silver. If there is 
an accompanying conjunctivitis, a boric-acid solution is suitable, 
while under any circumstances obstruction of the lachrymal duct 
— a frequent accompaniment of the disease — must be removed, and 
the nasal passages explored for any chronic inflammatory condi- 
tion. The relation between this disease and the presence of refrac- 
tive errors demands the correction of the later, should these exist, 
before a hope for cure may be entertained. 

BOILS. 

Boils are dependent upon an impoverished state of the system, or, 
more rarely, on some local trouble situated in the skin, as in the persons 
of oil- or paraffin-workers. 

Their constitutional treatment rests upon the use of fresh air, cod- 
liver oil, iron, arsenic, phosphate of sodium, and, if any boils are 
present at the time, the use of the sulphurate of calcium in the dose 
of ^ grain (0.006) every five hours. The sulphurate of calcium 
hastens the maturation of boils and prevents the formation of new 
ones, but is useless, according to its original user, Dr. Ringer, in the- 
boils which appear during the course of some cases of diabetes. 

The local treatment of boils may be divided into the abortive and 
curative methods. The abortive method consists in painting the 
inflamed spot, when the trouble first begins, with a solution of gun- 
cotton (collodion), and renewing the coat hour after hour until a heavy 
contractile covering is formed. If pus forms under this, it may be 
absorbed, but if this does not occur, then the boil must be opened 
under antiseptic precautions and properly dressed. A strong solution 
of nitrate of silver is also very useful at the very beginning of the 

31 



482 DISEASES. 

formation of a boil if painted over the part in the strength of 20 
grains to the ounce (1.3 : 32.0). The other local applications consist 
in the use of the extract of opium or belladonna over the part to 
relieve pain and decrease the inflammation. 

Poultices may also be used to relieve the sensation of tenseness 
and mature the boil, and should contain sweet oil and laudanum. 
Ringer recommends the application of alcohol and camphor over the 
skin in the early stages. After the skin is wiped dry it is to be 
smeared with camphorated oil. Stelwagon uses the following : 

R.— Ichthyol 3j (4.0). 

Emplast. plumbi 3ij (8.0). 

Emplast. resinse ^ij (8.0).— M. 

S. — Apply to the part. 

He also approves of the injection of a few minims of a 5 per cent, 
solution of carbolic acid into the apex of the boil if its formation is 
assured. 

BREASTS (INFLAMED). 

Lactation should at once cease and the milk be removed by the 
aid of massage and the breast-pump. A bandage exercising pressure 
is now applied and an ice-bag placed over it. This is only useful in 
those cases in which the glands are the part affected. When the 
connective tissue is involved lead-water and laudanum should be 
applied, and saline purgatives used. Belladonna ointment may be 
smeared over the breast with advantage in both forms to check 
secretion and allay inflammation. As soon as pus has formed it 
should be set free by an incision in the line of the ducts. If it be 
deeply situated, it should be opened by an incision close to the chest 
and the pockets opened by a grooved director or dressing-forceps and 
packed with gauze. 

In the early stages of the inflammation, if the circulation is bound- 
ing, it should be thoroughly impressed by aconite or veratrum viride. 

BRONCHITIS (ACUTE AND CHRONIC). 

In the early stages of bronchitis there is always present a very 
distinct hyperemia, followed by a true inflammation of the mucous 
membrane lining the bronchial tubes. When these changes are con- 
fined to the larger bronchi, the term "bronchitis" is employed, but 
when the minute bronchioles are invaded, the disease is known as 
"capillary bronchitis." In the article on Pneumonia and elsewhere 
in this book the writer has spoken of the various stages of inflamma- 
tion, the measures indicated under such circumstances, and has de- 
scribed the action of the various drugs. In many cases the phy- 
sician only sees the patient when the second stage of his disease is 
present, but if the individual presents himself at once, the following 
history and physical signs will indicate the treatment to be employed: 
After exposure, more or less severe, to wet, dampness, or dry cold, a 
sensation of oppression comes on, associated with a feeling of "tight- 



BRONCHITIS. 483 

ness across the chest " or a sensation as if a bolus of food was under 
the sternum. Aching and pain may then be traced over the lines of 
the bronchial tubes, while the dry, hacking cough increases the dis- 
comfort and seems to strain the tubes till each one can be outlined on 
the chest-wall by the patient. The cough, when it occurs, is vir- 
tually unproductive, and often hurts the larynx and throat. On mak- 
ing a physical examination by auscultation there will be found over 
the posterior aspect of the chest, between the shoulder-blades, sounds 
of bronchial breathing, which are rougher than normal, and due to 
the air passing over an inflamed, swollen, and roughened mucous 
membrane. This bronchial roughening may be sufficient to cause 
a harsh inspiratory sound over the entire chest, and the expiratory 
sounds may be heard a little louder than usual. No other changes 
from the normal can be noted, but isolated spots of discomfort may 
be pointed out by the patient where aches, u catches," or "kinks" 
seem to be present in a previously normal tube. Percussion, palpation, 
and inspection show nothing more of note. Some fever may be present. 
The patient should receive a hot foot-bath, take a glass of hot lem- 
onade with a little whiskey in it. and go to bed at once, in order that 
by inducing a profuse perspiration he may relieve the bronchial con- 
gestion. Often a dose of Dover's powder is useful in hearty adults to 
aid in causing perspiration. In children the chest should be well 
rubbed with camphor liniment and a little tincture of aconite be given 
in water with sweet spirit of nitre every hour, as follows : 

R— Tinct. aconit n^viij (0.6). 

Spt. a?ther. nitros f ^ij (8.0). 

Aqua? q. s. ad f Sj (32.0).— M. 

S. — A teaspoonful (4.0) to a child or a dessertspoonful (8.0) to an adult in water every 
hour. 

In many adults 5 to 10 grains (0.30-0.65) of Dover's powder with a 
hot drink is better. 

If the attack is not aborted, while the first stage is still present, 
before secretion is established, resort should be had to ipecac and to 
citrate or acetate of potassium, which act as sedatives to the inflamed 
mucous membranes and aid in the formation of secretion, moistening the 
inflamed surfaces and thereby overcoming the dryness and irritation. 
These potassium salts also act as febrifuges, and should be used in full 
doses, as much as 40 grains to 1 drachm (2.6-4.0) in a day, in addi- 
tion to the aconite already recommended. The following prescription 
illustrates their employment : 

R.—Syrupi ipecac f,5J vel f.^iij (4.0-1 2.0V 

Potassii citratis ^iv (16.0). 

Aqua? destiljat. q. s. ad fgvj (192.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every four hours for a child of five vears. 

0r ' 

R. — Syrupi ipecac f,f ij (64.0). 

Succi limonis fjj (32.0). 

Potassii carbonatis giv (16.0). 

Spirit, aether, nitrosi f,5J (32.0). 

Aquas destillat q.s. ad f|yj (192.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every four hours for an adult. This mixture should not be 
corked for some time after it is made. 



484 



DISEASES. 



For a child this prescription should be reduced just one half in 
each part with the exception of the water. 

In some cases, particularly if the patient be a child, large doses of 
the citrate or other salt of potassium exert a depressing influence and 
have to be decreased. 

Counter-irritation may be applied to the chest in the shape of a 
mustard or spice plaster. If the soreness of the bronchial tubes is not 
relieved by this means, inhalations of steam arising from boiling water 
may be practised, either through a cone, one end of which covers the 
top of a pitcher and the other end of which covers the mouth and nose 
of the patient, or by covering the head and pitcher with a towel. 
The usefulness of this method may be much increased by the addition 
of 1 tablespoonful of compound tincture of benzoin to each pint of 
water. 

In young children, particularly in the first stage of bronchitis and 
in the later stages, the use of the so-called "bronchitis tent" is of 



Fig. 10. 




Bronchitis tent put up by aid of two sheets pinned together and four broomsticks lashed to cor- 
ners of bed. The steam arises from an Arnold steam sterilizer to Avhich has been attached 
a tube. When in operation the side flap of the tent is dropped. 



great value. It consists of a canopy raised over the bed a sufficient 
distance to allow of the circulation of plenty of air. Through one side 
of this canopy passes a tube leading from an Arnold steam sterilizer, 
under which is an alcohol lamp to keep the temperature of the water 
sufficiently high. (Fig. 10.) By this means the* air breathed by the 
patient is so saturated with moisture that the mucous membrane 



BRONCHITIS. 485 

lining the air-passages is soothed and quieted. In order that the full 
benefit of this measure be understood, it must be remembered that a 
mucous membrane in the early stages of inflammation is always dry 
and red, lacking its normal moisture, and that the upper air-passages 
fail to catch upon their surfaces, by reason of their dryness, particles 
of dust, and do-not moisten the air before it reaches the lungs. Again, 
it will be remembered that the bronchial mucous membrane is covered 
with ciliated epithelium, which, by the constant, upward, wavy motion 
of its cilia, urges out of the lungs all impurities. Dryness of the 
surface at once stops this ciliated movement, with unfavorable results. 
The employment of the " bronchitis tent " is equally useful in adults, 
but less readily employed, owing to the size of the bed. 

Having considered the treatment of the first stage of bronchitis, 
we pass to that of the second. The condition of the mucous mem- 
branes is now quite different from that which we have just been 
speaking of. In the place of an absolute lack of secretion we have 
a profusion of cast-off epithelial cells, a large amount of mucus, and 
more or less liquid poured out upon the walls of the bronchial tubes, 
forming obstructions everywhere to the ready passage of air. The 
secretion is apt to be more or less viscid, ropy, and, when it is coughed 
up after considerable effort, appears in lumps, particularly in the 
morning. This state is one in which the excitement of inflammation 
is followed by local depression and an effort on the part of the tissues 
to rid themselves of the congestion and of the useless epithelial forma- 
tions. The physical signs on listening to the chest are now found to 
consist in a large number of loose rales which are distinctly wet and 
moist. Later they become markedly liquid and bubbling, and so large 
as to cause gurgling on inspiration and expiration. Sometimes they 
are musical or squeaking. Generally the latter signs do not come 
on until the case is far advanced, and, if a cure is soon to be reached, 
they only last a few days or hours, as the mucus is so loose as to be 
easily coughed up and the lung readily cleared. 

The object of the physician is to use remedies which will stim- 
ulate the bronchial tubes and increase the volume of liquid poured 
out. For this purpose the bronchitis tent may of course be employed, 
but the drugs to be used internally are ammonium, chiefly the chlo- 
ride, and the pitches and turpentines, such as terebene, pyridine, 1 or 
even turpentine itself. 

In the majority of instances an ammonium mixture will be the 
best and most serviceable prescription, in one of the following forms : 

R. — Ammonii chloridi ^ij (8.0). 

Ext. glycyrrhiz. fluid ^ij (8.0). 

Aqua? destillat q. s. ad fgiij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) everv four hours. 
Or, 

R. — Ammonii chloridi £ij (8.0). 

Mist, glycyrrhiz. comp fgiij (96.0).— M. 

S. — The same dose. 
1 Pyridine, not pyrodine* is used by placing 1 fluidrachm (4.0) on a hot shovel or 
saucepan in a small ro6m, the patient breathing the fumes, which are carried to him 
by the air of the apartment. 



486 DISEASES. 

The disadvantage of the latter prescription is the presence of anti- 
mony in the compound liquorice mixture, which is contraindicated if 
debility exists. 

If the cough is troublesome, a little morphine or belladonna may 
be added, or the following be used, particularly if any signs of car- 
diac failure appear : 

R. — Ammonii chloridi ... gj (4.0). 

Ammonii carbonatis 3j (4.0). 

Ammonii bromidi 5j (4.0). 

Extract, glvcyrrhiz. fluid £iv (16.0). 

Aqua3 destillat fgvj (192.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every four hours. 

In this prescription the first constituent acts particularly on the 
air-passages, the second stimulates the heart and respiration, and the 
third allays the cough, while the liquorice covers the salty taste of the 
ammonium. 

R — Codein gr. ij vel iv (0.-0.2). 

Ammon. ehlorid. . zA (4.0). 

Ext. glycyrrhiz. fl ffj (32.0). 

Aquae q. s. ad f^ij (64.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every two hours in water. 

An oro-nasal respirator, with the sponge saturated with equal 
parts of terebene, iodide of ethyl, and chloroform, may be worn in 
order to allay cough and loosen the mucus. 

If the administration of the chloride of ammonium does not aid in 
the expulsion and liquefaction of the secretion and rid the lungs rap- 
idly of the mucus, the use of terebene in 5- or 10-minim (0.35-0.65) 
capsules may be resorted to with great success. If capsules cannot be 
supplied, terebene may be made into an emulsion with acacia or trag- 
acanth and given in this way. Sometimes terebene will irritate the 
kidneys and produce a sense of weight across the loins ; if this occurs 
its use should be stopped. In other cases it will disorder the stomach 
or cause diarrhoea. These effects are not, however, commonly seen. 
Terpine hydrate in 10-grain (0.65) doses may be used three times a 
day, or terpinol in the dose of 8 to 10 grains (0.5-0.65) in capsules 
or pills. Certain of the volatile oils and resins are also of value at this 
time, notably the oleoresin of cubebs and copaiba, which, however, pos- 
sess the disadvantage of disordering the stomach. The oil of eucalyp- 
tus is also of great value, and may be given in capsule or emulsion in 
the dose of from 1 to 5 drops (0.05-0.35) every five hours. The oil of 
sandalwood in the dose of 5 to 10 minims (0.35-0.65) is very valuable, 
and is not so apt to disorder the stomach, bowels, and kidneys as are 
some of the other remedies named. 

While the proper use of these remedies usually brings about the 
results desired, in others a stage of profuse secretion comes on which 
in its treatment is identical with that seen in chronic bronchitis, 
chronic "winter cough," and emphysema, so these diseases will 
therefore be considered together. 

In old persons suffering from dilated bronchial tubes, from emphy- 



BRONCHITIS. 487 

sema, and from chronic bronchitis there is constantly poured into the 
air-passages so free a secretion that persistent coughing is necessary to 
rid the lung of enough of the mucus and liquid to enable the man to 
breathe. Any excess of this exudation drowns him in his own secre- 
tions, and the constant obstruction to the ready flow of air and blood 
in the lung soon produces dilatation and weakness of the right side 
of the heart. The same condition in a more acute form sometimes 
asserts itself in young children and in adults. In children it some- 
times comes on so suddenly as to be known as " acute suffocative 
catarrh," w T hile in older persons it appears with sufficient severity to 
make the condition of the patient most serious. Of the treatment of 
the latter state the writer will speak at once. 

The objects desired are to rid the lung of the liquid secretions, to 
prevent the outpouring of more exudations, and to support the patient 
until the crisis is past. Where the exudations rapidly fill the lung, 
nothing is better in the strong child or adult than an active emetic, 
such as apomorphine, hypodermically, in the dose of y 1 -^ grain (0.006) 
to an adult or -^V to a child, which is not to be repeated ; if this dose 
fails to act in ten minutes, ipecac may be used instead in the form of 
the powder, a small teaspoonful for a man or 5 to 10 grains (0.35— 
0.65) for a child, or, if the powder be not at hand, a wineglassful (32.0) 
of the wine or syrup of ipecac to an adult or two teaspoonfuls (8.0) to a 
child may be given. Digitalis should be administered to support the 
heart, and strychnine be employed in full dose to stimulate the respira- 
tory centre and excite the nervous system, which is generally depressed 
by the increasing carbonic acid in the blood. For the same purpose 
caffeine or strong coffee may be used. Oxygen may be inhaled, and 
to stop the profuse secretion atropine may be used by the mouth or hypo- 
dermically. If death seems at hand, hot and cold dashes of water may 
revive the patient sufficiently to keep up respiration until voluntary 
efforts are made by the patient. Sometimes letting the patient hang 
his head over the side of the bed when he coughs may aid in the ex- 
pulsion of the liquid. 

The treatment of the more moderate condition of excessive secre- 
tion in the bronchitis of old persons, which is more slow in its prog- 
ress, but which may end as fatally as similar attacks in the young, 
is somewhat similar to that just given. Injurious results are often 
produced by the physician failing to recognize that the secretion is suf- 
ficiently liquid, and that ammonium and such expectorants are not 
only useless, but harmful, because they increase the quantity of these 
liquids. Under these circumstances a fine spray of a solution of tan- 
nic acid of the strength of from 2 to 30 grains (0.1-2.0) to the ounce 
may be used, or of alum solution from a few grains to saturation. 
Monsel's solution should be employed in the dose of 10 to 15 drops 
(0.65-1.0) to the ounce (32.0) of water, or acetate of lead may be used 
in the strength of from! to 15 grains to the ounce (0.05-1.0 : 32.0). 
Belladonna, which checks secretion, stimulates the respiratory centre, and 
is for this reason a doubly useful remedy. Strychnine is, however, the 
best of remedies to help the patient get rid of the sputum. It should 
be given in the dose of -^ grain (0.006) or more three times a day. 



488 DISEASES. 

The use of remedies designed to allay the cough in these cases is 
absolutely unjustifiable, as it results in the retention of the profuse 
secretion. The question as to whether the cough is excessive or not 
must depend on the ability of the lung to rid itself of the secretions 
in its bronchial tubes. 

BURNS AND SCALDS. 

The treatment of burns and scalds is both internal and external, 
the first being devoted to the quieting of the nervous system after the 
injury, the relief of pain, and the treatment of shock, and the second 
to the care of the injured surfaces. Immediately upon being called 
to a case of burn it is the duty of the physician to determine how 
badly shocked the patient is, what the condition of the pulse may be, 
and whether or not the lungs and air-passages are involved. After 
these mental notes he should give a hypodermic injection of \ to J 
grain (0.016-0.03) of morphine and -fa of atropine (0.001), and then 
roll the entire body in a large quilt to maintain the bodily heat while 
the sufferer is being transferred to the hospital or the house to which 
he belongs. 

In some cases the shock is so great that the pulse flags at once, the 
temperature falls, and collapse ensues. Stimulants hypodermically, 
external heat, and warm drinks of water and whiskey are indicated, 
followed by -fa grain (0.003) of strychnine and 5 minims (0.3) of 
tincture of digitalis if the circulation does not respond to the less 
powerful stimulants. A very useful treatment under these circum- 
stances is to immerse the patient in a bath of warm water, hot enough 
to maintain the bodily temperature. Often while in this bath the 
burned cuticle is easily removed with but little pain, and the protection 
from the air decreases dermal irritation. 

If time and circumstances permit, the dressings should be applied 
before moving the patient, but this is rarely possible. By far the best 
dressing is lint wrung out of a mixture of picric acid. (See Picric Acid, 
Part II.) Another useful application is linseed oil and lime-water, 
equal parts, or, if desired, the oil may be rendered antiseptic by the 
addition thereto of 1 part of carbolic acid to 20 parts of oil. This 
mixture is also of service in that it acts as a feeble local anaesthetic. 
The cloths should be renewed every twelve or twenty-four hours, as 
may be needed, or they may be substituted by lint wrung out of a 
saturated watery solution of boric acid. A useful ointment for severe 
burns is composed of: 

$. — Iodoform gr. xv (1.0). 

Antipyrin gr. lxxv (5.0). 

Acid, boric gr. lxxv (5.0). 

Vaselin |ij (60.0).— M. 

If the burn is not very diffuse, a solution of the tincture of can- 
tharides, 1 part to 40, upon a rag, is said to relieve pain and aid in 
healing, but if the burned surface be extensive this treatment cannot 
be resorted to, owing to possible irritation of the kidneys, which are 



CHANCROID. 489 

already overtaxed by the interference with the functions of the skin. 
In comparatively small burns a saturated solution of carbonate of 
sodium (washing soda) often does great good in relieving the pain. This 
relief may depend on the solvent power of this salt over albuminous 
deposits, formed by the heat, which irritate the peripheral nerves. 
Sometimes the addition of antipyrin to this solution is of advantage, 
and the following may be used for superficial and limited burns : 

U .—Acid, boric giij (12.0). 

Antipyrin 3iss (6.0). 

Aqua? purificat f 3viij (250 cc). — M. 

A very important point in the subsequent treatment of burns is 
the remembrance of the close relationship existing between the internal 
organs, particularly the duodenum and the kidneys, and the cuticle. 
When we recollect that we try to influence internal congestions — such 
as pulmonary congestion — for example — by the application of irrita- 
tion to the skin of the chest, we see at once that a widespread and 
severe burn is practically a huge counter-irritant and must reflexly 
affect the viscera. 

Again, the skin, being prevented from exhaling impurities, forces 
the kidneys to do the work, and if the kidneys fail under the strain 
death results. Whenever the urine is high-colored and cloudy the 
citrate of potassium should be freely given, 20 grains (1.3) in water 
three times a day, combined with 30 drops (2.0) of sweet spirit of nitre, 
care being taken that the depressant effect of the potassium is counter- 
balanced by stimulants. 

In dressing very severe burns the use of a general anaesthetic such 
as chloroform is proper, but it must be used with caution. 

CHANCROID. 

The chancroid is a contagious, non-specific ulcer, which has no defi- 
nite period of incubation, is distinctly inflammatory in type, and is 
usually multiple. It is further distinguished from the primary sore of 
syphilis by the fact that it is auto-inoculable, is not followed by secon- 
dary eruptions, and, if it involves the lymphatics at all, produces a 
monoganglionic unilateral swelling which frequently attains a consider- 
able size and suppurates. 

Chancroid, being a purely local affection, would seem to require 
nothing beyond local treatment: this is true of the uncomplicated sore, 
but where phagedena or serpiginous ulceration sets in, the question 
of constitutional treatment is of paramount importance. 

The treatment of uncomplicated chancroid is as simple as it is 
efficient. One thorough cauterization converts the sore into a healthy 
ulcer, the cicatrization of which is quickly and surely accomplished. 

As the most efficient means of thoroughly destroying the chancroidal 
ulcerations the actual cautery is chiefly commended. This is, how- 
ever, objectionable to patients. Sulphuric or nitric acid will be found 
equally serviceable. The pain of these applications may be greatly 
lessened by the previous employment of a 20 per cent, solution of 



490 DISEASES. 

cocaine. When the surface involved is large the patient should be 
etherized. The cardinal point in the cauterization of chancoids is to 
reach and destroy all the diseased area. Each pocket and sinus must 
be thoroughly acted upon, otherwise it remains as a focus for reinfec- 
tion. A convenient way of both destroying the chancroid and pro- 
viding for the after-dressing is offered in the application of Ricord's 
paste. This is made by adding to finely powdered charcoal enough 
strong sulphuric acid to form a paste of about the consistency of 
castor oil. This is then applied to every portion of the ulcer. The 
acid shortly dries out, leaving a dressing of charcoal, which in a few 
days drops off, exposing a healthy, nearly healed, granulated surface. 
Where nitric acid is applied the subsequent dressing consists, pre- 
ferably, in the application of dusting powders, iodoform being the 
best. 

There has been a tendency of late years to substitute for this treat- 
ment one less radical, more acceptable to the patient, and in many 
cases almost equally satisfactory in results. It is certainly true that 
many of the chancroids as found in persons of robust health show 
little tendency to spread beyond comparatively narrow limits, and are 
amenable to mild treatment. It must be remembered, however, that, 
as long as the smallest portion of such an ulcer remains unhealed it 
may at any time take on all the features of a virulent ulceration. 
Moreover, the patient is constantly exposed to the risks of a chan- 
croidal bubo — a complication so troublesome that the possibility of 
its development constitutes the strongest argument against palliative 
treatment. 

Where the ulceration is entirely superficial, constituting the erosive 
form of chancroid, iodoform, dusted over the surface of the carefully 
cleansed granulations, offers the best form of palliative treatment. 
As a cleansing and stimulating wash to precede the application of the 
iodoform 1 drachm (4.0) of nitric acid to the pint (500 cc.) of water 
is most satisfactory. The objection to iodoform lies in its disagree- 
able and penetrating odor. To prevent this, great care should be 
exercised in applying the powder to see that none is distributed else- 
where than upon the sore. The odor can also be disguised to some 
extent by thoroughly mixing with the iodoform a small quantity of 
one of the essential oils, such as oil of peppermint or attar of roses, 
using not over 5 minims (0.35) to 1 drachm (4.0) of the powder. 
There is no dusting powder w T hich can entirely take the place of 
iodoform, yet when the objections to the use of the latter are insu- 
perable aristol or iodol may be substituted, or a mixture of 1 drachm 
(4.0) of zinc oxide and 3 drachms (12.0) of subnitrate of bismuth, or 
equal parts of calomel and bismuth. Where the discharge is profuse, 
powdered tannin may be combined with the dusting powder in the 
proportion of 1 part to 4. 

In the ordinary uncomplicated chancroid these dry dressings are 
greatly to be preferred to wet applications : when, however, the sore 
is attacked by a high grade of inflammation and becomes indurated, 
prolonged immersion of the part involved or of the whole body in hot 
water maybe followed by the application of dressings kept constantly 



CHOLERA, ASIATIC. 491 

wet with the dilute nitric-acid lotion, as given above, or with weak 
carbolic solution, 5 grains to the ounce (0.35 : 32.0) of water, or with 
lead-water and laudanum. Where the chancroid assumes the phagedenic 
type, extending with great rapidity and causing extensive sloughing 
and destruction of tissue, free cauterization either with the hot iron 
or by means of nitric acid should be instituted immediately, every 
portion of the ulcerating surface being thoroughly destroyed. This 
should be followed by prolonged hot sitz-baths or general warm baths, 
the patient remaining in the water for days at a time if necessary, 
and, if practicable, eating and sleeping with the body still immersed. 
If this is not possible, baths of from two to four hours' duration 
should be given two or three times daily. After cauterization, pow- 
dered iodoform is the best local application in phagedenic cases. In 
addition the patient may be given full doses of opium, and should 
receive a tonic and supporting treatment. 

Should the chancroid assume the serpiginous type, slowly extend- 
ing in spite of treatment, till in the course of months or years large 
areas are destroyed by the process, the warm bath, continued night 
and day for weeks at a time, together with thorough cauterization of 
the entire diseased surface with the hot iron, represents the most 
satisfactory method of treatment. 

The chancroidal bubo is best avoided by prompt and thorough 
cauterization of the sore : when it occurs, however, it should be first 
treated by rest, pressure, and counter-irritation, since it may be a 
simple inflammatory adenitis, and with care may not run on to sup- 
puration. Iodine may be painted around the swollen area, the patient 
should be put to bed, and a compress, together with a spica bandage 
of the groin, should be applied, or this may be substituted by a hot 
bag placed upon the inflamed gland. At the first sign of suppura- 
tion the bubo should be opened freely, should be washed out with 
bichloride solution, 1 : 1000, peroxide of hydrogen half strength, or 
chloride of zinc 40 grains to the ounce (2.65 : 32.0) of water, and 
should be packed with iodoform gauze. If the bubo takes on phag- 
edenic action, it should be treated precisely as the phagedenic chan- 
croid. 

CHOLERA, ASIATIC. 

The treatment of this exceedingly dangerous disease is prophy- 
lactic, curative, and convalescent. 

The first measures consist of strict quarantine, both public and 
private, the avoidance of all water for culinary purposes which has 
not been boiled at least an hour and cooled in a place devoid of 
germs, and the employment of those foods which, while preserving 
the normal bodily health, in no way predispose to intestinal dis- 
turbances, as do some of the fruits, as melons and grapes. If these 
things are attended to, little remains to be done ; but it is worthy of 
remark that sulphuric acid is a drug which is harmless in itself, yet 
apparently one which is possessed of distinct prophylactic power in 
this disease. 



492 DISEASES. 

Dividing the disease into three stages, we find as the earliest symp- 
tom some disturbance of peristaltic movement, with or without pain, 
or in other instances the patient is attacked with a sudden flux of the 
intestinal contents. If there is a history of the ingestion of bad or 
indigestible food, there is no doubt whatever that this foreign material 
must be gotten rid of by the use of castor oil or sulphate of magnesium, 
the latter being the best, because it is more rapid and less apt to 
cause griping. No purgative should be given unless the history of 
the ingestion of bad food is most direct and clear. 

When the attack is sudden in its onset, as is usual, the question 
arises, Shall we resort to opium by the mouth ? The answer, after 
having carefully considered the statements of a large number of 
authors, is that we should not use opium by the mouth or hypo- 
dermically except in cases where the pain or cramps are so excessive 
as to absolutely require the drug. In other words, it is to be given 
for the pain, not for the diarrhoea. Should opium be used, it is 
infinitely better to employ it by the rectum in the manner to be 
described later, and if it is necessary to use it by the mouth, only 
the deodorized opium or the deodorized laudanum should be em- 
ployed, since these preparations are less apt to cause nausea than 
their fellows. 

Camphor, on the other hand, seems to be universally regarded as 
a most useful drug, tending at once to stop diarrhoea and relieve the 
pain and cramps from the beginning to the end of the attack. Whether 
camphor exercises any germicidal effect on the cholera bacillus we do 
not know. Certain it is that volatile oils all possess distinct antiseptic 
powers. Aside from any such influence, camphor is useful as a general 
systemic stimulant, and has been proved by wide clinical observation 
to have a very extraordinary power in the control of all forms of 
serous diarrhoea, particularly true cholera. The spirit of camphor has 
proved most effective in cholera epidemics. Frequently the use of 
camphor so controlled the diarrhoea and stimulated the torpid kidneys 
that anuria was set aside in twenty-four hours. Under these conditions 
camphor wine has been found to be very useful ; it is to be made by 
adding 75 grains of finely-powdered camphor to a quart bottle of strong 
red wine, to which is also added gum arabic and alcohol. The camphor 
is first dissolved in the alcohol, and then thoroughly mixed with the 
wine. The dose of this mixture is a teaspoonful, in peppermint tea, 
every hour to a child of six years, for an older child a dessertspoonful, 
and for an adult a wineglassful. Those who first used this mixture 
were wiser than they thought, for the recent studies of Pick have 
shown that both red and white wine are distinctly inhibitory to the 
growth of the spirillum of cholera, probably because of the tannic or 
other acid which they contain, as well as the alcohol. 

A remedy, the use of which is based on very rational grounds, is 
salol, and probably the newer drug salophen, which, theoretically, is 
much better than the former, because it is less poisonous. According 
to the interesting studies of Lowenthal, salol seems to be peculiarly 
antagonistic to the bacillus of Koch. This investigator added to a 
50-gramme alkaline solution of pancreatic juice 10 grammes of salol, 



CHOLERA, ASIATIC. 493 

and to this mixture 3 centimetres of a good bouillon culture of the 
bacillus. Examinations in from forty-eight hours to a week showed 
this to be absolutely sterile. It was further proved that the salol was 
inactive until broken up into its component parts — phenol and sali- 
cylic acid. Hueppe also asserts that the use of salol prevents the 
development of anuria. 

The use of a remedy originally proposed by Dr. R. G. Curtin has 
been proved by recent study to be eminently rational. This remedy 
is sulphuric acid. This drug not only is acid, and so deleterious to 
the bacillus, but, in addition, is astringent, and is probably elimi- 
nated as a sulphate by the lower bowel. As is well known, ordinary 
cholera morbus yields readily to its influence. 

In addition to the treatment already given, which may be used in 
the second as well as in the first stages, we have measures which must 
be resorted to for the relief of the dominant symptoms which mani- 
fest themselves as the disease progresses. 

The symptoms now to be combated are vomiting, excessive purg- 
ing, cramps in the extremities, and, as the result of these, exhaustion, 
collapse, and the advent of the algid stage. By far the best results 
obtained by any one line of therapeutics at this time certainly fol- 
lows the employment of salol and camphor by the mouth, with entero- 
clysis and the use of hot baths ; or, if these are not possible, hypo- 
dermoclysis and the employment of a hot-water bed ; or, finally, hot 
bottles and bricks, for the patient largely dies of cold and of internal 
congestion of thickened blood, the circulation of which the heart and 
vasomotor system are unable to control. Atropine and strychnine 
are very useful, but ether is better than either, given subcutaneously 
or by the mouth, as a diffusible stimulant. 

Very extraordinary results are said by Italian observers to follow 
the rectal injection of a solution of common salt in the proportion of 
1 drachm to the pint (4.0 : 500 cc.) of warm water. In other 
instances the use of tannic acid in the strength of from 1 to 8 
drachms to the pint (4.0-32.0 : 500 cc.) of water has proved very 
satisfactory. The amount used at each injection should be about 2 
quarts (2 litres) and the injection made as gently as possible in order 
to urge the fluid high into the bowel. The inflow tube should be a 
soft female catheter, and the overflow tube twice as large as the inflow 
tube. The tubes are to be inserted side by side after thorough oil- 
ing. The injection may be used every two hours and continued till 
the outflow is clear. This is done to wash out poisonous materials 
and to supply liquid to the system. A solution much stronger or 
weaker than that named is dangerous, for similar reasons to those 
given under the head of Dropsy and Saline Purgatives. (See, also, 
Enteroclysis, Part III.) 

Another useful measure is hypodermoclysis, or the passage of a 
solution similar to that just named into the subcutaneous tissues of 
the thigh or belly-wall. (See Hypodermoclysis, Part III.) If done 
slowly these injections are absorbed readily and supply liquid to the 
depleted blood-vessels. 

(See article on Diarrhoea.) 



494 DISEASES. 



CHOLERA INFANTUM. 

Cholera Infantum is a term often applied to all the forms of active 
serous diarrhoea afflicting children in the summer months, whether its 
cause be exposure to high heat, the use of bad food, or both. The 
treatment by the use of drugs is identical in all forms of serous diar- 
rhoea in children as far as the purging is concerned, but the cause 
requires great care in its discovery and skill in its removal if that be 
possible. 

In cities, where the heat is often great, the air damp and impure, 
and the food not always fresh, cholera infantum often appears as a 
form of thermic fever or heat-exhaustion, or, in other words, as sun- 
stroke. Often in these cases the temperature in the rectum will be 
found febrile, while that of the axilla is below normal, and, as pyrexia 
does harm to the internal organs, the internal temperature must be 
lowered by cool drinks, by administering pieces of ice, and the irriga- 
tion of the bowel, which will be described in a moment. The diarrhoea in 
such cases is dependent upon a relaxation of the blood-vessel walls in the 
intestine by reason of the influence of the high heat upon the splanch- 
nic nerves, and to irritant matters derived from food and resulting from 
defective secretion of the digestive juices. If the thermometer placed 
high up in the rectum shows a subnormal temperature, heat-exhaustion 
is present, not thermic fever, and the treatment is reversed. Hot 
drinks are to be used, external heat applied, and friction of the limbs 
resorted to, or the child may be put in a hot bath at a temperature of 
105° F., its temperature being carefully watched lest it rise suddenly 
to a point above the normal. Avoidance of milk and the use of a few 
drops of beef-juice for twenty-four hours is the best order as to diet. 
If vomiting is active and collapse is threatened, a drop or two of good 
brandy should be used in each teaspoonful of food, and the value of 
atropine as a vasomotor stimulant is not to be forgotten. 

There is another form of cholera infantum which is not due to a 
high atmospheric temperature alone, but more commonly to the inges- 
tion of irritant foods or foods unsuited to a child, obtained by the pa- 
tient surreptitiously or through the ignorance of the parents. If there 
is such a history and the probable cause is discovered by reason of 
some of the masses of undigested food having been passed, a purgative 
dose of castor oil (1 to 2 teaspoonfuls [4.0-8.0] to a child of two years), 
with 20 drops (1.3) Qf paregoric, should be used to sweep out the offend- 
ing materials and allay irritation, and be followed at once by the treat- 
ment which will be spoken of in a moment. Care, of course, should be 
taken to maintain the bodily heat, or lower it if it is above the normal, 
and a watch must be kept upon the puise and breathing to note any 
changes requiring stimulants. 

There is still another class of cases. The physician will be 
called to see a child with the same history of having taken indiges- 
tible food or of there being curds in the stools. Careful examination 
will show that there is much bearing down, or in other cases a simple 
running off of the liquid from the bowel almost without effort. Very 



CHOLERA INFANTUM. 495 

soon, indeed, the passages become entirely colorless, except for a speck 
or two of green, which shows the presence of the peculiar micro- 
organism which produces this color. The diapers have a peculiar 
mousy odor, and are characteristic ; that is, they seem to be only 
wet and odoriferous, and contain no solid matter. If closely exam- 
ined, they will be seen to be soiled by a small amount of a whitish 
substance, looking like a paste made of water and fine chalk. Such 
a passage bodes ill for the child unless treatment is instituted. The 
physician should order, at once, -^V grain (0.003) of podophyllin for a 
child of six months, to be taken in two doses, half an hour apart, in 
20 drops of brandy with a little water. Two hours after this the dose 
should be repeated, and again in two hours more if necessary. By 
the end of the fourth hour there will be generally seen in the move- 
ments of the bowels a trace of color, and this will gradually become 
more marked if the case is to have a favorable termination. 

As soon as the movements have changed from the pasty-white 
motions named to those having a bilious color, then, and not till then, 
are astringents to be employed. If they are used before this, the 
diarrhoea may become less for a few hours, but the child absorbs 
poisons from its alimentary canal and rapidly goes into collapse. 

The rationale of this treatment rests upon the fact that owing to the 
disease every gland connected with the alimentary canal has become 
inactive. It is absolutely necessary to bring about glandular activity, 
and podophyllin, in the experience of the author, is the best remedy for 
this purpose. During the period that the podophyllin is acting it is well 
to apply a spice plaster to the belly or to immerse the child for short 
intervals in a hot bath to preserve its bodily temperature. 

In practically every case of cholera infantum it is of the utmost 
importance to stop milk-feeding absolutely for a few days. Nothing 
in the way of food may be given except Valentine's or expressed beef- 
juice, 10 drops (0.65) every two hours with a little cold water until 
all curds and undigested food are removed. 

After these measures have been resorted to, and the chief object — 
namely, a colored stool, not green — obtained, if the diarrhoea continues 
it must be stopped gradually. The medicinal treatment should consist 
in the use of a mixture such as the following for a child of a year or 
eighteen months : 

R.— Acid, sulph. aromat gtt. xxx (2.0). 

Tr. opii camphorat fgiij (12.0). 

Elixir, curacose f^ij (8.0). 

Aquas cinnamomi ... . . . q. s. ad fgiij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) in a little water every two hours. 

Or, 

R — Acid, sulph. aromat gtt. xxx (2.0). 

01. carvophylli TT^viij (0.5). 

Tr. opii camphorat. : f^j (4.0). 

Spirit, chloroform! gtt. xlviij (3.0). 

Syr. zingiberis q. s. ad fgiij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every two hours. 

If preferred, the tincture of kino or compound tincture of catechu 
may be substituted for the oil of cloves or the spirit of chloroform, 



496 DISEASES. 

or, again, the fluid extract of haematoxylon may be taken in the place 
of either of these. 

Where the vomiting is very severe and incessant, the purging pro- 
fuse, but free from undigested curds, a rectal injection of starch-water, 
2 ounces (64.0), containing 10 drops (0.65) of laudanum, is to be em- 
ployed, and at the same time -J- of a grain (0.01) of gray powder 
(hydrargyrum cum creta) given every hour if the podophyllin is not 
well retained. The gray powder may in turn be substituted by -^ 
of a grain (0.005) doses of calomel. Very minute doses of arsenic 
given by means of the following solution are often of service in check- 
ing the vomiting and purging, and should be resorted to if necessary : 

R. — Liq. potassii arsenitis gtt. j vel ij (0.1). 

Aquae cinnamonii f^j (32.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every fifteen minutes until four teaspoonfuls (16.0) are taken. 

In some cases the remedies named above only stop the diarrhoea for 
the time being, and it returns as soon as they are withdrawn. In such a 
case the following is of value to restore the lost tone of the parts involved: 

R — Kesinse podophylli gr. \ (0.03). 

Liq. potass, arsenit gtt. iij vel vj (0.18). 

Liquor calcis fgiij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every five hours. Shake well before using. 

Or a powder may be used : 

R . — Kesinse podophylli gr. \ (0.016). 

Pulv. ipecac gr. j (0.06). 

Sacchar. lact gr. xx (1.3). — M. 

Ft. in chart. No. x. 
S. — One powder every five hours. 

A very important, never-to be-forgotten measure in cholera infan- 
tum is the use of counter-irritation over the belly by means of a mus- 
tard plaster (1 part mustard flour to 4 of wheat flour) or by a spice 
plaster. The plaster should be renewed as often as it cools, and kept 
on continuously if the skin will stand it. 

A remedial measure carried out with great success in cities in the 
treatment of cholera infantum is the use of irrigation of the bowels, 
or rather washing out of the colon. This is accomplished by the use 
of the solution named in the articles on Cholera and Enteroclysis. 
The inflow tube should be of soft rubber, like a female catheter. The 
outflow tube should be larger, in order to carry off flakes of food or 
mucus. They may be inserted side by side after being oiled. The 
pressure used should be by a fountain-syringe raised not more than 
three feet above the buttocks, and the outflow should be clear and 
unobstructed. The irrigation may be resorted to every hour or two 
and continued until clear fluid flows away. The solution should, of 
course, not to be too cold or too hot — say 100° F. (See article on 
Diarrhoea.) 



CHOLERA MORBUS— CHOREA. 497 



CHOLERA MORBUS. 

This acute, painful, rapidly-exhausting disease arises from expo- 
sure to cold, the ingestion of poisonous or irritating foods, exposure 
to excessive heat, and a number of similar causes. 

In reality, it may be regarded in one instance as a gastroenter- 
itis, and in another as an acute serous diarrhoea associated with much 
pain of a griping, rending character. Nothing compares to counter- 
irritation for the purpose of affording relief. A large mustard or 
capsicum draft should be placed over the abdomen and allowed to 
remain as long as it can be borne. If the patient knows that he has 
taken irritant foods, castor oil with 15 to 20 drops (1.0-1.3) of laud- 
anum added to it, to prevent griping, should be employed to sweep 
out the offending masses before any other remedies are used, and be 
followed by an antidiarrhoea mixture, such as here follows : 

R.— Acid, sulph. aroraat f^ij vel f^iv (8.0-16.0). 

Extract, hsematoxylon fluid. . . . £ij (8.0). 
Spt. chloroformi . . . . . . . . 13 ss (16.0). 

Syr. zingiberis q. s. ad f^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every two hours. 

If the pain is very severe, the patient should be given morphine (gr. J) 
and atropine (gr. -^o) hypodermically. (See article on Diarrhoea and 
Cholera Asiatica.) 



CHLOROSIS. 

(See Anemia.) 



CHOREA. 

St. Vitus's Dance is a nervous affection, generally occurring in 
children, yielding to treatment quite readily in some cases, and in 
others remaining persistently severe, and even becoming worse, under 
the physician's care. 

The disease is always to be treated by the removal of all sources 
of reflex irritation, such as worms, a long prepuce if it is irritated by 
retained urine or smegma, or other trouble of this character, and in the 
avoidance of punishment or severe rebuke on the part of the attend- 
ants. This advice is given not because chorea is produced by such irri- 
tating conditions, but because they tend to impair the nervous tone of the 
patient. Except in that form of the disease closely associated with or 
dependent upon rheumatism, the profession universally employ arsenic 
in one of its forms as a specific remedy. Generally Fowler's solution 
is used, and, unless the parents are intelligent enough to drop medicine 
carefully from a bottle or dropper, the physician should order a 3- 
ounce mixture (96.0) with 48 drops (3.1) of Fowler's solution, so that 
each teaspoonfcd will contain 2 drops of the drug. Very frequently, 
to be effective, arsenic must be used in ascending doses, increased 1 
drop (0.05) a day, and in consequence the dilution just spoken of has 

32 



498 DISEASES. 

to be avoided and the importance of care in measurement urged upon 
the patient's relatives. 

Whenever arsenic is used the physician should instruct the attend- 
ants to stop administering the drug if any puffiness under the eyes is 
seen in the morning on arising from bed, or if any pain in the bowels 
ensues, as these symptoms show that the full medicinal action of the 
drug is being felt. 

When arsenic fails, cimicifuga in the dose of 20 to 30 drops (1.3- 
2.0) of a fresh fluid extract to a child of ten years may be used as the 
next best remedy. 

Where the disease is associated with rheumatism, near or remote, 
the salicylates or iodides may be of value, and should be thoroughly 
tried. 

In some cases of chorea the muscular jerkings are so severe that 
sleep is impossible, and the patient has to be held in bed and the bed- 
covers tied down. These cases will often obtain a quiet night by the 
use of the hot pack at bed-time. (See Heat.) The child should be 
placed in a blanket previously dipped in water as hot as can be borne 
by the patient and thoroughly wrapped up in another (dry) blanket to 
retain the heat, and then be allowed to sweat. Care must be taken 
that a heat-stroke does not result, and, if sweating does not come on 
and oppression ensues, the blanket must be removed. The sheets 
should be ironed to have them warmed for the patient when he is 
returned to bed, and it is often better to let him sleep between dry 
blankets. The efficacy of this treatment is increased by the use of a 
dose of bromide of sodium or potassium and a little chloral, as follows : 

R.— Chloralis . . gij (8.0). 

Sodii bromid ^ss (16.0). 

Aquas dest q. s. ad f^iij (96.0).— M. 

S. — A teaspoonful (4.0) in water every five hours for three doses. 

COLIC (HEPATIC). 

This exceedingly painful condition, due to the passage of a gall-stone 
through the bile-duct, is always associated with faintness and nausea. 

The object of the physician must be to relieve this pain, not only 
by the use of anodynes, but also by aiding in the escape of the stone 
into the bowel. To relieve the pain a hypodermic injection of mor- 
phine \ to J grain (0.015-0.03), accompanied by y-J-g- grain (0.0006) of 
atropine, is indicated. The morphine not only decreases the pain, 
but allays spasm, and the atropine relaxes the spasm of the muscular 
coats of the ducts and allows the stone to pass through the relaxed 
passage-way. Hot applications, such as turpentine stupes, may be 
used over the liver, but relaxation is not to be obtained by the use of 
nauseating emetics, as the retching or vomiting may rupture the dis- 
tended gall-bladder. Severe rubbing should not be used for the same 
reason. 

Quite recently the use of olive or cotton-seed oil has been largely 
resorted to in this affection, and, while we are not sure of the means by 
which it acts, the studies of Rosenberg and others point to the chang- 



COLIC, HEPATIC 499 

ing of the oil into glycerin and fatty acids, the first of which liquefies 
and increases the flow of bile. Often the large dose of oil causes 
nausea, and this by producing general relaxation may aid in the escape 
of the stone. The oil is used during the attack of pain, and must be 
swallowed in the dose of half a pint at least ; smaller quantities do 
not suflice. Its action may be aided and its retention in the stomach 
promoted by the addition of a drachm of ether to each dose. 

Shortly after the oil is swallowed sudden relief often occurs, due 
to the escape of the stone into the bowel. The stools should then be 
carefully watched for gall-stones, but care should be taken that the 
lumps of soap which are passed, made from the oil by the alkaline 
juices in the intestines, are not mistaken for true biliary calculi. If 
the pain does not yield to morphine, chloroform or ether may be 
inhaled for the relaxation of the spasm and the relief of pain. 

In the endeavor to render our treatment of a patient with gall-stones 
rational, we naturally study the causes which induce their formation 
and the manner in which we can expel those stones which have formed 
before the case has come under proper care or in spite of any preven- 
tive measures which we may have attempted. Unfortunately, we are 
met at the very beginning of our study by the fact that the physiologist 
and pathologist have not as yet discovered the exact characteristics of 
the general systemic conditions which underlie their formation ; but, 
on the other hand, experimental and clinical studies have developed 
a number of facts which are of great value to us. Thus, we now know 
that there are a number of local causes which distinctly predispose to 
the formation of gall-stone, and that these causes are very commonly 
found in that very class in which the systemic tendency to stone-forma- 
tion is most marked. In the first place, a catarrhal state of the biliary 
passages favors the formation of gall-stone by providing an excess of 
mucin, with the aid of which the stone may be built ; secondly, this 
catarrhal state is commonly associated with, or produces of itself, a 
diminished alkalinity of the bile, whereby the cholesterin becomes more 
readily precipitated, and at the same time, it would appear, causes the 
deposition of an abnormal amount of lime salts, brought from else- 
where in the body and passed out through the mucous membrane. 
This latter fact seems proved by the circumstance that bile itself con- 
tains very little lime, and that more lime is found in stones lying against 
markedly catarrhal mucous membranes than in stones not so situated. 
So far, then, we have a simple pathological process providing no less 
than three ingredients of stone-formation — namely, mucin, cholesterin, 
and stearate, or some other salt of lime. There are still two other im- 
portant factors at work — namely, the systemic state, gouty or otherwise,, 
which tends to stone-formation, and the stasis of the bile in its ducts, 
because the catarrhal process in the mucous membrane blocks its pas- 
sage toward the bowel. 

Recognizing these etiological factors, it now becomes our duty to 
oppose them, and we have the following indications to fulfil : 1. By 
causing a free secretion of bile to produce a rapid flow of fluid which 
shall be normally liquid and probably normal in its constituents. 2. 
By the use of alkalies to antagonize the development of acid tenden- 



500 DISEASES. 

cies and to aid in the solution of mucus. 3. By regulating the diet 
prevent those hepatic and systemic disorders which tend to the forma- 
tion of stone. 4. As catarrhal states are often due to or aided by 
bacterial infection, to produce intestinal asepsis as far as possible. 

The normal secretion and flow of bile is best brought about by exer- 
cise of a gentle and wisely-directed nature, taken continually and evenly, 
and particularly those forms of exercise which call into play the abdom- 
inal muscles and diaphragm or cause hepatic movements. The chief and 
best of these is horseback riding, or, if the patient is too feeble for this, 
massage should be resorted to, thehypochondrium being well but gently 
kneaded and rubbed daily for a considerable period of time. If the 
liver seems very torpid, calomel in small divided doses of a fraction of 
a grain may be given several times a week, or nitro-muriatic acid may 
be more rarely used. In other instances, where there is reason to 
believe that the flow is sluggish and the bile not sufficiently alkaline, 
that catarrh and putrefactive tendencies are present, the administration 
of benzoate of sodium, or salicylate of sodium, in 10- or 20-grain doses, 
will result in increasing the flow, increasing the alkalinity, overcoming 
the catarrh, and then to arrest intestinal putrefaction. If the catarrhal 
process is very marked, chloride of ammonium will act even more satis- 
factorily. This treatment seems especially valuable when the stones 
that are passed are very dark in color, indicating that much pigment 
and little cholesterin is present. In respect to the use of alkalies, the 
patient should drink freely of those mineral waters which will provide 
alkaline substances, such as Contrexeville, Vichy, and Kronenquelle, 
and it is useful in many such cases to relieve any tendency to constipation 
or duodenal catarrh by the administration of hot Carlsbad water before 
breakfast daily. In the matter of regulating the diet, all rich or fatty 
foods are to be prohibited. Meat should be used in moderation, prefer- 
ably white meats, and green vegetables largely eaten. 

The catarrhal condition, associated with marked bacterial infection, 
as may be evidenced by some febrile movement, is best controlled by 
the use of turpentine, chloroform, and ether, given internally, and 
accompanied by the application externally of hot poultices to the 
hepatic area. These poultices may or may not be fortified by mustard, 
and when removed should be replaced by a warm pad to prevent any 
chilling of the surface of the body. 

Of the internal remedies just named, turpentine is the most useful, 
since it liquefies mucus, aids the flow of bile, and is thought by some 
physicians to cause the expulsion of the stone by stimulating the walls 
of the ducts, and that it dissolves the stone. Further than this, its 
continual use seems to prevent the formation of stone. Ralfe states 
that it is best given as follows : 

R.— 01. terebinthinfe TT\,v (0.35). 

Syrup, acacise . . . . f^ss (15.0) 

Sodii sulpk. carbolat gr. xx (1.35). 

Spt. setheris composit r % XY (l-^)* 

Aquae menthse piperita 1 q. s. f§j (32.0). — M. 

S. — To be taken twice or thrice a day. 

We would prefer adding compound spirit of lavender instead of pep- 



CONJUNCTIVITIS. 501 

permint-water. If this mixture cannot be retained by the stomach, the 
turpentine may be given in capsule, and followed by a draught of milk. 
Finally, a most important factor in the prevention of gall-stone 
formation in susceptible persons is the avoidance of exposure and wet, 
and, if possible, a residence in a sunny climate during winter months. 

CONJUNCTIVITIS. 

Simple Conjunctivitis, sometimes called catarrhal, acute, or muco- 
purulent ophthalmia, is characterized by congestion of the conjunctiva, 
loss of transparency of the palpebral portion, and some dread of light, 
with a discharge sufficient only to glue the lids in the morning or free 
and muco-purulent. In the milder stages the use of a boric-acid lotion 
(10 grains to the ounce [0.65 : 32.0]) is suitable, and the lids should 
be frequently washed with neutral soap and water ; if there be much 
muco-purulent discharge, the lid should be everted and an application 
made of a solution of nitrate of silver (from 2 to 5 grains to the ounce 
[0.1-0.35 : 32.0]). If the discharge becomes great, bichloride of 
mercury, 1 : 10,000, may be employed with advantage, and the nitrate- 
of-silver solution increased to 10 grains to the ounce (0.65: 32.0), the 
excess being neutralized with a solution of salt or washed away with 
tepid water. Much inflammatory reaction in this disease may be alle- 
viated by iced compresses. Patients suffering from catarrhal conjunc- 
tivitis should be protected from tobacco-smoke, bright light, dust, or 
any mechanical irritant. Atropine usually is unnecessary unless a 
corneal ulcer complicates the affection. The patient may wear smoked 
glasses, but under no circumstances must the eyes be bandaged or have 
poultices applied to them. Domestic medication of this sort may change 
a simple ophthalmia into a serious and purulent inflammation. Topi- 
cal medications other than those mentioned are biborate of sodium 
(gr. iv— viij to the ounce), alum (4 to 8 grains to the ounce [0.3—0.5 : 
32.0]), sulphate of zinc (1 to 2 grains to the ounce [0.05-0.1 : 32.0]), 
which may be suitably combined with boric acid, creolin, 1 per cent, 
solution, peroxide of hydrogen, and formaldehyde, 1-6000. During 
the subsidence of the inflammation, and if it shows any tendency to 
become chronic, the application of an alum crystal or a solution of 
tannin and glycerin (10 grains to the ounce [0.65 : 32.0]) is suitable. 
It should be remembered that muco-purulent ophthalmia may become 
epidemic in crowded institutions, and great care should be taken to 
isolate cases. One soiled towel may be the source of infection to a 
great number of children. Constitutional treatment ordinarily is not 
required, but proper hygiene, fresh air, good food, the intelligent use 
of laxatives, tonic doses of quinine, and whatever treatment is indi- 
cated by any associated condition, are useful. The associated condi- 
tions most commonly are nasal catarrh, bronchitis, a general cold, 
eczema of the face, and the exanthemata. 

Burns of the Conjunctiva. — Immediately after the accident all 
foreign particles should be removed or neutralized with a weak acid 
or alkaline solution if a liquid caustic or acid solution has entered 
the eye ; then a few drops of cod-liver oil may be instilled and atro- 



502 DISEASES. 

pine employed (suitably incorporated with liquid vaseline) to prevent 
iritis. The chief danger lies in the formation of severe corneal 
inflammation and symblepharon ; the latter may sometimes be pre- 
vented by daily breaking up the granulation-tissue or by the insertion 
of a piece of gold-beater's skin between the inner surface of the lids 
and the eyeball. The associated conjunctivitis and keratitis require 
treatment differing in no way from that described in the idiopathic 
forms of these affections. 

Purulent Conjunctivitis, which is commonly seen in the adult in 
the form of gonorrhoeal ophthalmia and in the infant as ophthalmia 
neonatorum, is produced in both varieties by the introduction into the 
eye of a specific virus from either the urethra or the vagina. The 
chief danger of the disorder is destruction of the vitality of the 
cornea and loss of sight. The most important indication is to pre- 
vent this danger by reducing the amount of swelling of the lids and 
conjunctiva and the profuse discharge, which are the characteristics 
of the disease. These indications are met best in the following man- 
ner : Hourly cleansing of the eyes with an antiseptic solution, pref- 
erably bichloride of mercury (1 : 8000), formaldehyde 1-3000, or a 
saturated solution of boric acid. During the acute inflammatory stage, 
and before the discharge is profuse, astringents and cauterants must 
not be applied. When this stage has arrived and the conjunctiva is 
profusely covered with discharge, the lids should be carefully everted 
once a day, wiped clean of every particle of pus, and carefully touched 
with a solution of nitrate of silver (10 to 20 grains to the ounce 
[0.65 : 32.0]), and the excess neutralized with a few drops of a solu- 
tion of common table salt. In the early stages iced compresses wrung 
out of carbolized water and frequently changed will help to reduce the 
reaction, or these compresses may be made by placing squares of lint 
upon a block of ice and thus securing intense cold. If the vitality of the 
cornea is threatened, it is advisable, in many instances, to substitute 
for the cold applications hot compresses of a temperature of 110° F. 
These may be applied for from ten to twenty minutes every two or 
four hours, according to the exigencies of the case. The appearance 
of ulceration in the cornea calls for the use of atropine or eserine. 
Atropine was formerly employed almost exclusively ; in recent times 
great success has followed the adoption of eserine. This is especially 
applicable if the ulceration should form in the periphery of the 
cornea. In adults high reaction and violent inflammation may be 
alleviated by the use of leeches to the temple. Bleeding of any sort 
is not applicable to newborn infants. Other applications which have 
met with favor at the hands of various surgeons are solutions of sul- 
phocarbolic acid, sulphate of alum, sulphate of zinc, nitrate of silver, 
creolin (1 per cent.) and iodoform ointment. Peroxide of hydrogen 
is a good cleansing agent, but healing does not progress as favorably 
under its influence as with bichloride of mercury and nitrate of silver. 
Solutions of permanganate of potassium and aqua chlorini have many 
advocates. Mules has recommended a treatment w T ith alcohol and 
corrosive sublimate. The preventive method of treating ophthalmia 
neonatorum that has obtained the happiest results is that instituted by 



CONJUNCTIVITIS. 503 

Crede — namely, the dropping of a 2 per cent, solution of nitrate of 
silver into the eyes of the newborn infant. If one eye alone is 
attacked in gonorrhoeal ophthalmia, the other should be protected by 
covering it with Buller's shield, which consists of a watch-glass fixed 
in a square of plaster, which is carefully applied so that the crystal 
comes directly in front of the eye, and the plaster covers the sur- 
rounding area. 

Chronic Conjunctivitis may result from an antecedent acute inflam- 
mation of the conjunctiva or exist as an idiopathic affection, especially 
in elderly people, in whom it sometimes becomes a troublesome symp- 
tom, especially if complicating cataract. The characteristic lesions are 
roughness of the papillae of the conjunctiva, swelling of the caruncle, 
and soreness of the angles of the eyelids. There are no granulations, 
although the disease is sometimes inaccurately spoken of as granular 
lids. A soothing wash is indicated (10 grains of boric acid to the 
ounce [0.65 : 32.0] of water), to which may be added 2 grains (0.1) of 
cocaine, provided the cornea is not ulcerated, and for which a similar 
boric-acid lotion with 4 grains (0.3) of salt to the ounce (32.0) may be 
substituted. A very suitable local application is lapis divinus (sul- 
phate of copper 1 part, alum 1 part, nitrate of potassium 1 part, 
fused together, and camphor equal to one-fiftieth of the whole 
added. The mass is run into sticks, and the application made to the 
everted lips, or 1 grain (0.05) of the same preparation to the ounce 
(32.0) of water may be dropped into the eye). Other useful applica- 
tions are tannin and glycerin (10 grains to the ounce [0.65 : 32.0]), 
yellow-oxide of mercury salve, and alum crystal. If refractive error 
exist, this should be corrected. It is to be remembered that chronic 
conjunctivitis distinctly contraindicates any operative interference in 
the eye, as, for instance, cataract extraction. 

Lachrymal Conjunctivitis is a name given to a chronic form of 
inflammation of the conjunctiva, associated with obstruction in the 
lachrymal duct, and characterized by a tear-soaked appearance of the 
eye, small pustules at the roots of the lashes, and a gummy discharge 
along the palpebral margin. This can be cured only by relief of the 
stricture of the nasal duct which causes it, but may be alleviated with 
the same remedies recommended in the treatment of chronic conjunc- 
tivitis. Good results are reported from the use of pyoktanin. 

Follicular Conjunctivitis — a disease sometimes mistaken for granular 
lids, but having a distinct clinical difference, inasmuch as the swollen 
follicles are absorbed without the production of cicatricial changes in 
the conjunctiva — requires for its local treatment w T eak astringents and 
antiseptic lotions, and the application to the swollen follicles of an 
ointment of sulphate of copper (gr. J to the drachm [0.025 : 4.0]), 
dusting in calomel either alone or with equal parts of subnitrate of 
bismuth, or iodoform or aristol used in the same way. If the disease 
is stubborn, the swollen follicles should be crushed with forceps. 

This disease, or one analogous to it, is sometimes produced by the 
prolonged instillation of atropine, and less frequently by eserine and 
cocaine. If this is its cause, the drug must be suspended and the 
surface painted with an alum crystal. 



504 DISEASES. 

Granular Conjunctivitis. — This disease may be divided into acute 
and chronic granulations. In the former astringents and caustics are- 
inadvisable, the eyes requiring weak antiseptic solutions like boric 
acid or salicylic acid and the instillation of atropine. Leeches to the 
temple will aid in reducing the inflammatory reaction. In the chronic 
disease the object of treatment is to bring about absorption of the 
granulations which are its characteristic lesion, not by an application 
so caustic as to destroy the mucous membrane around them, but of 
sufficient vigor to produce healthy reaction. The following applica- 
tions comprise those which have been employed with the greatest 
success: 10-grain (0.65) solution of nitrate of silver if there is dis- 
charge, applied once a day with neutralization of the excess ; sulphate 
of copper in the form of a crystal, carefully applied to the everted 
lids and the retrotarsal folds ; glycerole of tannin (tannic acid 
grs. 30 [2.0], glycerin 1 oz. [32.0]), best applied with a cotton 
applicator ; boroglyceride from 20 to 50 per cent, according to 
the vigor of the granulations. Strong solutions of corrosive sub- 
limate are employed in the following manner : Solutions of the 
strength of 1 : 300 or 1 : 500 are painted on the everted lids every 
second day, the pain of the application being alleviated by the pre- 
vious instillation of cocaine, while three times daily the eyes are 
irrigated thoroughly with a solution of the mercury salt, 1 : 7000. 
Among the many other applications which may be used in this disease 
the following may be mentioned : liquor potassa, beta-naphthol, iodo- 
form or aristol in powder or salve, an ointment of the yellow oxide 
of mercury, calomel, and hydrastin. The surgical means which are 
employed to destroy the granulations are scarification of the con- 
junctiva, an inadvisable method ; excision of the granulations, use- 
ful if these exist in isolated groups ; crushing the granulations with 
specially devised forceps, a method often followed by satisfactory 
results ; scarification, followed by a vigorous brushing of the affected 
tissue with a brush containing short bristles, previously dipped in a 
strong (1 : 500) solution of corrosive sublimate (Grattage) ; electrolysis ; 
and excision of the fornix conjunctiva. In long-standing cases asso- 
ciated with inveterate pannus De Wecker has proposed the use of an 
infusion of jequirity (3 per cent.). This produces an intense mem- 
branous conjunctivitis, which must be treated by iced compresses or 
similar measures to reduce its reaction, but when it has subsided the 
pannus is often relieved. This method has not been employed in 
recent times to the extent that it was practised when first introduced. 

Diphtheritic Conjunctivitis is rare in this country, but on the con- 
tinent of Europe occasionally occurs as an epidemic. It may appear 
alone or in association with diphtheria of the throat and nose. The 
initial subjective symptoms are those of purulent ophthalmia; the 
characteristic objective symptoms, a board-like infiltration of the lids 
with a deposit of gray membrane upon the palpebral conjunctiva. 
More than in any other eye disease destructive inflammation of the 
cornea is threatened. In the early stages the eye should be fre- 
quently cleansed with boric-acid or bichloride-of-mercury solutions, 
and atropine instilled, while hot compresses help to maintain the 



CONSTIPATION. 505 

nutrition of the cornea more perfectly than the cold compresses which 
were formerly recommended for antiphlogistic purposes. Tweedie 
has highly recommended a solution of quinine (3 grains to the ounce 
[0.25 : 32.0]); Burgomaster, insufflation of flowers of sulphur ; while 
in France the local application of lemon-juice or citric-acid ointment 
has been endorsed ; Galezowski uses oil of cade (1 : 10). In the 
early stages all caustics are contraindicated ; after absorption of the 
membrane and re-establishment of the discharge the cautious use of 
nitrate of silver in the manner described under Purulent Ophthalmia 
may be employed. The constitutional measures for diphtheria are 
necessary and the best treatment is the employment of injections of 
diphtheria antitoxin. 

Chemosis of the Conjunctiva, in which this membrane is infiltrated 
with serum, is usually a symptom of other ocular disorders, and sub- 
sides with the general treatment directed to their relief. Good results 
may follow nicking the swollen tissue with a pair of scissors, the 
application of a warm, moist compress, and the use of astringents, 
especially alum. 

Hemorrhage beneath the Conjunctiva (subconjunctival ecchymosis) 
may follow an injury, occur during a paroxysm of whooping cough, 
and occasionally, in elderly people, may appear spontaneously. No 
treatment materially hastens the absorption of the blood, unless it be 
massage of the globe through the closed lid; any associated conjunc- 
tival irritation may call for a boric-acid and cocaine wash. 

Xerosis of the Conjunctiva, depending upon a cicatricial metamor- 
phosis and the absence of normal moisture, is seen after long-standing 
inflammations (granular lids, diphtheria, pemphigus), and is incur- 
able. The affection may be relieved by the local use of glycerin, 
almond oil, emulsion of cod-liver oil, or the use of weak alkaline 
solutions. Transplantation of the rabbit's conjunctiva has been 
tried without success. 



CONSTIPATION. 

This troublesome state depends on a number of causes, the most 
common of which is the following of a sedentary life totally devoid 
of the exercise intended to keep the intestinal and hepatic secretions 
in an active state. Another frequent cause is simple laziness, which 
causes the patient to resist the call of the bowel for evacuation until 
this part of the body becomes indolent and atonic, while modesty 
often causes constipation in females, because a woman prefers to suf- 
fer rather than go to a closet which may be somewhat publicly sit- 
uated. In other instances constipation seems to be hereditary, and 
to depend upon deficient nerve-supply or muscular weakness and lack 
of secretion in the lower bowel, or upon hepatic torpor. 

Whatever the causes are, they should be sought for, and, if pos- 
sible, removed, the physician not being content to order purgatives, 
which, while they may give temporary relief, soon lose their power. 

Further than this, it must be remembered that hygienic measures 



506 DISEASES. 

always take first place in the method of treatment, and, if possible, 
drugs should occupy a very secondary rble. Particular attention 
should be paid to diet, and the physiology of peristalsis must be well 
borne in mind. 

It has been proved by a large number of studies, both in the nor- 
mal intestine and by the use of purgatives, that peristalsis is almost 
entirely a reflex action depending for its existence upon the integrity 
of the nervous plexuses in the intestinal walls — namely, those of 
Auerbach and Meissner — the first of which are situated between the 
longitudinal and circular muscular fibres which they supply, the latter 
existing in the submucosa and supplying the walls of the villi, the 
glands of Lieberkiihn, and the small arteries and venules. 

It has also been found that the vagus nerve, when stimulated 
reflexly or directly, increases peristalsis, and that moderate stimula- 
tion of the splanchnic nerves decreases it. 1 It at once becomes evi- 
dent that any decrease in the normal activity of these nerves and 
nerve-centres must speedily result in constipation, and the costive 
condition consequent upon hepatic torpor is due to the fact that the 
intestinal walls do not receive the proper stimulation from the bile to 
set in motion a reflex peristaltic wave the result of which will be 
evacuation. This fact rests upon the results of direct experiments, 
which prove the bile to be primarily an intestinal stimulant, antisep- 
tic, and promoter of secretion. 

Other series of experiments have shown that the circulation of the 
blood through the intestines greatly influences peristalsis, and disor- 
ders in the blood-supply readily bring on intestinal disorder. 

The deductions to be drawn from these facts are many. In the 
first place, it is evident that the maintenance of an active, normal 
circulation of blood in the abdomen and a free pouring out of bile 
from the liver and gall-bladder are necessary to a healthy peristalsis; 
and we find that, aside from drugs, we have a number of remedial 
measures which are to be resorted to according to the means of the 
patient. By far the best of these is horseback exercise for at least 
an hour a day or every other day, which by the motion actively stirs 
up and excites the abdominal viscera as no other measure can do. If 
for any reason horseback exercise is impossible, then abdominal mas< 
sage, carried out by a capable "rubber," is to be tried, the hands fol- 
lowing more particularly the course of the ascending, transverse, and 
descending colon, the kneading movements being also applied to the 
hypochondriac regions. If neither of these measures can be used, 
then the patient must resort to those gymnastic movements which 
involve the abdominal muscles, either by the use of dumb-bells or 
pulleys, such as are sold under the name of "home gymnasiums," or 
by bending the body forward, backward, and laterally, with the fists 
pressed into the hypogastrium. 

At the same time that these measures are directed the diet of the 
patient must be so regulated that the food shall contain a large amount 

1 Some persons believe that Meissner's plexus receives impulses from the walls of 
the intestine and transmits them to the motor plexus of Auerbach, which then sets in 
motion peristalsis. 



CONSTIPATION. 507 

of residue — that is, after digestion enough of the husk of the grain or 
enough vegetable fibre must be left free in the intestines to form a 
stimulus to the intestinal wall as it slips over the mucous membrane. 
If a meat diet is largely used, so little residue is left after digestion 
that constipation ensues, but if vegetables are largely eaten the reverse 
is the case. No better evidence of this can be adduced than the hard, 
clay -like passages of the dog and the soft passages of the cow. Very 
often a plateful of cracked wheat (wheaten grits) eaten at breakfast 
each morning, or the use of bran bread, will relieve a chronic tendency 
to constipation. In these cases milk as a prominent article of diet is 
to be avoided above all things, since it is almost entirely assimilated 
and leaves no residue, though it supplants other foods. Green or 
canned corn is of great service. Fruits do good in constipation in 
one of two ways — they either contain residual materials or sufficient 
vegetable acid salts to be laxative. Figs, by reason of their many 
small seeds, which scrape the mucous membrane during peristalsis, 
are particularly valuable, and apples, prunes, dates, and tamarinds 
are all useful. It must be remembered that strawberries, raspberries, 
and blackberries are generally constipating rather than purgative. 
In regard to drink, nothing is so good as a glass of cold water taken 
on arising in the morning or just before breakfast, or, if the cold 
cannot be borne, then a glass of as hot water as can be swallowed 
with comfort may be substituted. Coffee is constipating to most per- 
sons, largely because of its empyreumatic oil, and tea has the same 
tendency because of its tannic acid. Brandy, as every one knows, 
is distinctly constipating, and whiskey possesses so little power to the 
contrary as to be devoid of influence in either direction. Beers differ 
in their properties, some of them increasing and some of them decreas- 
ing intestinal activity. 

The patient suffering from constipation should go to stool regularly 
after breakfast every day even if the attempt is abortive, and so train 
the bowel to having a movement at this time. 

The use of drugs for the relief of constipation is capable of division 
into two parts : first, the employment of remedies to unload the bowel, 
which has become filled ; second, the use of drugs which will so influ- 
ence the intestines as to cause evacuation and produce normal activity, 
or, in other words, drugs which will cure the tendency instead of 
giving temporary relief. Of the first class we find the various pur- 
gative salts, jalap, colocynth, senna, mercury, castor oil, and rhu- 
barb ; of the second class, aloes, cascara sagrada, manna, tamarinds, 
rhamnus frangula (buckthorn), phosphate of sodium, and small doses 
of podophyllin. The physician should bear in mind that defecation 
is a normal physiological act which must be continued all through 
life, and it is almost as foolish to stimulate the bowel continuously to 
peristalsis as to perpetually employ heart stimulants or respiratory 
excitants. 

Although they are habitually employed by many persons in daily 
doses, the purgative salts are exceedingly harmful in such instances, 
rapidly losing their power and decreasing the patient's strength by 
the abstraction of liquids and salts from the blood. They often pro- 



508 DISEASES. 

duce anaemia when constantly used. These salines are to be employed 
simply to unload the bowel when an excess of faecal matter has accu- 
mulated or when irritant materials are to be swept out of the aliment- 
ary canal. In some cases of pelvic congestion associated with con- 
stipation magnesium sulphate may be given by enema in the propor- 
tion of 2 ounces (64.0) of the salt, 1 ounce (32.0) of glycerin, and 4 
ounces (128.0) of water. In some rare instances, where great pleth- 
ora exists, a course of Hunyadi water, Friedrichshall or Carlsbad 
waters is of service, but these instances are rare indeed in America. 
Jalap, colocynth, and senna are not to be used constantly, as they 
are too active and the reaction from their effects causes constipation. 
Rhubarb is commonly used, but is of its class peculiarly unfitted to 
its task. Although it purges, it is distinctly astringent, and is there- 
fore more constipating in the end than if no drug had been used. 

Mercury is exceedingly harmful if used continuously as a purge, and 
is the cause of much ill-health, of bad teeth, and of digestive troubles. 
Castor oil is notorious for its tendency to cause ultimate constipation. 

Of the curative class of laxatives none compare to cascara sagrada, 
particularly in the form of the aromatic fluid extract or cascara cor- 
dial. Originally, this drug as prepared was very bitter, but it is now 
made almost tasteless by certain manufacturers. This is the only drug 
which alone moves the bowels and at the same time tends to make 
future passages more easy and regular ; the dose is 10 to 40 drops 
(0.65-2.65) of the fluid extract or 1 to 6 drachms (4.0-24.0) of the 
cordial. There is almost no griping produced by it. For the regula- 
tion of the bowels of young children, particularly if the case have a 
tendency to rickets, phosphate of sodium in the dose of 5 to 10 grains 
(0.35-0.65) in milk is the best laxative, and the same salt may be used 
in 30- to 60-grain (2.0-4.0) doses in adults. Manna is to be classed 
as a laxative, but even it sometimes makes the intestinal torpidity 
ultimately much worse. The two remaining drugs of this class, aloes 
and podophyllin, should always be used in combination with other non- 
purgative drugs, as is seen in the following formula : 

R. — Aloes socotrinae gr. xx vel xl (1.3-2.65). 

Extract, nucis vomicae gr. iv (0.3). 

Extract, physostig gr. iij (0.25). 

Extract, belladonnae gr. iv (0.3). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One pill at night or night and morning. 

Or, 

Be, . — Kesinae podophylli gr. ij vel iv (0.1-0.3). 

Extract, nucis vomicae gr. iv (0.3). 

Extract, physostig. ... ... gr. iij (0.25). 

Extract, beiladonnae gr. iv. (0.3). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One night and morning. 

The object of using several of these drugs is seen at a glance. 
We have already learned that nearly all purgatives tend to produce 
griping. The nux vomica acts as a bitter tonic and stimulant, and 
prevents subsequent atony of the mucous membrane, as well as increases 
reflex action, and consequently improves peristalsis ; the physostigma 
is a tonic to the unstriped muscular fibre and gives it strength ; the 



CORNS. 509 

belladonna aids peristalsis by depressing the inhibitory fibres of the 
splanchnic nerves, by allaying spasm, and by decreasing griping. In 
using these drugs, aloes and podophyllin, we should remember that 
aloes is slow and acts particularly on the lower bowel, and that podo- 
phyllin acts chiefly on the upper bowel and is the slowest purge in 
the list of purges. 

In obstinate constipation we are sometimes forced to resort to the 
compound cathartic pill of the TJ. S. P., or its modified form known as 
the u Pilula cathartica vegetabilis " (see Colocynth). After the bowels 
have been well emptied by this pill we can often regulate them by cas- 
cara sagrada with or without other laxatives, and by prescribing a 
proper diet and exercise. 

In the flatulence of old persons associated with constipation a 
little asafoetida or capsicum should be added to the pill of aloes 
just named. 

In some instances constipation arises from reflex irritation or from 
ovarian or bladder trouble or from chronic lead poisoning. This form 
of constipation may resist all purgatives and yield to opium or to 
tobacco, which quiets reflex action. Tobacco depresses the inhibitory 
nerves of the gut, and devotees of the " weed " often use it as a lax- 
ative. 

The employment of enemata as a routine practice is to be discour- 
aged. In cases where it is necessary to use them for temporary relief 
and to get rid of flatulence, a little soap, common "salt, or a few drops 
of turpentine may be added to the water. Recently the injection of 
glycerin (1 to 2 ounces [32.0-64.0]) has been largely resorted to, 
either pure or diluted one-half, and this method has been improved 
upon by the use of glycerin suppositories containing many drops of 
the drug. Glycerin acts in these cases as an irritant to the mucous 
membrane, and causes secretion by this means and by its abstraction 
of water from the tissues by reason of its hygroscopic powers. It is 
capable, however, of causing a good deal of rectal irritation in some 
persons. 



CORNS. 

These troublesome formations are best treated by the use of sali- 
cylic acid, the following formula being applied night and morning for 
several days, after which the part should be well soaked in hot water, 
when the entire corn will readily come away, or in some cases several 
attempts will be necessary : 

R— Acid, salicylic gr. xxx (2.0). 

Extract, cannab. indicse gr. x (0.65). 

Collodii f ^ss (16.0).— M. 

S. — Apply with a camel's-hair brush. 

The same acid may be used in alcohol, and lactic acid in the same 
proportion is often of service. 

In the so-called "soft corns," with much inflammation, the foot 



510 DISEASES. 

should be washed and dried, and a saturated solution of nitrate of 
silver, 60 grains (4.0) to 2 drachms (8.0), applied to the part every 
four or five days. 

CORYZA (ACUTE). 

The treatment of coryza of the acute variety, the form which most 
frequently presents itself to the physician for relief, is followed in 
many instances by such marked amelioration of the symptoms and 
shortening of the attack as to encourage medical interference. It 
must be remembered, however, that the duration of the condition 
before the patient presents himself has much to do with the progno- 
sis, for if the tissues of the nasal chambers have become boggy and 
swollen with exudation recovery must be more prolonged than if rem- 
edies are applied in the early stages of the catarrhal process. The 
treatment locally consists in the following measures for relief: By 
means of a medicine-dropper or an atomizer a few minims of a 4 per 
cent, solution of cocaine are dropped into the nostrils, the patient's 
head being well tipped back. After the peculiar constringing influ- 
ence of the cocaine has shrunken the congested mucous membrane, 
so that the patient can draw air through the nostrils, the nasal cham- 
bers should be washed clean of mucus by means of the following 
lotion in an atomizer: 

R. — Sodii chloridi gr. xv (1.0). 

Acid, boric gr. x (0.65). 

Sodii borat gr. x (0.65). 

Aquae dest f^iij (96.0).— M. 

The parts being thoroughly cleansed, a fine spray of the following 
should be used as antiseptic, sedative, anaesthetic, and protective : 

R. — Menthol gr. viij (0.5). 

Camphor gr. v (0.3). 

Albolene fgj (32.0).— M. 

In this prescription the menthol exerts an anaesthetic effect, and pro- 
longs the constriction of the parts produced by the cocaine, so avoid- 
ing the secondary capillary dilatation due to that drug. The camphor 
exercises its well-known soothing influence, and the albolene protects 
the membrane from dust and irritants. If the congestion has a tend- 
ency to return, it is well to use a solution of antipyrin, 2 to 4 grains to 
the ounce (0.1-1.2 : 32.0) of water, as a spray to prolong still further 
the effect of the cocaine. The albolene spray should follow, not pre- 
cede, the antipyrin, as the oil would prevent the antipyrin from acting. 
Under no circumstances should the antipyrin be used without the 
cocaine preceding it, as the pain is too severe. 

The internal treatment consists in the very beginning of the attack 
in the use of the formula for this purpose composed of belladonna, 
camphor, and quinine, and recommended in the article on Camphor. 
A hot foot-bath, with mustard in it, and the taking of a hot drink, 
such as lemonade with whiskey in it, on going to bed, are useful. Often 
20 or 30 drops (1.3-2.0) of sweet spirit of nitre added to this drink 



CROUP, SPASMODIC. 511 

will increase its diaphoretic effect. In other cases, particularly in 
strong, hearty men, 5 to 10 grains (0.3-0.65) of Dover's powder at 
bed-time will be better. This line of treatment is of little value after 
secretion has been fairly established, and in its place supportive meas- 
ures are indicated. Small tonic doses of quinine, 2 to 4 grains (0.1- 
0.2) three times daily, sometimes combined with the use of 5 to 10 
grains (0.3-0.65) of chloride of ammonium, as prescribed in the article 
on Bronchitis, are useful. Where much headache is present full doses 
of the bromide of potassium or sodium are to be given, and the spray 
treatment already named is to be persisted in while the attack lasts. 



CROUP. 

(See Diphtheria.) 

CROUP (SPASMODIC). 

As this is a spasm of the glottis depending for its causation upon 
catarrh of the mucous membrane of the larynx, and as it is due most 
commonly to some reflex irritation, such as dentition, indigestible 
food, or sudden atmospheric changes, the treatment is both prophy- 
lactic and curative. Prophylaxis consists in the avoidance of cold, 
the use of a simple diet, particularly at the evening meal, the render- 
ing of the air of the bedroom moist by means of steam or at least by 
the avoidance of dust-laden, furnace-heated air, and by the removal 
of dental irritation and nasal hypertrophies, which make the child a 
" mouth-breather." Small doses of the bromides, chloral, belladonna, 
or opium may be resorted to at bed-time. A very useful prescription 
for this purpose is that which follows : 

R.— Sodii bromidi *£j (4.0). 

Syrupi lactucarii . fjfij (64.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful to a dessertspoonful (4.0-8.0) on going to bed, and once or twice dur- 
ing the night if needed. 

When the attack is present a cold cloth should be wrapped about 
the neck and the child placed at once in a hot bath, the air of the 
room being moistened by the steam escaping from a kettle of boiling 
water or by pouring water upon unslaked lime. If the paroxysm is 
very severe, a few whiffs of amyl nitrite may be employed, or anti- 
monial wine in the dose of 2 drachms (8.0) may be used to cause vom- 
iting. It is also useful to disseminate the fumes of menthol through 
the air of the room by heating some crystals in an iron spoon. If 
the fumes are strong enough to produce a distinct odor, they are 
present in sufficient amount. 

The drugs first named do good by decreasing reflex excitability, 
while the emetics indirectly relax the spasm by the nausea and 
depression which they produce. 



512 DISEASES. 



CYSTITIS (ACUTE). 

If, by reason of exposure to cold, injury, the introduction of for- 
eign bodies, such as dirty catheters, or the presence of gonorrhoea or 
other disease due to a septic poison, an acute inflammation of the 
bladder ensues, it is accompanied by a sensation of weight and ves- 
ical fulness, by pain, tenesmus, and inability to retain the urine. 
Sometimes the last-named condition may be reversed and retention 
of the urine be present. 

If the general system responds to the local inflammation, as evi- 
denced by increased arterial excitement and fever, aconite in full 
doses of the tincture should be used, and it should be combined with 
small amounts of sweet spirit of nitre and citrate of potassium, as 
follows : 

R.— Tinct. aconiti . . f^j (4.0). 

Spirit, aether, nitrosi f^j (32.0). 

Liquor potassii citratis q. s. ad f^vj (192.0) — M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every four hours until all fever ceases and the pulse is quiet. 

At the same time a hot compress should be applied over the blad- 
der, but it should not contain turpentine or any irritant substance 
which may be absorbed from the skin and when eliminated by the 
kidneys irritate the bladder-walls. Leeches may be placed upon the 
perineum or cups applied to the region of the sacrum. In some cases 
belladonna may be used with or without aconite in the dose of 5 to 
10 drops (0.65) of the tincture three times a day, and it is worthy of 
note that this drug is particularly serviceable in the cystitis due to 
cold ; 5 drops of liquor potassa every four hours may be substituted 
for the citrate of potassium, or the acetate of potassium may be used. 
If there is much pain and bearing-down, an enema of 30 drops (2.0) 
of laudanum in 2 ounces (64.0) of starch-water may be employed, 
or the opium may be given in suppository. 

Sometimes a belladonna suppository is of more service, and an 
iodoform suppository will often relieve the pain by its local anaes- 
thetic effects. Hot enemata, without any drugs, are often valuable 
as a means of relief, and a hot sitz-bath is very efficacious. Can- 
nabis indica, if an active preparation can be had, is better than opium 
to relieve the pain, since it seems to affect the bladder favorably. 
The other curative measures are hygienic, and consist in the main- 
tenance of the recumbent posture, absolute physical and mental rest, 
the avoidance of all foods which are stimulating, as rare meats and 
highly-seasoned dishes, and abstinence from all varieties of alcoholic 
beverages. 

Should the inflammation be severe enough to become purulent, 
the physician should order salol in the dose of 10 grains (0.65) three 
times a day. This drug, being broken up in the bowel into carbolic 
acid and salicylic acid, is so eliminated that it renders the urine anti- 
septic. 

Laxatives are to be employed with persistence if the bowels are 



CYSTITIS, CHRONIC. 513 

confined, and salines in the early stages are generally better than 
vegetable purges. 

Quinine should not be used against the fever, as it is contraindi- 
cated, owing to its irritant effects upon the bladder. 



CYSTITIS (CHRONIC). 

The treatment of chronic cystitis is entirely different from that of 
the acute form, and consists in the use of remedies which will stim- 
ulate the diseased mucous membrane, cause a normal secretion of 
mucus, and so influence the urine that the mucus already formed will 
be passed out and the fluid rendered alkaline or acid, as may be 
desired. When the secretion of mucus in large amount is persistent, 
the urine should be rendered alkaline by the use of liquor potassa or 
the citrate. The bitartrate of potassium, unlike the other vegetable 
salts of potassium, such as the acetate or bicarbonate, is eliminated as 
the bitartrate of potassium, and, as it is acid, cannot be employed. 

We acidify the urine when it is necessary to dissolve the phosphates 
and to prevent deposits in the bladder and elsewhere. The two best 
drugs for this purpose are boric acid in the dose of 5 to 10 grains (0.35- 
0.65) or benzoic acid in the same amount. Both of these may be given 
in pill form, made by adding a little glycerin. The rule may be laid 
down that if the urine is high-colored and is strongly acid, alkalies are 
useful ; whereas if it is light in color, but loaded with phosphates, the 
acids named should be employed. Salol may be given to prevent de- 
composition of the urine. 

One of the best measures for the relief of chronic cystitis is to irri- 
gate the bladder daily with pure warm w T ater or water containing bichlo- 
ride of mercury in the proportion of 1 : 10,000, as this washes away all 
mucus and uric-acid deposits and prevents irritation. Solutions of 
nitrate of silver have been used with great success where the urine is 
muco-purulent, and Thompson recommends the use of a solution of the 
strength of 1 grain to 4 ounces (0.05 : 128.0) of water, gradually 
increased to 2 grains to the ounce (0.1 : 32.0). Others, such as Gard- 
ner, Richardson, and Potter, recommend the use of stronger solutions, 
5 grains to the ounce (0.35 : 32.0) of w r ater, claiming that while these 
amounts may produce serious effects in some instances, they are very 
efficacious in obstinate cases. The physician should have at hand a 
solution of common salt, which he should inject into the bladder at 
once if the effect of the silver solution is too painful or seems excessive. 
This treatment is only suited to the most chronic cases. 

The remaining remedies which are employed internally in chronic 
cystitis are those which are directed to the improvement of the mucous 
membrane of the bladder, and consist of buchu in the form of the 
fluid extract in the dose of J to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0), well diluted; 
arbutin or ursin, 3 to 5 grains (0.25-0.35); or the fluid extract of 
uva ursi, dose 30 drops to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0). All of these are better 
fitted for the treatment of subacute than chronic cystitis, as they are 
not sufficiently active for the chronic forms. 

33 



514 DISEASES. 

In cystitis of a very chronic type, with great vesical atony, strych- 
nine is of service, and drop-doses of tincture of cantharides do great 
good. Turpentine may also be used with advantage in 5- to 20-drop 
(0.3-1.3) doses, as may also the oils of eucalyptus, sandalwood, cubebs, 
and copaiba. 

All these measures are suitable for the treatment of cystitis in the 
male and female, but it is to be noted that injections into the female 
bladder are made much more readily than into that of the male, because 
of the shortness of the female urethra. In either case the operation 
is best performed by attaching a small funnel to a soft-rubber catheter 
and filling the bladder by raising the funnel when full of water above 
the patient's belly. Creolin has been highly recommended by Parvin 
in the strength of from 1 to 2 per cent, with water. The irrigation is 
to be performed every twenty-four hours. 

DIABETES INSIPIDUS. 

Diabetes insipidus exists simply as a profuse urinary flow dependent 
upon some disorder of the innervation of the kidney or upon atony or 
relaxation of this organ. Its treatment consists in the use of astringents 
and tonics, and in some cases in the employment of opium or bella- 
donna, particularly if the over-secretion rests upon nervous irritability. 
Gallic acid may be used in 20-grain (1.3) powders three times a day, 
and the fluid extract or wine of ergot is often of service given in the 
dose of 30 drops to a drachm (2.0-4.0) of the former or a wineglassful 
(32.0) of the latter. As tonics the sulphate of iron and strychnine are 
indicated. 

DIABETES MELLITUS. 

In the treatment of this affection it should be remembered that it is 
the result of disordered function, and is not a disease in itself, but a 
symptom of several disease-processes. For this reason a remedy which 
succeeds in one case may fail in another. 

The treatment of diabetes mellitus is dietetic and medicinal. The 
diet-list should consist largely of meat, particularly of meat with 
fat attached to it, as the fat, to some extent, takes the place of 
starch in the nutrition of the body. The avoidance of starches of all 
kinds and the use of dry wines or those containing little or no sugar 
are to be insisted upon. Beers and malt liquors must be forbidden. 
According to some authorities, the patient should be placed in bed 
and put on a purely milk diet, generally of skimmed milk, although 
buttermilk is better than any other form, owing to its lactic acid and 
lack of sugar. Koumyss for the same reason is very valuable. The 
chief aim of the patient must be to avoid all substances which can 
be readily converted into sugar by the organism. 

The following list of foods and drinks may be taken, and the 
second list forbidden r 1 

1 It is'worthy of note that certain persons having a slight glycosuria without serious 
injury, waste under a limited diet, and require ordinary fare to support the body plus 
the diabetic drain. 



DIABETES MELLITUS. 515 

Meats of all kinds (except liver), eggs, fish, cheese, butter, and 
cream ; oyster-plant, asparagus (?), tomatoes, almonds, pecan nuts, 
butternuts, walnuts, and cocoanuts ; string-beans, beet tops, radishes, 
mushrooms, lettuce and water-cress, cauliflower, spinach, and onions. 
Celery and cucumbers may also be permitted. 

Of the foods and drinks to be avoided, we have all forms of sugar, 
all forms of starch, such as ordinary flour, cornmeal, arrowroot, sago, 
tapioca, oatmeal, barley, carrots, beets, parsnips, pie-plant, peas and 
beans, chestnuts, and most of the fresh fruits, cider, beers, champagne, 
sweet wines, and honey. 

The treatment of diabetes by drugs is varied by the condition of 
the patient, the cause of his disease, and the quantity of sugar in the 
urine. While the drugs most commonly employed are used in many 
instances without any knowledge of how they act, and have each of 
them a set of warm supporters among prominent authorities, much of 
the treatment must depend upon whether or not a rheumatic or gouty 
taint is the cause of the trouble, or whether it is due to high living, 
little exercise, producing a plethoric, congested, overloaded system. In 
the first class of cases iodide of potassium and the salicylates will be 
most serviceable ; in the second class, a restricted diet, moderate exer- 
cise, and purgation to relieve engorgement of the hepatic and gastric 
veins may be needed. In the cases of gouty diabetes, where relief 
does not follow the use of the iodides and colchicum, resort must be 
had to arsenic and lithium citrate or carbonate, a combination pecu- 
liarly adapted to such a condition, according to several authorities. 
Indeed, arsenic is a sheet-anchor with many practitioners in all forms 
of diabetes, and should be given in fairly large, constantly-repeated 
doses for a long time. A very much larger body of medical men rely 
on opium or one of its alkaloids, such Jat morphine or codeine. The 
former is used in the dose of ^ to J grain (0.015-0.03) three times a 
day; the latter, 1 to 5 grains (0.05-0.3) three times a day, and the 
writer has found them very useful. The morphine is by far the most 
powerful for good. Patients who are diabetic must take large ascend- 
ing doses of opiates, which they bear very well. The chloride of gold 
and sodium (^ grain [0.006]) has been highly recommended by Bar- 
tholow, and ergot by Wood and DaCosta. In cases depending upon 
rheumatism the use of salicylic acid is often of great value, the dose 
being 10 to 15 grains (0.65-1.0) three times a day. 

In cases of diabetes in which diet will control the disease the best 
clinicians insist that drugs should be avoided, for when opium or any 
of its alkaloids are used it is necessary to give rapidly-increasing 
doses, which finally become enormous, as much as 7 grains (0.6) of 
morphine a day being taken by some persons. Once having begun 
the use of drugs in severe cases, it is very dangerous to stop them, 
for clinical experience has shown that many of these patients waste 
rapidly and generally break down when this is done. In regard to 
the time of day at which to give the morphine or codeine, they are gen- 
erally given about one hour after meals. Under these circumstances 
the drugs seem to decrease diuresis more than if the dose precedes the 
meal ; further than this, the stomach is not disordered. In some 



516 DISEASES. 

cases results will be obtained from opium when its individual alka- 
loids fail. Careful observation of the patient should be carried out 
to determine the proper beginning and subsequent doses, and if 
at first the opiates fail to give relief, discouragement should not be 
felt. 

Jambul is a remedy which has been widely used by clinicians for 
the relief of diabetes with such varying results that its position in 
therapeutics is uncertain. This is probably because it is effective in 
one form of diabetes and not in another, and we are unable to make 
the clinical distinction. Jambul is used in powder or the powder is 
placed in capsules or pills. The dose is 5 to 30 grains (0.3-2.0) once 
to thrice daily, and gradually increased. As much as an ounce (32.0) 
has been given in twenty-four hours. This medicament is said to be 
advantageously combined with a pure meat diet in diabetic cases. 

The excessive thirst of diabetes can be best allayed by the use 
of acidulated water or alkaline waters containing non-purgative salts. 
It is useless to cut off the water-supply, to the production of great 
suffering, but the patient should use moderation in drinking so far as 
possible. 

The wasting coming on in diabetes is to be treated by careful 
diet, rest, and the supply of all the food which the patient can 
digest. In many instances the amount of aliment ingested is extra- 
ordinarily large, while in others digestion is so impaired that food 
cannot be taken. 

If cachexia comes on, iron, strychnine, bitter tonics, and the lacto- 
phosphates of lime and sodium are to be used to support the circulatory 
and nervous systems. Tea and coffee and all forms of food needing 
sweetening may be rendered palatable by the use of saccharin or of 
glycerin. The former passes through the body unchanged ; the latter 
increases the glycogen in the liver, but checks the formation of sugar 
(Ransom). 

Unfortunately, we have no positive knowledge as to the minute 
and innermost causes of diabetes, and in consequence cannot ex- 
plain the manner in which opium, codeine, or other drugs produce 
relief. 

Diabetic coma is a most dangerous complication of this disease, 
and should be treated as actively as our knowledge of its cause per- 
mits. It is thought by some that the symptoms are entirely dependent 
upon the presence in the blood of oxybutyric acid, and that hypo- 
dermoclysis or the intravenous injection of normal saline solution 
(7 : 1000) should be resorted to. Stadelman insists upon the employ- 
ment intravenously of 150 cc. of normal salt solution to which 7.2 
gm. of sodium carbonate and 4.6 gm. of sodium bicarbonate have 
been added. The injection is continued until the urine is alkaline. 
Unfortunately, the statistics of this method of treatment are not good 
so far as permanent recovery is concerned, but some form of transfusion 
should be used. (See Transfusion.) Hypodermic injections of ether 
should be resorted to to support the heart. 



DIARRHCEA AND DYSENTERY. 517 



DIARRHCEA AND DYSENTERY. 1 

Diarrhoea is a term loosely applied, perfectly correctly, to all forms 
of intestinal disturbance accompanied by the passage of liquid stools, 
and its meaning, "to run through," expresses the state it repre- 
sents. 

The treatment of each form of diarrhoea depends upon its cause, 
and no case can be intelligently treated in which the physician fails 
to recognize this aspect of the case. Diarrhoea is but a symptom, not 
a disease, and must be regarded solely as an evidence of intestinal 
disorder. 

While the same drugs are prescribed in many forms of the trouble, 
we may divide cases of diarrhoea into four classes, as follows : (a) 
Those in which the laxity is due to a catarrh, acute or chronic, of 
the intestinal mucous membranes, causing the passages to contain 
mucus ; (b) those where, owing to disordered innervation, a profuse 
outpouring of liquid takes place from the blood-vessels into the 
intestinal lumen ; (<?) those in which, owing to disease, the glands 
fail to prepare juices to digest the food properly ; and, finally (d) those 
cases where ulceration causes irritation and bloody purging. 

The treatment of the catarrhal form first named consists primarily 
in the regulation of the diet, which should be made up chiefly of milk, 
boiled or predigested, or of milk whey, and in the administration of 
castor oil or other mild purge, such as sulphate of magnesium, to 
sweep out fermenting food and mucus. Enough laudanum should 
accompany this oil to prevent griping, and it is well to add bicarbon- 
ate of sodium, grains 20 to 30 (1.3-2.0) to the dose, both to aid the 
action of the oil and to render the bowel alkaline in reaction (normal) 
instead of acid, as caused by the fermentation abnormally present. 
A mustard plaster or other counter-irritant should be applied to the 
abdomen. Often in the milder forms of mucous diarrhoea this is all 
that is needed, but more frequently it must be followed by the use of 
tonics and astringents, such as nitrate of silver and hyoscyamus, in 
the following pill : 

J&. — Argenti nitratis gr. ij (0.1). 

Extract, hyoscyami gr. v (0.3). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. x. 
S. — One three times a day. 

Or, 

R.— Plumbi acetatis gr- ij (0.1). 

Extract, opii gr. ij (0.1).— M. 

Ft. in pil. No. x. 
S. — One three times a day. 

If these stop the diarrhoea, yet there still seems to be a tendency 
for it to return or atony is present, we should use a pill containing 
the extract of chiretta or employ nitromuriatic acid, or, better still, 
dilute nitric acid and compound tincture of cardamoms, because the Con- 

1 The articles on Cholera, Cholera Morbus, and Cholera Infantum should be caret 
fully read in connection with this article. 



518 DISEASES. 

stant tendency to relapse indicates a deficient secretive action on the part 
of the intestinal glands, which these remedies are prone to improve : 

R.— Acid, nitric, dil f^j a (4.0). 

Tr. cardamomi comp f^ij (64.0). 

> Tr. gentian, comp f^ij (64.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every four hours. 

If the catarrhal state is persistent, no remedy compares to the 
chloride of ammonium, dose 5 grains (0.3) every four hours in liquorice 
and water. Where the catarrhal state is exceedingly chronic and 
obstinate it is well to employ 3- to 5-grain (0.15-0.3) doses of potas- 
sium iodide. 

If the pills already named do not control the diarrhoea, and the 
discharges are so profuse as to weaken the patient very greatly, the 
following prescription may be used to check the movements, but not 
to stop them completely : 

R. — Acid, sulph. aromat f^jss (6.0). 

Spt. chloroformi fgij (8.0). 

Tr. opii camphorat ffij (64.0). 

Syr. zingiberis . q. s. ad f^iv (128.0). — M. 

S.— Dessertspoonful (8.0) every two hours. 

Or, 

R.— Tr. kino f^j (32.0). 

Tr. catechu comp fjfj (32.0). 

Mistura? creta? f^iij (96.0). 

Aquse cinnamomi q. s. ad f^vj (192.0). — M. 

S. — Shake well before using. Tablespoonful (16.0) every three hours. 

In many cases where the condition of mucous diarrhoea becomes 
chronic it is necessary to resort to enteroclysis (Part III.) and the 
treatment needed in cases of chronic intestinal catarrh. (See Diar- 
rhoea, Chronic.) 

In the second form of diarrhoea named — that in which serous or 
watery purging is present — the treatment is radically different. In 
these cases the blood-vessels of the gut are relaxed and leaking, and 
must be contracted and made water-tight. This dilatation may result 
from fear ("nervous diarrhoea"), from exposure to cold, or from 
exhaustion, extreme heat, and irritant food. If from irritant foods, 
they are generally swept out in the first flush of liquid. 

The measures to be adopted consist in those directed to the con- 
traction of the dilated and relaxed blood-vessels and the restoration 
of the proper nerve-supply to the parts. 

As the splanchnic nerves are the vasomotor nerves of the intestine 
3,s well as the inhibitory nerves of peristalsis, it is evident that we 
must use drugs which will cause stimulation of these fibres, and the 
chief of these is found to be opium, which diminishes intestinal peri- 
stalsis and secretion by just such an influence. In the same way 
small doses of volatile oils are of service, and camphor and spirit of 
chloroform may be used. As there is relaxation, astringents are indi- 
cated ; and as sulphuric acid is not only astringent, but eliminated 
by the lower bowel, it is peculiarly serviceable. We find, therefore, 
that the following prescription fulfils every indication : 



DIARRHCEA AND DYSENTERY. 519 

R. — Acid, sulph. aromat f^ss (16.0). 

Olei cajuputi gtt. xl (2.65). 

Ext. hsematoxyli fl f£ij (8.0). 

Spt. chloroformi f^j (4.0). 

Syr. zingiberis q. s. ad f^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) in water every two or three hours. 

If desired, kino or catechu may be used in lieu of the haematoxylon, 
or the oil of cloves substituted for that of cajuput. Camphor or pare- 
goric may also supplant these drugs. 

In some instances these attacks appear to depend upon hepatic 
disorder, and the only cure, aside from partial relief, is to be obtained 
by the use of 2 to 6 grains (0.1-0.35) of mercury with chalk (hydrar- 
gyrum cum creta) or calomel, given in J to J grain (0.01-0.03) doses. 
What is said of intestinal disorder from lack of secretion under the head- 
ing of Cholera Infantum applies very forcibly to these cases, and diar- 
rhoea may persist for weeks, or only temporarily be held in check by 
the most powerful drugs, until the physician thoroughly flushes the 
intestine with bile by the use of podophyllin and calomel. 

Wood has highly recommended the use of a bismuth powder con- 
taining a drop or two of carbolic acid. 

For the purpose of establishing intestinal antisepsis, carbolic acid 
may be used, and naphthalin, thymol, and other drugs of this class 
have been employed, particularly salicylic acid. None of them com- 
pare with carbolic acid, however, which should be used in 1-drop 
(0.05) doses on bismuth or in water. When the carbolic acid is given 
to a child, it is best prescribed in such a way that in each teaspoonful 
a half-drop is present. This teaspoonful of liquid should be placed in 
a tablespoonful of water. In other cases sulphocarbolate of zinc in 
the dose of from 1 to 4 grains (0.05-0.2) in powder or capsule is 
beneficial. Salol combined with chalk mixture may also be advan- 
tageously used. (See prescriptions under Salol.) 

Sometimes a good-sized, brisk purgative dose of calomel followed 
by a saline does good in these cases if they are strong enough to 
permit of its use. 

The regulation of the diet, which should consist in sterilized milk 
or koumyss, the former being predigested, is of the greatest import- 
ance. Should the patient be a bottle-fed baby, the proportions of the 
milk, water, and cream placed in the bottle should be varied until 
a mixture is formed which is exactly fitted to the digestion of the 
case. 

The after-treatment consists in the use of tonics and a carefully 
regulated diet, which should be largely composed of milk and milk 
foods. 

The third class of cases consists chiefly of children who pass foetid, 
" mousy "-smelling stools in summer diarrhoea, with green, spinach-like 
masses of semi-digested food or distinct lientery. They may be due to 
deficient glandular action in any part of the alimentary canal, and are 
often cured by the use of pepsin and hydrochloric acid to aid the 
gastric processes. In other instances the duodenum is at fault, and 
should be stimulated by small doses of nitromuriatic acid, or by podo- 
phyllin in the dose of -£$ to -^ of a grain (0.001-0.0015), with a little 



520 DISEASES. 

niilk-sugar, or given in alcoholic solution. Similarly, ipecac in pow- 
dered form may be used in the dose of J to J a grain (0.015-0.03) 
three times a day. In the case of children who are often sufferers 
from rickets, phosphate of sodium, lime salts, and common salt should 
be freely given. (See Cholera Infantum.) 

The fourth type, generally known as dysentery, is due in some 
cases to hepatic trouble, in others to the drinking of impure water, 
and in the third place to exposure to heat and the use of bad food. 
It is in most cases a very obstinate form of diarrhoea, requiring much 
skill and patience for its cure. In the chronic forms deep ulcers 
may exist ; even in the milder cases a high inflammation is often 
present. 

In those cases which are due to exposure to heat and hepatic 
trouble there are two remedies which are far above all others in value 
and should always be resorted to. The first of these is sulphate of 
magnesium with sulphuric acid ; the second is calomel. 

The magnesia should be used in a special manner to be effective 
(see Magnesium Sulphate), and the calomel should be used in full 
purgative amounts, but is contraindicated if much weakness is present. 

If the passages are slimy and bloody, -^-q of a grain (0.0003) of 
bichloride of mercury every hour or two is of service, and if much 
blood is present high rectal injections of the distilled extract of hama- 
melis and water half and half are of value. In some forms of dys- 
entery due to acute inflammation large enemata of iced water are of 
tHe greatest value. The water should be ice-cold, and at least a quart 
injected by hydrostatic pressure. This method can only be used in 
strong persons, and is very useful in that it also aids in reducing any 
fever which may be present. The following mixture may be injected 
into the bowel in place of cold water in feeble cases : 

R.— Sodii boratis . . . £j (4.0). 

Tinct. benzoin f^j (4.0). 

Spt. camphorse f^j (32.0). 

Aqusa ferventis Oij (1 litre). — M. 

If the ulcers are very old and chronic, nitrate-of-silver injections 
of the strength of 10 to 20 grains (0.65-1.3) to the pint (500 cc.) of 
water may be employed in large bulk, a salt solution being at hand 
for the destruction of the silver salt if the local action which ensues is 
too severe. 

Recently the injection of water or medicaments into the bowel for 
the purpose of influencing the intestinal wall has given way in the 
hands of prominent physicians to irrigation by means of an inlet and 
outlet tube. The inlet tube should be attached to a fountain syringe, 
and the outlet tube be long enough to reach to a vessel by the side of 
the bed and of sufficient calibre to carry off flaky mucus. In many 
cases of dysentery of a mild form rectal irrigation will suffice, but if 
the entire colon is involved larger injections are necessary. The 
irrigation should be continued until the returning fluid becomes 
perfectly clean and free from foreign particles. If the bowel move- 
ments are very frequent, the injections may be made every three 
hours. Probably the best solution to employ for irrigation where 



DIARRHCEA, CHRONIC. 521 

much mucus and pus is present is one composed of bichloride of 
mercury, 1 : 5000. When this is used, a pure water injection or one 
of 1 : 30,000 should follow it, in order to prevent absorption of the 
mercury into the system. If for any reason the effect of the bichlor- 
ide is feared, boric acid may be used in the proportion of 1 drachm 
(4.0) to the pint (500 cc.), or 15 grains (1.0) of sulphocarbolate of 
zinc added to 1 quart (1 litre) of hot water be injected. If the dys- 
entery is due to the amoeba coli large rectal injections of a solution 
of quinine in the proportion of 1 to 3000 should be used, as this drug 
destroys that organism. (See Enteroclysis in Part III.) 

Tannic acid is an intestinal antiseptic, and can be employed in 
the strength of 1 drachm to the pint (4.0 : 500 cc.) for irrigation 
purposes. 

DIARRHOEA (CHRONIC). 1 

This is one of the most obstinate conditions which the physician 
is called upon to treat. It may be due to nervous irritability of the 
bowels, so that the entrance of food or drink sets up an excessive 
peristalsis which so hurries the food and drink through the alimentary 
canal that digestion and absorption are only partly performed. Chronic 
diarrhoea may also be due to chronic intestinal catarrh, to ulcerations 
of the small or large intestine, as after typhoid fever, or to rectal dis- 
ease, which reflexly causes hyperperistalsis. Fissure of the anus often 
causes persistent diarrhoea by reflex irritation. In those cases due to 
hyperperistalsis an advantage is often gained by directing the patient 
to take as little liquid as possible, particularly at meals, and to avoid 
coffee or other stimulants to reflex activity. Highly-seasoned foods 
are also to be avoided. Meats should be preferred to vegetables, and 
an absolute peptonized milk diet may be ordered, the milk being given 
in tablespoonfuls every few minutes, rather than in large amounts, at 
meal-times if the patient will remain in bed. Counter-irritation, con- 
stant and as severe as the patient can stand, should be used over the 
abdomen. Suppositories and rectal injections seldom benefit this class 
of cases, but a pill composed as follows may be useful : 

R. — Argent, nitrat gr. iv (0.2). 

Ext. hyoscyam gr. x vel xxx (0.65-2.0). 

Ext. opii * gr. ij vel iv (0.1-0.2).— M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One one hour before a meal. 

In other instances some of the astringent prescriptions given under 
the article on Diarrhoea are better than the above. In the cases due 
to ulcers of the rectum injections of nitrate of silver 2 grains to the 
ounce (0.1 : 32.0) are of value, particularly if followed by a 5- or 10- 
grain iodoform suppository. Operative procedure against anal fissure 
will often cure a diarrhoea due to this cause. The cases due to intes- 
tinal catarrh are benefited by the use of full doses (5 to 20 grains 
[0.3-1.3]) of bicarbonate of sodium by the mouth and the use of 

1 Head with this article those on Diarrhoea and Dysentery and Enteroclysis. 



522 DISEASES. 

iodoform suppositories, which not only relieve the rectal irritation 
nearly always present, but exercise the peculiar effects of iodine upon 
the catarrhal process. In cases of so-called morning diarrhoea absti- 
nence from liquids before going to bed the night before and a very 
dry and small breakfast are to be strongly recommended, with rest 
in bed during the morning hours. 

Rockbridge Alum water, which contains iron and alum, is useful in 
cases of diarrhoea with anaemia. 



DIPHTHERIA AND MEMBRANOUS CROUP. 

Diphtheria is at first a distinctly local disease, the membrane in the 
throat forming a nidus from which the entire body ultimately becomes 
poisoned by the micro-organism peculiar to the malady. While it is 
true that in some cases of membranous pharyngitis or laryngitis the 
true Klebs-Loeffler bacillus cannot be found, it is a fact that all cases 
should be treated identically as if they were true diphtheria. 

The best local application to the throat is peroxide of hydrogen. A 
cotton swab should be soaked with the undiluted 10 or 15-volume solution 
and pressed against the mucous membrane which is diseased, or, if this 
cannot be done, a spray, from a glass atomizer, of the strength of 1 : 4 
of water may be employed. The effect is often extraordinary. After 
a few applications the false membrane appears to exist only in disor- 
ganized shreds. If the nasal chambers become affected, a solution of 
ordinary salt (7 : 1000) should be used in a spray or by means of a 
fountain syringe. The child is placed with its hips on the lap of one 
nurse and its head on the lap between the knees of another, the dress 
of the nurse being protected by a rubber sheet, and the nasal cavities 
irrigated. The position of the child should be on its side, not on its 
back, and the face should be turned down sufficiently to allow the 
liquid to freely escape, the child breathing through its mouth. The 
applications should be made as frequently as the membrane forms. 

Mercury is very useful in full doses in diphtheria in sthenic per- 
sons, and the bichloride may be given by the mouth in doses of -^ 
grain (0.0013) every hour until the stools are loose or signs of ptyal- 
ism appear. Tincture of the chloride of iron, quinine, and strych- 
nine are of service to keep the kidneys active, to stimulate the heart 
and respiration, and to support the vital forces. The dose of the 
tincture of iron may be as much as 2 drops (0.1) every hour to a child 
of four years. The food of a child during an attack of diphtheria 
should be plentiful and consist of pancreatized and sterilized milk. It 
is best to use throat applications before giving the food, in order to 
avoid vomiting. 

A method of using turpentine by inhalation is highly recommended 
by J. Lewis Smith. The following prescription is placed in water in 
the proportion of 2 tablespoonfuls (32.0) to a quart (1 litre), and this 
mixture is then placed on a gas or oil stove in a broad open vessel and 
allowed to boil constantly. The air of the sick-room is soon laden with 
the vapor, which is not offensive. The prescription is as follows : 



DIPHTHERIA AND MEMBRANOUS CROUP. 521 

R.-Acid. carbolic! | aa f^j (32.0). 

Olei eucalypti J OJ v ' 

Spt. terebinthinse 13 viij (256.0).— M. 

S. — Use as directed. Label : Poison if taken internally. 

In other cases there is no doubt that calomel by sublimation does 
great good. The child is placed in a bronchitis tent and from 3 to 5 
grammes of calomel are placed in a sublimator and vaporized into the 
air the child breathes. 

When the glands of the neck threaten to suppurate, ice-bags should 
be applied to the throat and pieces of ice held constantly in the mouth, 
while the tincture of iron is pushed in as full amounts as possible. 

If suffocation is imminent, inhalations of oxygen are to be used and 
atropine or strychnine employed, but tracheotomy or intubation is usu- 
ally the safer plan of treatment. 

Chlorate of potassium must never be given internally, as the kid- 
neys are already severely inflamed, and this drug is not only useless 
when so given, but is in addition a renal irritant. Although the author 
has been criticised for this last statement, he is convinced of its truth ; 
and that he is not in error is proved by the fact that no less eminent 
authorities than H. C. Wood and J. Lewis Smith agree with him. 

Antitoxin Treatment. — This treatment supplants all others in effi- 
cacy and usefulness, and should displace all other plans of treatment 
when it can be used, except the local applications. Of all the extra- 
ordinary advances made in pathology and therapeutics, the introduction 
and proof of the value of antitoxin in cases of diphtheria is perhaps 
most worthy of note. (For the study of Antitoxin itself see Antitoxin 
in Part III.) 

There are several facts in connection with the use of the diphtheritic 
antitoxin which should be borne in mind. The syringe for injecting it 
should have a glass barrel in order that any foreign bodies or air-bubbles 
can be seen and removed before the injection is given. The packing 
of the piston should be made of asbestos or rubber, since it is practically 
impossible to sterilize leather or other packing, and the different parts 
of the syringe should be easily disjointed in order to permit thorough 
cleansing and sterilizing. Immediately before and after the use of the 
syringe the needle should be removed and the cap taken off so that the 
sterilizing fluid may readily enter the syringe and needle, and then 
they should be placed in warm water which is brought to the boiling- 
point. By this gradual heating we avoid the breaking of the glass 
barrel. It is best to employ one of the syringes made for the purpose 
now being described. The injection is to be given slowly during a 
period of several minutes into any part of the body which has loose 
subcutaneous tissues, such as the broad of the back, the side of the 
abdomen, or the outside of the thigh. The skin at the place of 
injection should be thoroughly sterilized beforehand, and after the 
injection the fluid should be allowed to diffuse itself and not be spread 
by rubbing. 

The following are the recommendations as to the manner of using 
diphtheria antitoxin made by the American Pediatric Society : 

" Dosage. — For a child over two years old the dosage of antitoxin 
should be, in all laryngeal cases with stenosis and in all other severe 



524 DISEASES. 

cases, 1500 to 2000 units for the first injection, to be repeated in from 
eighteen to twenty-four hours if there is no improvement ; a third dose 
after a similar interval if necessary. For severe cases in children under 
two years, and for mild cases over that age, the initial dose should be 
1000 units, to be repeated as above if necessary ; a second dose is not 
usually required. The dosage should always be estimated in antitoxin 
units, and not in the amount of serum. 

"Quality of Antitoxin. — The most concentrated strength of an ab- 
solutely reliable preparation. 

" Time of Administration. — Antitoxin should be administered as 
early as possible on a clinical diagnosis, not waiting for a bacteriological 
culture. However late the first observation is made, an injection 
should be given unless the progress of the case is favorable and satis- 
factory." 

The dose of antitoxin serum is to be judged by its known strength 
or power of conferring immunity and by the severity of the disease and 
the susceptibility of the patient. At present the common dose of the 
ordinary antitoxin serum of Parke, Davis k Co. is 1 to 5 cubic centi- 
metres. 

It has been urged against serums containing over 250 units per 
c.cm. that their use is apt to be followed by untoward effects such as 
skin eruptions and local irritations. On the other hand, if the weaker 
serums are employed such large amounts have to be given that very 
considerable swelling of the area in which the injection is given is pro- 
duced, and of course a large amount ol valuable time is lost before 
the whole dose is absorbed ; whereas if serums containing high immu- 
nizing power are employed the small dose is quickly absorbed. In 
pressing cases of nasal or laryngeal diphtheria the stronger serums 
are indicated, whereas in the more moderate cases the lower grades of 
strength may be used. 

The general trend of professional opinion the world over is strongly 
in favor of the use of antitoxin in diphtheria. So far there have been 
published an immense number of reports and statistics concerning its use. 
Of these, two in particular are so exhaustive as to be conclusive. One 
gives the statistics of the mortality of diphtheria with and without an- 
titoxin in hospital practice, the other the results in private practice. 
Thus in hospitals Welch shows that out of 7166 cases treated with anti- 
toxin only 17.3 per cent, died, whereas under the old treatment it is 
calculated that 42.1 per cent, would have died. Again, in Paris dur- 
ing one epidemic 300 cases were treated with serum with a mortality of 
26 per cent., while in another hospital in which no serum was employed 
the mortality during the same period was 60 per cent. In another in- 
stance, that of Baginsky, the mortality of one epidemic, which was 
15.6 per cent, during the use of antitoxin, increased to 48.4 when no 
antitoxin could be had. 

The report as to the results in private practice, compiled by the 
American Pediatric Society in 1896, shows that in 5794 cases the 
mortality was only 12.3 per cent., although 218 cases were moribund 
when the antitoxin was used or died within twenty-four hours there- 
after. The statistics also show that the frequency of laryngeal diph- 



DROPSY. 525 

theria is decreased by the use of antitoxin, and that the mortality of 
cases which have been intubated or tracheotomized is decreased by its 
use. Again the use of the serum decreases the time in which the tube 
must be retained in the throat. 

The collective report made by the same society in 1897 shows that 
the percentage of recoveries in laryngeal diphtheria is now 73 per cent, 
as against 27 per cent, before antitoxin was used. 

When the antitoxin is given general improvement usually takes 
place in twenty-four to forty-eight hours, and the temperature falls. 
The spread of the membrane is arrested and its separation soon begins. 

The chief gain from its use is to be obtained very early in the dis- 
ease, for after degenerative changes have taken place in the heart and 
kidneys the damage is done. The dose should be repeated every six 
to twelve hours in severe cases and doubled in amount in very malig- 
nant cases or in those with deeply seated cervical induration. 

In conclusion, the author cannot too strongly urge upon the reader 
the vital importance of using antitoxic serum early and freely. The 
reports in which it has been condemned are imperfect and unreliable. 
Every patient who apparently suffers from the disease should receive 
this remedy, so potent for good and so lacking in harmful qualities 
even when given to non-diphtheritic persons, and the physician who 
can obtain the serum and does not use it is not doing the best thing 
for his patients. 

Although the use of antitoxin for immunizing purposes where per- 
sons have been exposed to infection has been resorted to, it is not 
practised by the general body of the profession to the extent that it 
should be. The use of 500 normal antitoxin units will usually pro- 
duce immunity for three or four weeks. 

Full doses of antitoxin of the higher potencies sometimes give rise 
to pains in the joints or to an erythematous eruption, which are 
without danger and need not excite alarm. 

The only new local application which promises much is that of 
Loeffler. He directs that the mucous membrane shall be carefully 
wiped off by a pledget of cotton, and after this is done that a second 
pledget dipped in the following solution shall be pressed against the 
diseased area for ten seconds at three-hour intervals : Menthol 2J- 
drachms (10 grammes) dissolved in 9 drachms (36 cc.) of toluol, to 
which is added 1 drachm (4 cc.) of liquor ferri chloridi and abso- 
lute alcohol 2 ounces (60 cc). This solution, if kept in a dark 
glass bottle, well stoppered, will last for months. The author would 
prefer to use peroxide of hydrogen in all cases. 

The local use of iodine, carbolic acid, and similar irritating and 
poisonous substances is not justifiable. 



DROPSY. 

Dropsy is to be regarded as a symptom (not as a disease in itself) 
which may arise from many causes, such as cardiac, pulmonary, or 
renal diseases, or depend upon obstruction, from various causes, to the 



526 DISEASES. 

normal flow of the blood and lymph through the vessels and tissues. 
Its existence is dependent upon so many causes of a still more indirect 
nature that it is almost impossible to notice all of them, but the fol- 
loAving consideration of the subject will at least make clear some of 
the reasons for its occurrence and indicate the means which are to be 
taken for its relief. 

At the very start we are confronted by facts which seem para- 
doxical, but which are in reality quite reconcilable. These are, that 
low arterial pressure predisposes to dropsy, and that high venous 
pressure does likewise, or, in other words, that the cause of exudation 
on one side of the circulation is its prevention on the other. 

The explanation of these statements lies in a thorough under- 
standing of the physics of the circulatory system and its anatomical 
structure. It will be remembered that dropsical exudation takes 
place from the capillaries, and that the integrity of the walls of the 
blood-vessels and lymphatics depends upon normal nutrition, or, in 
other words, upon a proper blood-supply. As a consequence, dropsy 
may be due to poorly-nourished vessels as much as to any other 
cause. Further than this, a watery state of the blood permits abnor- 
mal exudation. 

The force exercised upon the column of blood as it is driven out 
by the heart into the aorta may be considered as the chief support of 
the capillary circulation, so that if the heart be weak the pressure 
falls in the arteries, and in consequence the rapidity of flow is 
decreased in the capillaries, while, on the other hand, an increased 
cardiac activity hastens the capillary circulation. As the arterial 
pressure and force 'depend not only upon the heart-force, but also 
upon the tonicity of the arteries which carry the blood-stream, it 
becomes evident that dilated arteries must lower blood-pressure even 
if the heart be strong, although practically the heart and vasomotor 
system generally fail or increase in tone together. We find, there- 
fore, that a weak heart or a relaxed artery tends to cause stagnation 
of the blood in the capillaries, and, having found that such stagna- 
tion is productive of exudation, it is not hard to discover why low 
arterial pressure is a cause of dropsy. 

Having shown this to be true, let us turn to an explanation of 
the fact that a high pressure in the veins is productive of the same 
changes. 

Here the normal pressure is almost nothing, being much less than 
in the arteries, and considerably less than in the capillaries. The 
result of this is, that in health the blood flows rapidly from the high 
pressure of the artery to the low pressure of the vein, and passes 
through the small veins under a gradually decreasing pressure until 
it reaches the heart. Any obstruction to this venous flow must 
increase the venous pressure, and, the venous pressure being in- 
creased, the rapidity of flow through the capillaries must be decreased. 
The whole subject may be made more clear by the following example : 

Supposing that two iron tubes are connected at one end by several 
lines of rubber tubes (the capillaries), and that water is flowing into 
the first tube, or the artery, under a pressure which is represented by 



DROPSY. 527 

the figure 100, while the resistance to the flow in the second tube, 
the vein, is represented by the figure 0. It at once becomes evident 
that the rapidity of the flow through the connecting rubber tubes 
will be very great, whereas if the pressure in the first or arterial 
tube is decreased to 50, the rapidity is decreased to one-half, or if the 
pressure in the second tube be increased to 50 instead of remaining 
at 0, the same changes will occur ; in either instance capillary flow is 
lessened and exudation is caused. This is the pathology of dropsy, 
and, having understood it, let us proceed to discover the causes of 
dropsy in various diseases. 

In cardiac disease it is due to a weak heart being unable to supply 
the arteries with enough blood to maintain the normal pressure, or to 
a damming-up of blood in the venous system as the result of the 
imperfect emptying of the cardiac cavities. In the first instance low 
arterial pressure produces dropsy ; in the second, high venous pressure 
has a similar effect. 1 

In renal troubles the dropsy depends more upon the lack of proper 
nutritive processes in the capillary walls and upon changes in the 
blood-pressure than upon other causes. If the kidney is diseased, it 
may not be able to eliminate the proper quantity of liquids, which 
accumulate and finally escape into the tissues, while the same failure 
in renal function causes disease of the blood-paths themselves, and 
often produces cardiac complications. 

Hepatic troubles cause dropsy by producing pressure upon the large 
blood-vessels going to the liver, and, in consequence, the exudation is 
generally confined to the lower limbs and abdomen. If the hepatic 
trouble be severe, some failure in the nutrition of the blood-vessels 
and changes in the quality of the blood may ensue. 

Pulmonary disease rarely causes dropsy unless the venous pressure 
is greatly increased and productive of cardiac dilatation, or, as in 
phthisis, where the changes in the nutrition of the body involve the 
blood-vessel walls and the blood. 

Having spoken of these causes of dropsy, it remains for us to con- 
sider its treatment, which may be divided into two parts — namely, 
that directed to its removal after the liquid is poured out, and its 
relief or cure by direct attention to its causes. The means for the 
removal of the fluid are suitable to all cases, be the cause what it may, 
unless the dropsy be of renal origin. Whenever an accumulation of 
liquid takes place in the tissues, drugs or measures must be resorted 
to which will cause the emunctories of the body to get rid of it. In 
ascites, in particular, we may employ elaterium in the dose of -J- of a 
grain (0.01), or elaterin in the dose of -fa of a grain (0.003), placed 
in the mouth and washed down by a little water, or, if this is not 
used, the compound jalap powder may be resorted to in the dose of 
20 to 30 grains (1.3-2.0), and to it may be added, to increase its 
efficiency, 10 grains (0.65) more of bitartrate of potassium than the 
official powder contains. These two remedies are particularly ser- 
viceable in renal dropsies, since the elaterium is supposed to aid in 

1 For an explanation of these changes in the action of the muscle, valves, and car- 
diac action in heart disease see the article on Heart Disease. 



528 DISEASES. 

the elimination of urea by the bowel, while the cream of tartar in the 
jalap powder increases the action of the kidneys. 

The cream of tartar is not to be employed in cases of acute 
nephritis. 

Compound extract of colocynth may be employed in the dose of 
2 to 6 grains (0.1-0.3), according to the state and idiosyncrasy of the 
patient. 

All these remedies relieve dropsy by causing so great an outpour- 
ing of liquid from the blood-vessels of the intestine that the liquids in 
the tissues are taken up by the depleted blood-vessels to replace the 
loss through the action of the purgative. In other words, these 
purgatives render the alkalinity of the blood greater by concentra- 
tion, and absorption of fluid occurs by reason of the following physio- 
logical and physical facts : 

As is well known to every physiologist, the passage through a 
blood-vessel of a salt solution of less than t 7 q- of 1 per cent, causes an 
abstraction of salts from the surrounding tissues by the circulating 
fluid, in order that the amount of salts in the vessels and tissues may 
be identical. At the same time the tissues become infiltrated with 
liquid. On the other hand, if the solution be stronger than the 
normal, the liquid leaves the tissues to enter the vessels, and the 
tissues in consequence shrink. 

When salines are given to relieve dropsy, they must be admin- 
istered in concentrated or saturated solution and on an empty stom- 
ach, total abstinence from the drinking of water being insisted upon 
until they have fully acted, for the reasons given in the last para- 
graph. For this reason they should be given an hour or so before 
breakfast. If these directions are not followed, this method of treat- 
ment is useless. 

The other means which we possess for the removal of dropsy are 
by way of the kidneys and skin. If the kidneys are hopelessly dis- 
eased, that pathway is almost useless, but if they are only passive or 
partly inactive, diuretics may be used to stimulate their secreting 
structure and to increase the leakage of liquid through them by 
increasing blood-pressure. Such patients should be placed almost 
entirely on a milk diet, and many of them will greatly improve under 
the use of buttermilk to the exclusion of other nourishment. If this 
cannot be taken, sugar of milk may be employed as an active diuretic. 
(See Sugar of Milk.) 

Often the kidney will be found inactive, because, owing to conges- 
tion from cardiac trouble, it cannot act. Under these circumstances 
digitalis, in 5- or 10-drop (0.35-0.65) doses of the tincture, given 
three times a day, will be of value, and its efficacy will be increased 
by the addition of 1 drop (0.05) of the tincture of cantharides if the 
renal lesion is exceedingly chronic or mere torpidity exists. Digitalis 
and squill, in pill form, as follows, may be used : 

R.— Pulv. digital, fol gr. xx (1.3). 

Pulv. scillse gr. xx (1.3).— M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One everv five hours. 



D YSENTER Y-D YSMENORRHCEA. 529 

Or digitalis and calomel may be employed in pill form in renal and 
cardiac dropsies. 

Caffeine is also a useful diuretic, particularly in torpidity of the 
kidney, as it stimulates the secretory epithelium, thus eliminating urea 
and other effete matters, and increases the passage of liquids by the 
increased blood-pressure -which it produces. 

That a large amount of liquid may be gotten rid of through the 
skin under the influence of heat is well known. (See Heat.) In 
addition to external heat we may use pilocarpine by the mouth or 
hypodermically in localized dropsies, to produce absorption and con- 
sequent elimination of liquid by sweating. No drug should ever be 
given hypodermically in dropsy of a general character, as it will not 
be absorbed from the water-soaked tissues with any rapidity, if at all. 

The chief means of relief to be resorted to in cases of ascites is tap- 
ping. Efforts to remove effusions in the peritoneal cavity by medicinal 
measures are rarely followed by success. In reality, tapping is far 
less heroic treatment than purgation, and the old theory that it is dan- 
gerous has been completely disproved. It has been found that tap- 
ping not only removes the fluid, but may in some unknown manner 
produce a permanent cure after from one to twenty or more operations. 
In performing tapping the patient is to be placed in a sitting or semi- 
recumbent position, and directed to evacuate his bladder, so that there 
will be no danger of this viscus being injured by the trocar. The 
skin of the abdomen in the middle line one or two inches below the 
umbilicus is next benumbed by salt and ice held against it. The 
physician then takes a trocar and canula, at least four inches long, 
and pushes it through the abdominal wall until by the decrease in 
resistance he knows its point has entered the abdominal cavity. It is 
well to have a broad abdominal bandage placed around the belly, so 
that an assistant by pulling on its ends may support the belly-walls 
when relaxed by the escape of the effusion. As a rule, not more than 
one-half or three-fourths of the liquid should be removed at one sit- 
ting, as its entire removal may be followed by collapse. The value 
of iodide of potassium in cases of ascites is not to be forgotten, but 
it must be given cautiously if renal disease is present. 

Where the tenseness of the skin in the lower extremities causes 
danger of local sloughs, some authors recommend small punctures for 
the escape of the liquid, the limbs being encased in sterilized absorb- 
ent cotton to absorb the liquid. (See Acupuncture.) 

DYSENTERY. 
(See Diarrhcea.) 



DYSMENORRHCEA. 

The existence of dysmenorrhoea depends upon so many conditions 
that the treatment employed in one case is seldom productive of suc- 
cess in the next. This is not the place for a consideration of the 

34 



530 DISEASES. 

surgical measures adopted for the cure of this symptom, and only the 
medical treatment will be spoken of. 

When dysmenorrhea results from the taking of a cold, and is 
accompanied by uterine congestion and irritability, the following 
measures are particularly valuable, and may do good in many cases 
depending upon other causes: The patient should take a hot sitz- 
bath, and immediately get into bed as soon as the buttocks are dried, 
being well covered while in the tub and afterward by a blanket. A 
turpentine stupe is now to be used (see Turpentine), and 10 grains 
(0.65) of Dover's powder to be administered, unless some idiosyncrasy 
toward opium is known to exist, when a half or a fourth of this 
amount may be employed. Often when the attack is accompanied by 
constipation a purgative dose of Epsom salts or aloes is of service in 
the congestive forms of the disorder. 

If the pain is persistent and severe, a belladonna suppository, of 
J grain of the extract, may be inserted into the rectum, or in other 
cases belladonna ointment smeared over the os uteri will be found of 
service. The latter method is generally impracticable and is rarely 
resorted to. Very commonly belladonna tincture, by the mouth, is of 
service in relaxing the spasm of the cervix and of the uterine fundus. 

Some practitioners resort to the use of opium at each epoch, and 
keep the patient partially narcotized until menstruation is passed. 
This is unjustifiable and born of ignorance and bad practice, since 
the physician is simply dodging the trouble and predisposing the 
patient to future attacks by reason of the constipation and the result- 
ing habit which is almost sure to appear after the repeated employ- 
ment of opiates. 

When the dysmenorrhea is due to obstruction of the cervical canal 
by organic changes or flexions, these conditions must, of course, be 
relieved before a cure can be expected, and the medical treatment 
can be directed only to the alleviation of the pain. Divulsions or slow 
or rapid cervical dilatation should be carried out by the use of instru- 
ments or tents. 

In neuralgic dysmenorrhea, dependent rather upon nervous dis- 
order accompanying menstruation than upon menstruation itself, 
measures directed to the improvement of the nervous system and the 
nutrition of the patient are necessary. (See Cimicifuga.) These cases 
generally occur in nervous, anaemic women run down by excessive 
dancing or other gayety or by the bearing and care of a large family 
of children. 

A course of strychnine or quinine and iron in small doses is often 
beneficial in these cases, and horseback exercise between the men- 
strual periods, out-of-door life, and avoidance of excessive dancing 
and exhausting exercise are to be ordered. 

Sometimes bathing the loins with alternate dashes of hot and cold 
water may do good in atonic patients. 

Cannabis indica and gelsemium are often of great service, both as 
cures and alleviators of the pain, and antipyrin, acetanilid, and 
similar drugs may be resorted to while the attack lasts, if it be 
neuralgic. 



D YSPEPSIA-D YSPNCEA . 531 

When the pain seems to be greater than the patient can bear, 
enough ether or bromide of ethyl should be given by the physician, by 
means of inhalation, to produce the primary stages of anaesthesia, but 
chloroform is not advisable, as the patient, if taught its value by the 
doctor, may resort to this dangerous drug without advice and die from 
an overdose. 



DYSPEPSIA. 
(See Indigestion.) 

DYSPNCEA. 

Shortness of breath, or dyspnoea, arises from cardiac weakness, 
abnormal innervation resulting in cardiac palpitation, from the accu- 
mulation of fluids in the chest, from the involvement of the lungs by 
any disease-process in such a way that respiration becomes impaired, 
or it is produced by indigestion, or, finally, by the encroachment on 
the lungs or chest- walls of tumors and growths. 

Each of these states must be removed to effect a cure, but it is only 
of the relief of the symptoms that we will speak. 

In old persons who suffer from dyspnoea the result of bronchor- 
rhoea, where a large amount of liquid fills the bronchial tubes and 
shortness of breath follows exertion, strychnine is the best remedy 
that we have. Its value depends upon its powerful influence over 
the respiratory centres, on which it acts as a stimulant ; and as these 
cases very commonly also have dilatation of the right side of the 
heart, with consequent cardiac enfeeblement, strychnine is of addi- 
tional service through its influence upon the circulation. These per- 
sons are not to be given opium or its alkaloids or any sedative drugs, 
as such medicines, while giving temporary relief from cough, only 
serve to depress the respiratory apparatus and cause an accumulation 
of liquid mucus in the chest as a result of the prevention of cough 
and lack of expectoration. The cases in which opium or morphine 
do good are those in which, through nervousness or functional nervous 
disorder, the respiratory cycle is imperfect, and, above all, in those 
instances where dyspnoea occurs as the result of cardiac disease. In 
these cases the attacks of oppression and suffocation can often be 
entirely set aside by the use of J to J grain (0.008-0.015) of mor- 
phine, given every night or at night and morning. If these doses fail, 
larger ones may be cautiously used. Hyoscine, instead of causing 
sleep, nearly always makes these cases worse. 

Sometimes a little carbonate of ammonium is useful as a respira- 
tory and cardiac stimulant in cases of dyspnoea. 

Dry cupping applied over the back of the chest may also be ser- 
viceable when shortness of breath from cardiac or pulmonary trouble 
is present. 

In cases of dyspnoea due to emphysema and pulmonary inflamma- 
tion of a chronic type, or in those persons who take cold on the 



532 DISEASES. 

slightest exposure, particularly after attacks of asthma, arsenic is 
useful if continuously employed. 

If pleural effusion be present, relief of a positive and lasting nature 
can only be obtained through aspiration, or, in other words, by the 
operation known as thoracentesis. 

EARACHE. 

Earache may arise from a great number of causes, all of which 
are, practically speaking, inflammatory. The pain may be the result 
of acute or chronic inflammation of the middle ear, with a serous or 
purulent exudate, or to furunculosis of the external auditory canal. 
In other cases an eczema of this part is very painful. The treatment 
of the acute earache is systemic and local, the former being based on 
the general rules governing the management of inflammatory processes, 
the latter by the area involved and the cause of the trouble. In the 
general treatment several leeches may be placed in front of or behind 
the ear, and heat in a dry form is to be applied to the head on the 
side affected, by means of a hot bottle or water-bag. Poultices, oil and 
laudanum, and similar applications are not to be resorted to, as they 
may ultimately cause trouble and do not always produce even tempo- 
rary relief, but tincture of belladonna and tincture of opium in equal 
parts may be dropped in the ear in the dose of 5 to 10 drops when 
necessary. 

A very efficient means of relieving the pain is to irrigate the ear 
with a normal salt solution, as hot as can be borne, every hour or 
two. 

Cardiac sedatives are indicated, but quinine is distinctly contrain- 
dicated, as it tends to cause aural inflammation. 

If a cold in the head is present, and with it acute myringitis, it is 
important to establish a free opening through the nostrils, particularly 
if the middle ear is also involved, in order to clear the orifice of the 
Eustachian tube. This is to be accomplished by dropping into each 
nostril 1 to 3 drops (0.05-0.15) of a 4 per cent, solution of cocaine, and, 
as soon as the engorged mucous membrane is anaesthetic and shrunken, 
to use an atomizer with a fine spray attachment and the following 
solution : 

R. — Acid, boric gr. x (0.65). 

Sodii chlorid gr. xij (0.8). 

Sodii borat gr. x (0.65). 

Aq. rosee q. s. ad f^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Use as a spray. 

This should be followed by a spray of menthol and albolene, 3 grains 
to the ounce (0.15 : 32.0), in order that the menthol may prolong the 
effect of the cocaine and prevent secondary congestion. This is now 
to be followed by inflation of the Eustachian tube with a Politzer's 
air-bag. Only in most obstinately painful cases of acute middle-ear 
catarrh is paracentesis of the drum to be attempted. Should true 
septic otitis media develop and drainage of the middle ear become impos- 
sible through blocking of the Eustachian tube, then the doctor must 



ECZEMA. 533 

very gently irrigate the external auditory canal with as hot water as 
can be borne, and render it entirely aseptic by insufflations of boric- 
acid powder. These injections should be frequently practised, and 
if the pain persists and the tympanic membrane is bulging, para- 
centesis must be performed in the most bulging part of the lower 
quadrant. After the paracentesis needle is withdrawn the discharge 
should be allowed to flow freely. The canal is then to be well irrigated 
with hot carbolized water (1 to 50), and as the discharge is constant a 
piece of sterilized cotton inserted and removed as often as it becomes 
soiled. 

In the case of eczema of the ear hot irrigation, followed by the ap- 
plication of powdered iodoform, is perhaps the best application for tem- 
porary treatment. In furunculosis of the ear hot irrigation and free 
incision, with an iodoform dressing, are also useful. 

When foreign bodies cause the pain, they are best removed by 
repeated and gentle syringing with hot water. Forceps are danger- 
ous instruments in the hands of a novice treating the ear. 

In earache due to neuralgia a swab wet with chloroform may be 
applied to the skin in front of and behind the ear. 



ECZEMA. 

This is probably the most common form of skin disease which the 
physician is called upon to treat, with the exception of acne. 

Dermatologists divide it into many forms and stages, but in this 
book a consideration of its forms is out of place, and only the treat- 
ment for its stages is proper. 

In the first place, it may be stated that the treatment is a quad- 
ruple one — namely, dietetic, hygienic, external, and internal. 

In regard to diet, the patient should be told to avoid salt foods, 
such as salt fish or pork and corned beef ; greasy foods, such as bacon 
and fried dishes ; pastry and cheese. Only moderate amounts of wine 
and beer can be taken, and foods difficult of digestion are to be 
stricken off the bill of fare. 

In the way of hygienic measures, fresh air, the avoidance of seden- 
tary habits, horseback exercise, or walking are to be recommended. 

External treatment is the most important of the two measures in 
which drugs are employed, and its course is perhaps best described 
by taking a case of ordinary eczema as an example and treating it 
through its entire course. 

In the early stages of an acute eczema, when the process is very 
active and the erythematous reddening of the beginning of the dis- 
ease is merging into the formation of vesicles or pustules, with the 
formation of large scabs, no application is better than oxide-of-zinc 
ointment, thoroughly applied night and morning. If the eczema be 
situated upon the scalp, the hair must be invariably clipped short or 
shaved off in such a way as to prevent the gluing of the hair into a 
mat by reason of the discharge. The ointment may be smeared over 
the part or applied on a piece of lint in a thick layer. Nearly always 



534 DISEASES. 

the ointment should be used in conjunction with black wash (calomel 
1 drachm [4.0], lime-water 1 pint [500.0]), which should be applied 
twice a day, just before the zinc ointment is resorted to, by means of 
a swab or a sop, and allowed to dry. In other cases the powdered 
oxide of zinc is dusted over the part if the discharge is very watery 
and profuse, or the following ointment, recommended by McCall 
Anderson, is very efficacious : 

R.— Bismuth, oxidi gj (32.0). 

Acid, oleic, pur . . t ^viij (256.0). 

Cerse albae jfiij (96.0). 

Petrolati fix (288.0). 

Olei rosffi TT^v (0.3).— M. 

Ft. in unguent. 
S. — Apply to the part affected. 

As the quantities of this prescription are large, they may be 
reduced one-half for use in limited eczema. 

Where the proliferation of cells and the secretion are very profuse 
it may become necessary to remove the crusts before the local rem- 
edies can reach the skin, and for this purpose poultices may be used ; 
or, if the disease be on the face, the parts should be anointed with 
olive oil, containing 1 or 2 drops of carbolic acid to the ounce (0.05- 
0.1 : 32.0), to soften the crusts, which are readily removed in a 
half-hour by the use of a little castile soap and water. The soap is 
not to be used if the inflammatory action is very angry-looking. 
Whenever itching is an annoying factor, the parts should be protected 
by lint smeared with some simple ointment, which may be carbolized 
both for its antiseptic and local anaesthetic effect. English and Amer- 
ican dermatologists use what is known as liquor carbonis detergens 
very largely in the acute stages of eczema as well as in other skin 
diseases. It should not be used pure, but diluted in such a way that 
for each 4 ounces (128.0) of water 2 drachms (8.0) of the pure liquor 
are present. Liquor carbonis detergens is made by taking 9 ounces 
(288.0) of tincture of soap-bark (quillaia-bark) and 4 ounces (128.0) 
of coal-tar, mixing and allowing them to digest for eight days, after 
which the mixture is filtered and used. 

When the disease has passed from the acute, active inflammation 
of the first stage to the subacute form of the second stage of its exist- 
ence, applications of a mildly stimulant character are necessary. 
Before this the physician has endeavored' to soothe the parts; now 
they must be excited to normal activity. For this purpose resorcin 
in the proportion of 2 to 30 grains to the ounce (0.1-2.0 : 32.0) of 
lard, according to the severity and induration of the lesion in the 
skin, should be used. Stelwagon recommends the following : 

R. — Unguent, picis liq gj (4.0). 

Unguent, zinci oxidi ^vij (28.0). — M. 

S. — Apply to the parts. 

Where the disease is chronic and very persistent, but sluggish or 
atonic in its course, still more powerful remedies are necessary, such 
as salicylic acid, tar, or tincture of green soap used with hot water 



EMISSIONS. 535 

until the skin beneath is bared, dressing this by means of zinc oint- 
ment or resorcin ointment, 2 to 10 grains to the ounce (0.1-0.65 : 
32.0), spread on a cloth. The salicylic acid should be used in the 
proportion of 30 to 60 grains to the ounce (2.0-4.0 : 32.0) of lard, 
while the tar is used in the form of the pure official tar ointment. 

In seborrhoeic eczema, where the secretion is greasy and dry, and 
followed, if wrongly treated, by oozing and the pouring out of serum 
and the formation of cells which form crusts, the following prescrip- 
tion is of value : 



R . — Resorcin . . gr. x vel xx (0.65-1.3). 

Pulv. anryli ) __ .. /ar\\ 
Unguent, zinci oxidi j 6 J \ • 

Petrolati . • gss (16.0).— M. 



S. — To be applied after removing the scabs by the use of a lotion composed of 1 
part of bay rum and 3 parts of water, 

The internal treatment is directed to the cure of any disordered 
function which is present, such as dyspepsia (see Indigestion), hepatic 
torpor, general debility, anemia, scrofulosis, inanition, constipation, 
gouty diathesis, or renal insufficiency. The gastric disorder is to be 
relieved by the use of hydrochloric acid and pepsin ; the hepatic tor- 
por by mercury, podoplryllin, or, better still, by freshly-prepared 
undiluted nitro-hydrochloric acid added to water; the debility by 
tonics, such as cinchona, cod-liver oil, strychnine, and bitters ; the 
anaemia by iron, and, if scrofulosis exists, by the syrup of the iodide 
of iron. Constipation is to be cured by the use of proper foods and 
laxatives, and the gouty tendency counteracted by the employment 
of lithium citrate and colchicum or potassium iodide. If the kidneys 
are at fault because of torpidity, the diuretic potassium salts, such as 
the citrate, are indicated. Arsenic is never to be used, except in 
those instances where the skin is very dry, and where, by improving 
digestion and through its alterative power, it does good. In the 
chronic forms of dry eczema or those depending upon some atonic 
state of the trophic nerves of the skin, arsenic is of great value in 
the form of Fowler's solution, or arsenous acid may be given. 



EMISSIONS. 

Seminal emissions occur as the result of sexual abuse, whereby a. 
condition of hyperexcitation of the nervous cells in the spinal cord 
and the nerves of the genitalia is developed, or they are due to 
peripheral or centric irritations, which reflexly irritate the genitalia 
or the nerves, and to a number of other similar causes. These emis- 
sions also occur with some periodicity in normal males who are con- 
tinent and chaste, and under these circumstances are not to be inter- 
fered with by treatment, unless the emissions become excessive. J 

The former types are, however, proper for medical treatment, and 
their cure consists in the avoidance of unchaste literature and lasciv- 
ious thoughts during the waking. hours, and the use of such spinal and 
cerebral sedatives that the centres governing the ejaculations of semen 



536 DISEASES. 

may be calmed, and so quiet a sleep produced that erotic dreams are 
avoided. The patient should sleep on a hard hair mattress, not be too 
heavily covered, and should avoid sleeping on his back, as this causes 
an undue blood-supply to the spinal centres, and consequent stimula- 
tion and ejaculations. Sometimes hard bodies, such as spools, are tied 
around the loins, so that lying on the back will cause so much discom- 
fort that the patient awakes and turns on his side. The drugs to be 
used are bromide of potassium or sodium in 20-grain (1.3) doses at bed- 
time, or chloral may be taken in the same amount. Hyoscine is cer- 
tainly of value in the dose of -j-J-g- grain (0.0006). Sometimes a warm 
sitz-bath or general bath before going to bed is of service. In other 
cases, where atony is the cause of the trouble, the physician should 
recommend cold sponging of the perineum and loins night and 
morning. 

In the cases in which emissions come on as the result of continence, 
and become excessive, the remedies just named are to be tried, but 
really do not effect any permanent cure unless used until sexual power 
is seriously depressed, so that it has been the custom of many physi- 
cians to recommend "marriage," which the patient may interpret in 
its legitimate light or not as he pleases. 

It is worthy of note that all irritations of the urinary bladder and 
other parts of the genito-urinary system should be removed, and it is 
often of value to administer citrate of potassium in 20-grain (1.3) 
doses, in water, three times a day, to render the urine non-irritating 
and alkaline. Stimulating foods and drinks are to be interdicted, and 
condiments, such as pepper and mustard, avoided. 

Sometimes, when the emissions are caused by genital atony, strych- 
nine and arsenic are of very great service if given in full dose. 

In many of these cases it is the duty of the physician to treat the 
moral state of his patient as well as to give medicines. Many per- 
sons, believing that emissions are always an evidence of disease, read 
books on such subjects which are sold by quacks and soon find their 
way to the hands of these persons, or sensibly consult a regular physi- 
cian. Half the treatment in these instances consists in assuring the 
patient that he has nothing to worry about, and in making him feel 
that the physician is his friend and worthy of all confidence and 
complete belief. 

ENDOCARDITIS. 

Endocarditis occurs sometimes as a single manifestation of disease ; 
sometimes as a symptom, with many others, of some general tendency 
produced by a diathesis, such as gout and rheumatism or syphilis. 
Further than this, it may be acute, subacute, or chronic, and each one 
of its forms must be differently treated. 

It is hardly necessary to state that any diathetic taint should be 
treated by antirheumatic or antilithic remedies, such as the iodides. 
The iodides are not, however, indicated if any rapid changes of a 
degenerative type are at work. 

In acute sthenic endocarditis, associated with great vascular disturb- 



EPILEPSY. 537 

ance and much cardiac embarrassment or irregularity, there is no rem- 
edy so useful in the early stages as full doses of tincture of aconite, 2 to 3 
drops (0.1-0.15), given every hour until the physiological symptoms of 
its influence are felt, or, in its place, with equal efficacy may be em- 
ployed the tincture of veratrum viride (2 to 3 drops [0.1-0.15]). At 
the same time calomel and opium may be used, the calomel for its anti- 
phlogistic influence, and the opium to control the purgative tendencies 
of the mercurial. Thus we may use \ grain (0.015) of calomel every two 
hours and y 1 -^ grain (0.006) of morphine. Leeches should be placed over 
the praecordium in a goodly number, and if these are not obtainable 
wet cups are to be employed. In most cases it is better to apply an ice- 
bag over the heart. This depletion is only of service when the disease 
is seen early enough to allow us to limit the inflammatory process. As 
the disease progresses, if the physician fails to stop it, it will be found 
that the heart becomes somewhat labored in its action, irregular, and 
weak, and that its rhythm is seriously interfered with. At this time 
digitalis is of use in stimulating the depressed cardiac muscle and 
increasing its reflex activity, also steadying it through the pneumo- 
gastric irritation which it produces. Aconite and other depressants 
are contraindicated at this time. Absolute rest upon the back is to 
be insisted upon, and it is recommended, in those cases where deposits 
of a calcareous nature are likely to occur in the valve, that the citrate 
or acetate of potassium be given or that citrate of lithium be employed. 
If the disease becomes ulcerative, supporting treatment, consisting 
chiefly in the use of good food and the tincture of the chloride of 
iron is of great value if the dose which is given is large. 



EPILEPSY. 

The disease known as epilepsy is probably the most disheartening 
condition as to treatment that the physician has to deal with, since it 
often resists the influences of all the standard remedies, and drives the 
practitioner from drug to drug in the hope of finding one which will be 
at least alleviating in its effects. For this reason the author has in this 
article included many of the drugs which are rarely used, as well as 
those generally recognized as useful in its treatment, in order that the 
physician may try every remedy of any possible value. 

It should be borne in mind that the treatment of epilepsy is as 
various as the disease is variable in its forms and phases, and should, 
in nearly all cases, resolve itself into two or perhaps three divisions, 
consisting in the removal of any exciting cause, in the checking of 
the convulsive tendency already set up, and in the prevention of any 
further attacks by suitable drugs or other measures of relief. 

The treatment is governed largely by the cause, and is medicinal 
or operative according to the etiological factors at work. In simple 
idiopathic epilepsy medicinal means must be followed, while in a case 
resulting from traumatism the depressed bone, abscess, or tumor must 
be removed, and in those due to reflex irritation the peripheral source 
of trouble must be sought out and relieved. 



538 DISEASES. 

So far as drugs are concerned, the most valuable remedy in use 
for the relief of epilepsy is bromide of potassium, although other 
forms of bromide salts are to be mentioned later on. 

This drug, however, is not a a cure-all," even in epilepsy, and 
reports are constantly made of cases where it has failed ; but many 
cases prove that the remedy is undoubtedly responsible for a cure 
when it is pushed in a suitable manner, and in the vast majoritv 
of instances the seizures are so decreased, both in violence and fre- 
quency, that its use may be said to be indicated in every case of the 
disease. 

In a very small minority, however, it signally fails, and in a still 
smaller number of cases it is useless unless combined with some other 
drug whose power alone is very slight. Nevertheless, it is to be laid 
doAvn as a rule that the bromide treatment of epilepsy is, par excellence, 
the treatment to be employed on every occasion. There is no other 
drug known which can be relied upon so absolutely, or which is so 
powerful in its action and devoid of marked toxic effect unless given 
in enormous doses. 

The doses to be used vary with the salt employed to a considerable 
extent, and depend upon the character of the disease and the tem- 
perament and physique of the patient. The greater the duration of 
the disease, the greater is the difficulty in effecting a cure, and the 
length of time which the man has been epileptic should therefore be 
most carefully reckoned before the treatment begins. Further than 
this, the frequency and severity of the attacks are to be looked into, 
and these points are really more important than the actual duration 
of the ailment ; since if a man has only one fit every six months for 
twenty years his condition is far less serious than if he has a history 
of three or four fits a day for one year. Again, the character of the 
attack, as to its violence, may be the most important fact to be re- 
garded, for if it is violent enough to endanger life, remedies must be 
pushed even beyond the point of tolerance. The writer has heard 
a very celebrated physician cause much amusement among his auditors 
by detailing an instance of an epileptic who was getting well, and 
would have recovered if he had not died. His explanation was, that 
the man was syphilitic, and was receiving moderate doses of iodide 
and bromide of potassium, which were slowly benefiting him, and 
would have cured him had not a single severe fit produced death in 
the mean while. Another point to be considered is the condition of 
the digestion, which the bromide of potassium is peculiarly liable to 
disorder, and which is sometimes so disturbed as to necessitate the 
administration of the drug by the rectum in serious cases. Females 
.generally require smaller doses than males, and children of both sexes 
do not require as large quantities as adults. The dose to be used in 
the beginning of the treatment in moderate cases is about 10 grains 
(0.65) thrice a day ; and while this may seem a very small quantity, 
it will be found that it can be rapidly increased in amount without 
causing the gastric distress produced by the sudden use of larger 
doses. Each day an additional 10 grains may be added, until at the 



EPILEPSY. 539 

end of a week the patient is taking 80 grains (5.3) in each twenty- 
four hours. There are very few cases which will not become com- 
pletely saturated with the drug if this is done, and there are very few 
in which a more rapid arrival at bromism is needed. If, however, the 
patient has become able to stand large amounts by the prolonged use 
of the drug, the amount given is not to be governed by grains, but by 
physiological effects, and it may be pushed to any amount which is 
borne without distress. 

In chronic epilepsy, too, with regularly recurring fits, the greatest 
good is obtained by pushing the drug in ascending doses for one week, 
and then for the succeeding week only enough is given to preserve 
the general effects of the medicament. By doing this the stomach 
gets a rest and the appetite is not greatly interfered with. Where 
the attacks occur only every two weeks, this is a particularly useful 
method for obvious reasons. As regards the time of day when the 
drug is to be taken, there can be no doubt. Some writers have 
directed that it shall always be taken before meals, but this is entirely 
lacking in advantage and decidedly fruitful of harm. Medicines 
which are given with the object of affecting the general system should 
be taken after meals, not before, and it is only when a local gastric 
effect is desired that we use them on an empty stomach, particularly 
when the substance is as irritant and depressing as potassium. If 
taken after meals the appetite is not decreased, but there are few who 
can take a dose of 10 or 20 grains (0.65-1.3) of bromide of potas- 
sium before breakfast without suffering from indigestion. It has been 
held by some that the drug should be taken in minute doses, fre- 
quently repeated, in order to keep the patient constantly under its 
influence. This is an example of therapeutic ignorance, because 
bromides are slowly eliminated, and this frequent administration pos- 
sesses the disadvantages of being inconvenient, annoying, and apt to 
disorder the stomach. In this connection it is not to be forgotten that 
the use of full doses of the bromides, particularly in epileptics of an 
advanced type, sometimes causes maniacal outbursts in place of the 
epileptic attacks. In other instances the patients become morose and 
homicidal. (See article by author in Therapeutic Gazette, June, 1897.) 
Cases are on record in which the persistent use of large doses of the 
bromides has resulted in bronchitis with profuse and dangerous exuda- 
tion, causing suffocative bronchitis. 

If the attacks have a distinct periodicity or can be foretold for as 
much as two hours beforehand, the remedy may be taken in a large 
dose only at this time, and but a few grains given in the intervals ; 
and if the attacks are severe, no one should hesitate to use large doses 
by the mouth and by the rectum on the day of the attack. 

A very important point to be borne in mind is that the drug often 
seems to have produced a complete cure, and this results in careless- 
ness in the regularity of administration. The patient should be 
impressed by the fact that every day passed without a fit is a step 
forward, and that every fit carries him many steps backward. He 
should also be made to use the drug, in moderation, for at least three 
years after all fits have ceased, and to watch after that time for the 



540 DISEASES. 

slightest sign of their return. The quantity taken each day should 
be gradually decreased, not suddenly stopped short. 

It is true also that if a recurrence of the fits takes place they yield 
to treatment very much more slowly than before. 

Before passing on to the discussion of the other bromides, and the 
conditions produced by the excessive use of all of them, we may 
place our use of these compounds in epilepsy on a scientific footing. 
It is now generally recognized that the seizures known as epilepsy 
arise from the cells in the cerebral cortex, and there can be no doubt 
that the bromides act very powerfully upon the cerebrum in the 
higher animals, decreasing the irritability of the motor centres in 
these regions to a very great extent. Not only is this pointed to by 
clinical facts, but the well-known researches of Albertoni prove that 
such is their action beyond all doubt. This investigator found that 
the administration of a single dose of the bromide of potassium so 
lessened the excitability of the motor cells in the cortex cerebri that 
much stronger stimulation was necessary in order to cause response 
in the limbs than was normal, and that it was difficult to produce 
epileptic attacks by means of the electrical stimulation of the motor 
areas, even when currents very much stronger than those which com- 
monly produce such a result were used. He also found that this 
lessened irritability was increased still further if the drug was given 
for several days beforehand in such doses as thoroughly to impress 
the organism. It is therefore evident that the bromides act directly 
on the cortical areas, calming the tendency to explosions of nerve- 
force. 

There is one more point to which attention must be called, and that 
is the fact that when the bromides are taken for any length of time 
they produce bromism, which in its moderate or severe forms produces 
a mental condition very closely allied to that seen in old, chronic epi- 
leptics. This condition of the mind should never be overlooked, and 
the ordinary mental changes of epilepsy are greatly increased by its 
constant and careless administration. (See Bromide of Potassium.) 

The bromide salts of gold, iron, sodium, lithium, nickel, and 
ammonium have all been used in epilepsy with good results, but, 
except in certain instances, they fail to act as well as that of potas- 
sium, unless given in larger doses. There are several circumstances, 
however, under which each one possesses marked advantages, and 
may suceed where potassium has failed. In all cases of epilepsy 
complicated with anaemia the bromide of iron should be employed, 
but where there is plethora it will generally increase the disease or 
do no good. When it acts after potassium fails the iron is of value, 
because of its tonic and nutritive effect. Bromide of sodium, while 
somewhat less powerful than potassium, is not by any means so apt to 
disorder the stomach, and is preferable in some cases on this account. 
It possesses no other advantages. 

The bromide of lithium has been highly recommended in intract- 
able cases by Weir Mitchell, who even states that it may be given in 
one-half the dose of the potassium salt with equally good effects. 

The bromide of nickel cures some cases where all other remedies 



EPILEPSY. 541 

fail, but this occurrence is rare. In a series of physiological experi- 
ments made by the writer some years since he found it virtually iden- 
tical with the potassium salt in its action, and it is useful in about the 
same doses and cases as is bromide of potassium. 

The bromide of ammonium is very irritant and disorders the 
stomach quite readily. It ought always to be used, when used at 
all, with some other drugs, the ammonium salt only acting as an 
adjuvant. 

Several clinicians have tried hydrobromic acid, but it is very much 
more apt to derange digestion and to produce vomiting than any of 
the salts. The dose of the dilute acid is f to 3 drachms (2.0-12.0) 
in a tumblerful of sweetened water. 

The bromate of potassium has been used by Mitchell in doses of 
not more than 5 to 10 grains (0.3-0.65) with good results, but is more 
dangerous and scarcely of greater value. 

There can be no doubt that in some instances what is known as 
the mixed treatment is successful when all else fails. This consists 
most commonly of a prescription in which the bromides of potassium, 
sodium, and ammonium take part. Why this combination acts better 
than any one of the salts alone no one knows, but it is certainly a 
clinical fact. 

Bechterew has recommended the joint use of the bromides with 
adonis vernalis in epilepsy as follows : 

R. — Potassii bromidi ^iij (12.0). 

Infus. adonis vernal f^vi (180.0). 

Aquae destillat q. s. fgvj (180.0).— M. 

S. — A dessertspoonful three times a day. 

Sometimes codeine is combined Avith this prescription. 

Within the last few years it has been claimed by Flechsig that the 
use of opium for a long period of time is useful in the treatment of 
epilepsy. He gives the opium in ascending doses during a period 
of six weeks, beginning with \ grain (0.018) three times a day and 
going as high as 5 grains (0.33) three times a day. This method de- 
creases the frequency and severity of the fits for several months in 
some cases, but does not cause a cure. It succeeds best in old cases 
and is not useful in recent ones. 

In still other cases digitalis, when used along with one of the bro- 
mides, seems to produce favorable results. Indeed, digitalis has for 
years been used alone in epilepsy with fairly good results, and should 
always be used in obstinate cases. In petit mal, where bromide of 
potassium when used alone so often fails, it is useful, and several 
English writers, notably Growers, assert that its best effects are in 
cases of nocturnal epilepsy. Why this should be the case no one 
knows, and it would seem doubtful whether it does any more good in 
nocturnal attacks than in others. 

Another combination very much employed and lauded is bromide 
of potassium with belladonna, the mydriatic being almost useless 
alone, but of great antiquity in its use in epilepsy. Like the mix- 
ture of digitalis and bromide, it succeeds very frequently in petit mal, 



542 DISEASES. 

and, indeed, seems to be much more successful than the digitalis, but 
its mode of action is exceedingly doubtful. As the drug acts even 
more powerfully upon the nervous system than upon the circulatory 
apparatus, it has been thought that its influence for good depended 
upon this effect, but the experiments of Seppilli contradict this belief, 
for he found that if atropine was given to an animal the surface of 
the cortex cerebri responded more readily than is normal to electrical 
stimulation. 

At one time it was held that belladonna acted on the spinal cord 
and peripheral nerves under such circumstances, but it should be 
remembered that we now know that atropine is only of value in relax- 
ing spasm when given in full dose, oftentimes hypodermically, and 
that Albertoni has made a series of experiments to determine whether 
it irritates the motor centres of the cortex. In his hands repeated 
small doses or one large dose in no way retarded the convulsions com- 
monly produced by stimulation of the brain. Both these investigators 
are therefore in accord. Under these circumstances it affects rather 
the motor nerve-endings than the central nervous apparatus. 

As long ago as the early part of this century cannabis indica came 
into notice in the treatment of epilepsy, and it is probably of greater 
value alone than when combined with any other drug, unless it be 
with the bromides. Although it is at present rarely so used, the 
author believes, from his own studies, that it is of value, for he found 
that it distinctly lessens reflex action and acts powerfully upon the 
higher nervous centres in the brain. Its use and value in migraine 
are undeniably of the greatest importance, and epilepsy and migraine 
are often very closely allied. 

Nitrate of silver was brought into use long before the value of 
more recent drugs w T as known. Every one is agreed that it is with- 
out power for good, save Avhen it is used constantly for a long time. 
As the drug is eliminated very slowly, it rapidly accumulates in the 
body, and argyria soon comes on. It may be used, after all else fails, 
in doses of \ to \ grain (0.01-0.15) thrice a day after meals, the 
mucous membrane of the inside of the lips and the conjunctiva being 
carefully watched for the early signs of chronic silver poisoning. We 
certainly have no knowledge as to its influence on the nervous sys- 
tem ; and if it acts at all, it must be by some alterative influences 
rather than by any other means. 

Nitroglycerin is to be employed in the treatment of petit mal, 
rather than haut mal, in the dose of 1 drop (0.05) of a 1 per cent, 
solution, once, tw T ice, or three times a day. Our knowledge of its 
effects, so far as its curative influences are concerned, is very slight, 
but it seems to benefit some cases. Its action is very fleeting, and it 
influences the brain very little, except it be taken just before an 
attack is expected or when the cardiac action is defective. Its great 
lethal power should never be forgotton. 

The use of the nitrite of amyl is not for the purpose of directly 
curing the disease, but of warding off impending attacks, the warn- 
ing of which is given by an aura of slow progression. It increases 
the severity of petit mal, but in epileptics who have a prolonged aura 



EPILEPSY. 543 

we may use nitrite-of-amyl pearls, which consist in small glass beads 
containing a few drops of the drug. As the aura comes on the 
patient should break one of these in his handkerchief and inhale 
the drug, thereby putting aside the attack. The influence which the 
drug exerts upon the brain is secondary rather than primary, and is 
probably dependent on its action on the blood or circulation. Its 
influence on the spinal cord and nerves is much more marked and 
direct, and it is most certainly a very powerful spinal depressant. As 
its influence over unstriated muscular fibre is very great, it affects the 
vasomotor system very powerfully ; and those who think epilepsy is 
due to a vasomotor spasm at the base of the brain point to the effects 
of this drug as a proof of their hypothesis. Such reasoning is not, 
however, necessarily correct. Nitrite of amyl puts aside an attack by 
a sudden shock to the nerve-centres, which diverts them, so to speak, 
from their intended discharge, very much as a ligature around the 
arm stops an aura. When we remember that the drug acts instantly 
and converts nearly all the oxygenating blood of the body into a non- 
oxygen-carrying fluid by reason of the methaemoglobin produced, the 
sudden change in the cerebral nutrition and state is easily understood. 

In the treatment of the "status epilepticus " nitrite of amyl is of 
great value in stopping the seizures, and may be used under these 
circumstances in heroic amounts, applied to the nostrils at intervals. 
During the presence of the tonic spasm, if it be severe enough to stop 
respiration, it should be remembered that if the drug is not inhaled 
it is absolutely worthless. It is only when respiration is being carried 
on that it can enter the lungs and do its work. Another valued 
method in treating the status epilepticus is free bloodletting. The 
nitrite of ammonium or of sodium should be used internally to sup- 
plement the nitrite of amyl. 

The use of anaesthetics during an attack of epilepsy is virtually 
useless, and in some cases dangerous, for ether is too slow in its effects, 
and may, by its irritant vapors, increase the tendency to laryngeal 
spasm or cause lung complications. Further than this, if uraemia is 
the cause of the fit — and this fact is unknown in every case until the 
individual is carefully examined — the ether may increase the inflam- 
mation of the kidneys very seriously. 

Chloroform, though it acts much more rapidly, may cause sudden 
cardiac failure, and both drugs may increase the post-convulsive coma 
very greatly. In "status epilepticus " they may be used, as in such 
cases the convulsions must be stopped at all hazards, but the prefer- 
ence should be always for amyl nitrite. 

The iodide of potassium is entirely useless in epilepsy unless the 
disease is due to syphilis, when it is of the greatest service. Indeed, 
the bromide and all other drugs should be set aside while this one is 
pushed to the utmost. As is well known, syphilitics usually bear the 
drug extremely well, and the author knows of one instance where no 
less than 800 grains (53.0) were taken every twenty-four hours, with 
rapid improvement as a result. This point is strongly insisted upon 
by all therapeutists and syphilographers, notably among whom stands 
Fournier. 



544 DISEASES. 

Where the convulsions are due to the presence of a gumma, the 
iodide of potassium is, however, too slow in its action, and should be 
associated with mercury in order to break down the growth without 
delay, lest a seizure cause death by glottic closure, producing asphyxia 
or some similar accident. 

Chloral hydrate is a remedy which has been only partly tried in 
epilepsy, and its usefulness is not as yet determined. It possesses the 
marked disadvantage, as compared with the bromides, of being a 
very fatal poison, which is an important fact to be borne in mind by 
the physician when giving it to a patient whose mind is already weak- 
ened by the disease or naturally stupid, and who may forget and take 
too much. Its physiological action indicates much more fully that it 
may be of value than does that of many other much more lauded rem- 
edies, since it exerts its chief influence on the motor pathways of the 
spinal cord and quiets the motor portion of the cerebral cortex, and 
also produces sleep. Seppilli has proved this by direct experimenta- 
tion after the method employed by Albertoni. Its use, combined with 
one of the bromides, is often accompanied by the most desirable results, 
and it should be tried at all times unless some cardiac complication 
forbids it. It may disorder the stomach, and should, like the bromides, 
always be given well diluted and after meals. 

Of the more recent remedies, acetanilid certainly stands in the 
foremost rank, and bids fair in some instances to rival the bromides. 
Professor Germain-See, the author, and some others have reported 
cases which obtained very marked relief from it, and more recent 
investigators have done likewise. The drug will be found to exert 
its chief benefits in chronic epilepsy. At least, if a child was brought 
to the author with a beginning epilepsy he would use the bromides, 
but, if the disease was chronic, acetanilid. 

Antipyrin has been recommended by Lemoine in certain forms of 
epilepsy, but is condemned in many cases. In those who suffer from 
menstrual epilepsy, so called, or in those in whom the attack is pro- 
duced reflexly by the presence of intestinal parasites, the drug does 
good. 

Lemoine also found it very useful in those cases which are asso- 
ciated with migraine. In these cases the results were better than 
with the bromides, but in the idiopathic simple varieties it was use- 
less. Mairet and Combemale have used the drug in the epileptiform 
mania with satisfactory results. 

In the epilepsy of childhood Solanum Carolinense in the form of the 
fluid extract, in the dose of 2 to 15 minims (0.1-1 cc), is a useful drug. 

The value of the treatment of epilepsy by borax has not received 
very wide recognition. Perhaps the most thorough studies of its effects 
have been those of Gowers in England and Folsom in America. It 
would seem that some cases which are obstinate under ordinary treat- 
ment are benefited by borax, but it is certainly not to be commonly 
employed. The dose generally given is about 15 grains (1-0). (See 
Borax.) 

In children suffering from frequently recurring epileptic attacks 
the presence of worms should always be looked for, and when they 



EPISTAXIS. 545 

are found they should be expelled as rapidly as possible. If they are 
the oxyuris vermicular is (seat-worms), the best remedy by far is the 
injection of a strong infusion of quassia of such a strength that there 
are 2 ounces (64.0) of quassia to each pint (500 cc.) of water. 

In girls, where the removal of the worms from the rectum is not 
followed by relief, a careful examination of the vagina should be 
made, and quassia employed in somewhat weaker solution, as very 
commonly intense inflammation is there present, produced by migra- 
tory movements of rectal parasites. If the quassia is unobtainable in 
any case, a saturated solution of chloride of sodium may be employed. 

A very important point, which is constantly brought before the 
physician who is treating epilepsy, is that of diet. Nearly every 
patient who suffers from this disease inquires what he shall eat. Very 
few researches of a thorough character have ever been carried out on 
a large scale to determine the things which may or may not be in- 
gested. Of course, nearly every one of us knows from our personal 
experience that red meats are hurtful, particularly in children. Curi- 
ously enough, the influence of diet in one research covering a number 
of cases of chronic epilepsy seemed to be of little moment. Thus, 
Merson examined 24 such cases, putting 12 of them on a purely vege- 
table, and 12 on a purely nitrogenous, diet. The result, after this 
study had been continued for two months, was that the vegetarians 
had had a few less fits than the others, but the difference was so slight 
as to be of almost no weight in determining the question. Some 
authors at the present day believe this opinion as to the harmfulness 
of meats to be erroneous, and Gowers is one of them. 



EPISTAXIS. 

Nose-bleed depends upon many causes, the chief of which are 
traumatisms, plethora, and the presence of ulcerations in the nasal 
chambers. It also occurs as one of the prodromata of typhoid fever. 

Probably plethora is the most frequent cause of nose-bleed, and in 
most instances it is an attempt on the part of the system to rid 
itself of an excess of blood. Under these circumstances epistaxis 
is not dangerous, nor is it proper to arrest it unless it becomes exces- 
sive. When it is excessive or must be controlled for any reason, the 
measures to be adopted are both medicinal and non-medicinal. If 
the person is full-blooded and strong, full doses of tincture of aconite 
or veratrum viride are useful, say 2 to 4 drops (0.1-0.2) of one of 
them, followed in a half-hour by a smaller dose, if necessary. The 
value of these drugs depends upon their power of lowering blood- 
pressure, and in consequence decreasing the leakage from the break 
in the wall of the blood-vessel. Some physicians have recommended 
ipecac in full nauseating doses to relax the arterial system. Powdered 
alum, pure or half and half with starch, or alum in solution, may be 
snuffed up the nostril, and tannic acid, in powder or in solution, may 
be used with advantage. If this does not control the hemorrhage, an 
atomized spray of Monsel's solution, in the strength of 30 drops to 4 

35 



546 DISEASES. 

ounces (2.0: 128.0) of water, may be of service. Ergot in the form 
of the fluid extract in the dose of 1 drachm (4.0) may be given, or its 
wine in the dose of a wineglassful (32.0) employed. Sometimes, when 
the oozing is slow, doses of turpentine, oil of erigeron, or hamamelis, 
taken internally, do good. 

All these remedies act as styptics when locally applied, by causing 
coagulation of the fibrin and the formation of a clot, while the inter- 
nal remedies produce local contraction of the blood-vessels in the con- 
gested area. 

The non-medicinal measures to be employed if the bleeding is 
severe consist in plugging the anterior nares with pledgets of cotton 
or pieces of lint soaked in vinegar. If this does not control the 
hemorrhage, the posterior nares may also be closed by plugs, and 
compression of the facial artery of the same side as the bleeding nos- 
tril be made upon the superior maxilla near the nose, thus decreasing 
the blood-supply. The head must be kept raised, and the patient 
must not bend over a basin or wear a tight collar. 

A piece of bacon fat cut to fit and placed in the nostril may stop 
epistaxis which has resisted all other measures. 

As a household remedy vinegar may be injected into the nostrils, 
or lemon-juice may be employed in the same way. 

Sometimes, if the patient raises one or both hands high above the 
head, the hemorrhage ceases. This is due to the fact that the easiest 
pathway for most of the blood is straight up the brachial arteries 
rather than through the tortuous vessels of the face. A hot foot- 
bath, by dilating the veins of the lower extremities, draws away the 
blood from the face and is a useful measure. In other cases a hot- 
water bag applied over the dorsal vertebrae is efficacious, and some- 
times cold when so used is of service. A piece of ice pressed against 
the nose may prevent further hemorrhage by causing localized 
anaemia. 

Where the nasal hemorrhage results from traumatism with fracture 
of the bones, and great loss of blood ensues, ligation of the bleeding 
vessel or its supplying vessel should be performed if possible. 



ERYSIPELAS. 

This disease is now generally recognized as dependent for its 
existence upon a germ. The streptococcus of erysipelas is practi- 
cally identical with that of pus, and the disease is at first a distinctly 
local one. The changes which have come forward in its treatment 
are chiefly the local measures, while those methods which have been 
used internally for many years have suffered no alteration. 

Whether or not erysipelas is a local or systemic disease has little 
to do with the proper treatment. In any case it is an inflammation, 
and as such it must be treated. In its early manifestations and where 
some uncertainty may exist as to its true character aconite or vera- 
trum viride may be used in sthenic cases in which the nervous and 
circulatory systems give evidence of reflex irritation and the pulse is 



EXHAUSTION AND DEPRESSION. 547 

hard and full. These remedies are contraindicated if any tendency 
to weakness exists. DaCosta has recommended, and others have car- 
ried out with success, the practice of using pilocarpine in sweating 
dose (J- to ^ grain hypodermically) in these early stages. (See Pilo- 
carpus.) As with aconite and veratrum viride, it is to be remembered 
that this use of pilocarpine is not to be resorted to if debility exists. 

The internal treatment of erysipelas par excellence is the plentiful 
use of the tincture of the chloride of iron — 20 to 30 drops (1.3-2.0), 
or even 40 drops (2.65), four times a day. The diet should be reg- 
ulated and the bowels kept in good order, while any excessive febrile 
movement is to be treated by the use of antipyretic drugs, such as 
antipyrin, or, better still, by cold bathing. Where the patient passes 
into the typhoid state supportive measures must be used and alcoholic 
stimulants added to the food, which should be predigested or prepared 
so as to be readily absorbed. 

During convalescence the use of tonics, both in the form of iron 
and of bitters, is particularly indicated if the recovery of strength is 
slow. The local treatment of erysipelas is very varied, but in the 
majority of cases resort may be had to but one method. 

By far the best dressing for the general run of cases of erysipelas 
is a modification of that of Von Nussbaum, which the author has tried 
in a great number of cases with success. The skin of the part involved 
is carefully cleansed with Castile soap of the purest form, and then it 
is washed off by a 1 : 1000 solution of bichloride of mercury. The 
skin is dried with a soft towel, and a thick coating of ichthyol with 
vaseline or lanolin applied, the strength of this ointment being half 
and half. Over this is placed antiseptic gauze or sterilized absorbent 
cotton, and adhesive strips or a bandage is used to keep the dressing in 
place. Sometimes the ointment alone may be applied if the area is 
small. Under this treatment the results are often extraordinary in all 
stages of the malady. Where ichthyol is not obtainable, a thick coat 
of white-lead paint, as it is sold in cans before it is mixed with any 
thinning substance, will be found of service in an emergency. 

The plan recommended by Higginbottom, of applying nitrate of 
silver, is sometimes successful. It consists in the use of a solution 
of the strength of 80 grains to 4 drachms (5.3 : 16.0) of distilled 
water, which is thoroughly applied with a camel's-hair brush over the 
entire inflamed area and for a little space beyond. The application 
must be made twice or thrice to secure a good coating. This treat- 
ment will often arrest the inflammation and prevent its spread, but 
has caused sloughing. 



EXHAUSTION AND DEPRESSION. 

While the treatment of both these conditions is almost identical in 
«ome respects, it is, nevertheless, important that a clear idea of the 
difference between the two be clearly understood, if for no other 
reason than that the physician may recognize that exhaustion is a 
far more serious state than depression. It also requires more careful 



548 DISEASES. 

treatment. The man who is depressed retains in his body all the 
vital forces necessary for the maintenance of life, but they are tem- 
porarily in abeyance from some cause. As soon as the incubus is 
taken away the system at once asserts itself and recovery takes place. 
This is not the case with a man suffering from exhaustion. In this 
patient every particle of his strength is sapped and lost. The man 
depressed is the giant lying unconscious from a blow on the head ; 
the man exhausted is the same giant after a long attack of typhoid or 
other fever of a similar nature. The treatment of depression is stim- 
ulation ; of exhaustion, not only stimulation, but feeding and protec- 
tion from exposure. 

FEET SWOLLEN, TENDER, OR SWEATING. 

These comparatively simple yet annoying conditions are often 
brought before the physician for relief, and patients suffering from 
them will frequently be more grateful for skilful treatment than in 
the event of recovery from a severe illness. 

Swelling of the feet occurs chiefly in two classes of cases, excepting, 
of course, in dropsy, which makes a third class. . The two classes 
named are old persons taking too little or too much exercise, and who 
may have gouty or rheumatic tendencies, and those who by constant 
standing or walking cause congestion of the lower extremities, chiefly 
by fatigue, or by wearing bad shoes, or by running over uneven ground, 
causing bruising. Where the swelling takes place in the first class, 
small doses of arsenic, in the dose of -g 1 -^ to ■£$ grain (0.001-0.0015), 
often do good, and careful examination should be made of the cir- 
culatory, renal, and respiratory apparatus to discover any weak points, 
such as vascular relaxation or tendencies to varicosities. The dis- 
tilled or fluid extract of hamamelis is often of service in the dose of \ 
to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0) of the former and 10 to 20 drops (0.65-1.3) of 
the latter preparation. In some cases absolute rest of the feet will be 
necessary before a cure is reached. 

Where the feet are tender the most common cause is bruising from 
too thin soles on the shoes, too tight shoes, and from abrasions or skin 
disease. More commonly than all they become sore from excessive 
sweating and resulting maceration. 

The treatment of sweating and tender feet is, of course, the removal 
of the cause and the use of remedies designed to toughen and harden 
the skin of the parts. Probably the best application for this purpose 
is a solution of salicylic acid and borax, half and half, in water and 
glycerin, rubbed over the feet night and morning. If the sweating is 
very severe, clean stockings should be worn each day, the stockings 
being previously soaked in a strong solution of borax and dried. The 
following prescription affords a useful powder : 

R. — Pulv. acidi salicylici gr. xx vel xl (1.3-2.65). 

Pulv. acidi borici %i] (8.0). 

Pulv. amyli . . . . . . q. s. ad 5j' (32.0).— M. 

S. — To be dusted over the feet night and morning, after washing and thoroughly dry- 
ing them. 



FEVER, AND ITS TREATMENT. 549 

Sometimes the use of cotton instead of woollen stockings may 
aid in the cure. 



FEVER, AND ITS TREATMENT. 
(For the Treatment of each Fever, see its Title.) 

At the present time the medical profession are almost universally 
of the opinion that fever is a disorder of calorification dependent 
upon nervous action, said nervous action being the result of various 
causes, such as the presence of poisonous materials in the blood or 
of perverted functional activity of heat-centres. The first may be rep- 
resented by the fever of any infectious disease ; the second, by the so- 
called hysterical hyperpyrexia. Turning from the general question of 
fever to those methods and drugs which combat it the rule of practice 
should be to control all fevers by the use of cold sponging or bathing 
and resort to antipyretic drugs as little as possible. 

The value of a drug which can decrease high temperature by influ- 
encing heat-production alone cannot be over-estimated, and while sev- 
eral drugs seem to influence this part of the heat apparatus more than 
that portion connected with the dissipation of heat, we have no sub- 
stance which is distinctly and solely capable of exercising an inhib- 
itory power over the development of heat in the body. For practical 
purposes we may therefore divide antipyretics into three great classes : 
First, the substances which allay or prevent fever by inhibiting its 
production ; second, the drugs which possess the power of decreasing 
bodily temperature by increasing the dissipation and decreasing the 
production of heat ; and third, the compounds which allay fever, not 
by stopping the manufacture of heat-units, but by so increasing the 
exhalation of heat that the loss is greater than the manufacture. 
The first and last of these three classes are directly opposed to one 
another. The second class is half-way between, and it is to this class 
that most of our antipyretic drugs belong. The first is the ideal ; the 
second is the one we have to be content with ; the third is the one used 
by our forefathers. 

The objection to the use of all antipyretic drugs is that they de- 
press the patient and decrease his power of resisting disease. 

Before we consider the uses of these drugs in fevers it is necessary 
to define what we mean by hyperpyrexia. As given by most writers 
upon the subject of fever, this term is applied to any state in which 
the temperature reaches 106° or 107° F., but the presence of a high 
temperature alone does not constitute the sole indication for treatment, 
the physician being governed by the state of the patient who is labor- 
ing under the malady. A temperature of 106° F. in a young healthy 
man suffering from an attack of some disease of short duration does 
not mean very great danger, but a temperature of 103° day in and day 
out in typhoid fever does mean danger, and must be carefully attended 
to. The question is one not of actual degrees Fahrenheit, but rather 
as to whether the temperature present is doing any harm. 

Turning to the drugs which are divided into classes named from 



550 DISEASES. 

their physiological effects, we may, in view of our present knowledge, 
place them as follows : First, those which decrease heat-production alone 
are not known. Second, those which act both on dissipation and pro- 
duction are antipyrin, acetanilid, carbolic acid, salicylic acid, similar 
substances, and quinine. In this class, also, should be placed cold 
bathing, which probably decreases heat-production as well as increases 
heat-dissipation. Third, those drugs which only dissipate heat, as far as 
we know— namely, the great group of cardiac sedatives and their allies. 

No one is more sensible of the fact than the writer that this* 
arrangement of the subject is partly artificial, but in the present state 
of our knowledge it is probably the best we can do. 

Though a number of writers have claimed that certain antipyretic 
remedies of equal power act with different results in different diseases, 
the writer has never been able to see any such distinction, and we 
must be guided rather by experience as to the value of some particular 
antipyretic in all diseases than by any other rule. All observers are 
not in accord, however, as to the best one of this class. While phe- 
nacetin has been spoken of very highly by some authorities, the 
writer has heard it equally condemned by others, and, although 
Ringer prefers antipyrin, Mitchell Bruce relies chiefly on acetanilid. 
In America many persons prefer acetanilid. 

It may be said that we have only two measures for the relief of 
fever which are reliable and have stood the test of time. These are 
the employment of antipyrin and acetanilid, and the use of cold. The 
drugs just named are to be used very rarely, but the beneficent effects 
of the use of cold are extraordinary, and it should be constantly 
employed if the fever is high. (For the mode of using antipyrin and 
acetanilid see pp. 47 and 77, and for the use of'cold see p. 402.) 

A very important question arises as to the value of cold bathing 
in private practice. There can be no doubt of its acting well under 
these circumstances if carefully carried out, and it is certainly much 
the best remedy for fever where trained nurses are on hand to admin- 
ister it ; but where only members of the family are in care of the sick 
man, and where the doctor can be on hand only once in twenty- 
four hours, it is manifestly difficult to resort to it. Nevertheless, the 
friends of the patient, if they are intelligent, can easily be taught how 
to use cold sponging with friction, and good results, far superior to 
those due to antipyretic drugs, are thus obtained. The reasons for 
this are discussed further on. The water should be as cold as is neces- 
sary to reduce the fever satisfactorily in twenty minutes of sponging, 
and reaction must be produced by friction applied to the skin. This 
reaction is more important than the reduction of the fever. (See Cold 
in Fevers, Part III.) 

(For the use of guaiacol externally in fever, see article on Guaiacol.) 

Sthenic Fevers. 

The application of antipyretics to the febrile temperatures occur- 
ring in sthenic cases has an entirely different purpose from their 
employment in a prolonged low fever of the adynamic type. There 
can be little doubt that in the sudden excessive outbursts of febrile 



FEVER, AND ITS TREATMENT. 551 

temperature in a child from functional disorder, but with no acute 
disease underlying it, antipyretics may be of value. But the wise phy- 
sician will always endeavor to avoid their use if possible. Fever is 
not, as a rule, a very harmful process unless it is continued for a long 
period or is exceptionally high. Indeed, as pointed out elsewhere, it 
may even be beneficial. Antipyretic drugs decrease oxidation, proba- 
bly interfere with ordinary protective natural efforts against disease, 
and place upon the eliminating organs the task of excretion. In acute 
illnesses, where the use of cold is impossible, these remedies may be 
given. The fever in such cases cannot be prolonged enough to neces- 
sitate the use of antipyretics day in and day out for weeks at a time, 
and there is, for this reason, less danger of the patient being injured 
by their influence. In scarlet fever the use of such drugs should be 
most carefully watched, because the kidneys are in danger and the 
disturbances accompanying the fever may last a long time. 

If in any case it is decided to give antipyretic drugs, they should 
never be pushed to the point at which even moderate cyanosis de- 
velops, and if they do not control the fever in moderately full dose 
they should be discarded and resort to cold bathing insisted upon. 

In thermic fever, or sunstroke, the employment of antipyretics is 
often useless. The excessively rapid upward rush of the temperature 
responds in no way to drugs, and there are cases on record in which the 
use of antipyrin has utterly failed of good result. Thus, in one case 
reported by Singer a man suffering from thermic fever, with a temper- 
ature of 108 degrees, received 50 grains (3.3) of antipyrin hypodermi- 
cally at 6 p. M. ; at 7 P. M. he received 10 grains (0.65) more under 
the skin; at 8 p. M. 20 grains (1.3) more; and at 9.30 another 20 
grains (1.3) were used without effect. In other words, 100 grains (6.6) 
in three hours and a half proved useless. In children suffering from 
excessive heat during summer weather antipyrin seems to be very use- 
ful, and has been highly recommended by Demme. It must be used 
with caution lest collapse be induced, and the author much prefers the 
use of cool sponging or baths with friction. 

Asthenic Fevers. 

(Fevers of a Typhoid Type.) 

In the opinion of the author, antipyretics should play a secondary 
role in the reduction of the pyrexia of the typhoid state, our main 
reliance being upon cold applications, the antipyretics being rarely 
'used as an adjunct to the cold pack or bath. Aside from the fact 
that he has found such an opinion well founded in a large number of 
typhoid-fever cases, logical reasoning endorses its correctness. Even 
if antipyretics were perfectly innocuous, their constant use in fever 
would but give the already overstrained kidneys the task of their 
excretion, while the stomach, sufficiently disturbed by necessary medi- 
cines and illness, has enough to do without the addition of another 
load. Further than this, we know that these drugs are not per- 
fectly harmless, and we also know that they act on the protoplasm 
of the body, and in consequence must gradually lose their pow r er, 



552 DISEASES. 

which is not the case with the cold pack. The writer is sure that in 
typhoid and other low fevers of the continued type antipyretics should 
be given only when the cold pack cannot be used, or at the end of the 
cold application to prevent the temperature from bounding upward 
after its depression. (For Brand's treatment, see Cold.) Further 
than this, fever will sometimes resist all doses of antipyretics we can 
give or all that it is safe to give, but no fever can resist the cold bath. 
In diseases of a more chronic type, particularly in those represented by 
phthisis, antipyretics are of doubtful value, owing to the increased 
sweating which is apt to be produced, and unless the patient seems 
to be particularly robust they should not be employed except in the 
smallest effectual doses and with great caution. 



FRECKLES AND CHLOASMA. 

The removal of freckles is readily accomplished, but their return 
is inevitable if any exposure to the sun or wind occurs. One of the 
best applications for their removal is a solution of corrosive sublimate, 
in water, varying in strength from 1 to 4 grains to the ounce (0.05- 
0.2 : 32.0), and applied night and morning until the skin shows that 
it is irritated, when the lotion must be stopped for some days, after 
which its use may be begun again. A very efficient and much less 
dangerous remedy to leave about the room in which children are 
allowed to play is a saturated solution of boric acid in water, applied 
in the same manner as is the solution of bichloride of mercury. 

Another remedy is lactic acid, 10 grains to a drachm (0.65 : 4.0) 
of water, used in the same manner as the solution of the bichloride 
of mercury. The following prescription is recommended by Unna : 

R. — Bismuth oxidi ) _- , AN 

Pulv.amyli } aa gr. xxx (2.0). 

Kaolini 3j (4.0). 

Glycerini f^ij (8.0). 

Aquse rosae ........ . q. s. adf^ij (64.0). — M. 

S. — Paint on spots and allow to dry, washing the drug off before each new appli- 
cation. 



Or the following may be used 

R. — Zinci oxidi .... 
Hydrarg. ammoniati 
01. theobromee . . 

Ol. ricini 

Essent. rosse . . . 
S. — Apply night and morning 



gr. iij (0.2). 
gr. iss (0.08). 
f^ijss (10.0). 
f^ijss (10.0). 
gtt. x (0.65).— M. 



GASTRALGIA. 1 

The treatment of gastralgia may be divided into two parts — that 
directed to the relief of the attack when it is present, and that de- 
voted to the prevention of other attacks. During the acute stage 
hot applications and drinks, aromatic and locally stimulating warm 

1 See article written by author in Keating's Cyclopaedia of Diseases of Children, 
vol. iii. 



GASTBALGIA. 553 

infusions, a few drops of chloroform, or brandy or whiskey hot and 
concentrated, or 30 or 40 drops (2.0-2.65) of laudanum may be used. 
Counter-irritation often does good, and in some cases, particularly if 
a suspicion of an hysterical element exists, a vigorous revulsive may 
act with surprising success. Emesis and purgation are sometimes 
indicated, since in the early attacks the cause of the pain may be 
suspected to be the presence of indigestible food. 

The treatment required in the intervals between the attacks must 
vary with the cause and Avith the general condition of health. A 
careful search must be made for the real cause of the trouble, and 
when found it must be removed or palliated by appropriate measures. 

The diet should be carefully regulated, and all the hygienic details 
of the patient's life be critically studied and directed. The avoidance 
of improper food, the abandonment of tea, coffee, and tobacco, the 
prescription of proper dress, exercise, or change of residence, may be 
followed by marked improvement in general health and by a cessa- 
tion of the attacks of gastralgia. 

In regard to remedies it may be premised that all depressing drugs 
must be avoided, as well as all purgatives which would weaken the 
digestion. Any marked disturbance of digestion should be corrected ; 
and this may require the use of pepsin or of some tonic remedies, 
such as are suggested in the article on Indigestion. The chief 
reliance is, however, to be placed upon the administration of arsenic 
and iron immediately after meals, in proper form and doses. Thus, 
we may direct, 

R. — Liquor potassii arsenitis f^j (4.0). 

Vini ferri amari q. s. ad fgiv (128.0). — M. 

S. — From 30 to 60 minims (2.0-4.0) in water after meals, three times daily, for a child 
of six years, or twice this quantity for an adult. 

Or, 

R.— Tincturse ferri chloridi . f^j (32.0). 

Acidi hydrochlorici diluti 1 -- p Z _ narw at 

T . J . ,. . y aa f£ss (lo.O). — M. 

Liquor acidi arsenosi j . 

S. — From 4 to 20 drops (0.2-1.3) in water after meals, three times daily. 

Occasionally even better results are secured by the use of cod-liver 
oil in emulsion with the hypophosphites. 

The solution of bromide of strontium (Paraf-Javal) is a valuable 
one in gastralgia in the dose of a tablespoonful (16.0) three times a 
day. 

It is well, in cases where the pain is very severe, to combine with 
the above a powder of bismuth subnitrate and saccharated pepsin, 
given about an hour or an hour and a half after meals. Consti- 
pation, should it exist, must be overcome by proper diet, massage, 
enemata, or by suppositories of gluten or glycerin or soap. If the 
use of bismuth favors the continuance of constipation too decidedly, 
small doses of cyanide of potassium, dilute hydrocyanic acid, or 
chloroform may be substituted at the same hours. In cases where a 
highly neurotic state exists, it may be necessary to alternate all other 
treatment with the bromides or with the preparations of valerian, or 
the following prescription may be used : 



554 DISEASES. 

R. — Acid, hydrocyanic, dil f.^j (4.0). 

Ext. cannab. indicse fl fgj (4.0). 

Tr. hyoscyam f^j (4.0). 

Spt. chloroformi f^ij (8.0). — M. 

S. — 30 minims (2.0) t. d. in water for an adult. 



GASTRIC CATARRH (ACUTE). 

By far the most important point in the treatment of acute gastric 
catarrh is the regulation of the diet, and the following abstract from 
the article written by the author for the third volume of Keating's 
Cyclopcedia of Diseases of Children embodies so thoroughly the ideas 
which the writer desires to express that he has inserted it here : The 
dietetics may be divided into two parts — first, the regulation of the 
food during convalescence or during the attack, and, second, the cha- 
racter of the food to be used during the interval following one attack 
and preceding the next. Total abstinence from food in the acute 
stages of the attack, and absolute bodily and mental quietude, are 
advisable. There are several reasons for this. In the first place, 
the juices of the stomach are in an abnormal state and unfit to act 
properly if the stomach receive more food. Secondly, the mucous 
membrane of the stomach is already hypersemic from the inflamma- 
tion, and, as the normal viscus becomes physiologically hypersemic 
on the ingestion of food, we would add to the congestion of the blood- 
vessels did we allow more nourishment to enter the stomach. Last of 
all, the excess of the mucus and lactic and butyric acids present ren- 
ders any new food impure before it can be assimilated, and so pro- 
longs the trouble. As the attack passes off small amounts of food 
may be given which should be of a kind readily digested and not likely 
to become easily decomposed or rendered acrid by the mucus in the 
stomach. Milk with a large percentage of lime-water is to be used, 
since the alkali not only prevents a too firm coagulation, but also 
decreases the secretion and acid reaction of the mucus. The thirst 
is often excessive, although anorexia is complete, and small pieces of 
ice may be administered for its relief. Commonly it will be found 
that the patient rapidly improves up to a certain point, then stops 
improving or relapses. This is sometimes due to an accumulation of 
mucus, which when mixed with food causes it to undergo fermentation. 
If marked evidences of the presence of this secretion are given, a mild 
and gently-acting emetic may be employed to dislodge the fermenting 
mass. In other instances the relapses depend upon a tendency to a 
condition of atony, which can only be overcome by prolonged and 
careful treatment adapted to the improvement of the general health. 
Sodium bicarbonate with compound infusion or compound tincture of 
gentian may be used during convalescence, and small sips of effer- 
vescing draughts are useful. If constipation exists and vomiting for- 
bids the use of the ordinary purgatives, a Seidlitz powder divided 
into fourths or fifths, and taken in this way every fifteen minutes or 
half-hour, will settle the stomach, move the bowels, and often carry 
away mucus. 



GASTRIC CATARRH, CHRONIC. 555 

If there is much epigastric distress, a spice poultice is often of 
service. 

Sweets and starches are to be rigidly denied the patient. If anae- 
mia exists, iron may be used, but this is rarely needed. 

The abdomen should be carefully protected with flannel, and 
draughts and unsanitary surroundings avoided. 

The use of pepsin and of hydrochloric acid is to be much more 
carefully resorted to than has heretofore been the custom. As a rule, 
we are apt to forget that pepsin acts largely by catalysis, and that it is 
not secreted as pepsin, but as pepsinogen, a substance which is changed 
into pepsin in the presence of an acid. For this reason hydrochloric 
acid should be employed after inflammation has passed away, and 
pepsin given in large or small quantity according as there is reason to 
believe this ferment to be in normal or abnormal amount. Common 
salt (sodium chloride) is often beneficial, and should be always used, in 
moderation, with the food. 



GASTRIC CATARRH (CHRONIC). 

Chronic gastric catarrh is a condition of the stomach commonly seen 
in this country in a more or less well developed form. It is often asso- 
ciated with much indigestion and the eructation of sour liquids, or even 
with active vomiting. The secretions of the stomach are nearly always 
abnormal, and fermentative changes are constantly present in the gas- 
tric contents. Lavage is almost always to be resorted to for its relief. 
(See Part III. for Lavage.) 

By far the best treatment for this condition is the use of counter- 
irritation over the epigastrium, the close regulation of the diet, and 
the use, internally, of nitrate of silver and extract of hyoscyamus, and, 
if great hyperacidity exists, the administration of the subnitrate of 
bismuth. Often, however, the better remedy is bicarbonate of sodium 
in the dose of 5 to 20 grains. In many instances the patient will be 
greatly benefited by the use of a Seidlitz powder or Carlsbad salt 1 
or Saratoga Carlsbad water before breakfast each morning, as this 
washes out the stomach, dissolves the mucus, and unloads the mucous 
membrane of its congestion, at the same time overcoming any engorge- 
ment of the liver. Constipation is nearly always present, and should 
be removed by appropriate drugs, such as cascara sagrada, of which 
the best preparation is the fluid extract, rendered free from bitter 
taste by certain large manufacturers in this country, such as Parke, 
Davis & Company, or in the form of cascara sagrada cordial. 

All fats, rich foods, strong meats, ham, bacon, or fried things are 
to be avoided, and only light broths, koumyss, or matzoon resorted 
to if the case be an obstinate or severe one. A nitrate-of-silver pill 
should be used half an hour before each meal, and be prescribed 
as follows : 

1 Artificial Carlsbad salt may be ordered, composed of 8 ounces of sodium sulphate, 
| an ounce of sodium chloride, and 1 ounce of sodium carbonate. The dose varies 
from 2 drachms to \ an ounce (8.0-16.0). 



556 DISEASES. 

R. — Argenti nitratis gr. iv (0.2). 

Extract, hyoscyanii gr. x (0.65). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One, half to one hour before each meal. 

In cases in which the chronic inflammatory process has gone on to 
atrophy of the tubules the use of hydrochloric acid is often of great 
value. 



GASTRIC DILATATION. 1 

The treatment of dilatation of the stomach may be divided into 
two varieties — the first consisting of the methods of cure which are 
directed against the diseased state of the gastric walls themselves ; 
the second, of those methods by which abnormal changes in the food 
and the gastric contents and secretions are combated, thereby allow- 
ing reparative changes to take place. As is well known, dilatation 
of the stomach may be dependent upon some constitutional or some 
local cause. If the cause be rickets, it is evident that the nutri- 
tion of the bony system and of the system in general is to be im- 
proved, and that remedies devoted to this object are to be given, such 
as cod-liver oil by inunctions, or, if the digestive apparatus will bear 
it, the oil may be given by the stomach. Lactophosphate of lime, 
phosphate of sodium, or iron, often in the form of the syrup of the 
iodide, should be used if any signs of struma are present. Good 
foods possessing large amounts of salts, yet easy of digestion, are 
under these circumstances particularly desirable, and by far the larger 
part of the treatment should be directed to the dietetics of the case. 
Of this the writer will speak farther on. 

There are several means to be employed for the relief of gastric 
dilatation other than those which can be called medicinal, so far as 
drugs are concerned. 

These consist, first, in efforts to evacuate the stomach and to cleanse 
it (see Lavage, Part III.) ; secondly, in attempts by these and other 
means to prevent its distention by the gases which arise or by the 
accumulation of ingesta which takes place ; thirdly, in the regulation 
of the diet so as to avoid causes which have a tendency to increase 
the disorder. 

Dilatation of the stomach is so difficult to cure that very satis- 
factory results are not to be looked forward to ; nevertheless, the 
nutrition and the general state of heath are to be carefully con- 
sidered. 

The treatment of dilatation to be first considered is dietetic. There 
can be no doubt that one of the chief reasons for the emaciation which 
comes on is the failure on the part of the stomach to digest and 
assimilate nourishment. In addition to this, the intestine is really 
the place for absorption of food to take place, and the delay of the 
food in the stomach virtually makes the chyme unfit for the function 
of the small intestine. 

The foods to be given are, of course, to be in the highest degree 

1 See article by author in Keating's Cyclopaedia of Diseases of Children, vol. iii. 



GASTRIC ULCER. 557 

capable of ready assimilation, and should be confined, especially in 
severe cases, to the materials which we can readily predigest by the 
employment of the digestive ferments now so largely sold. Carefully- 
skimmed milk is valuable, aside from its inherent usefulness, in that 
it lacks the fats, which can be utilized only in the intestines, and 
which simply break down and decompose if kept in the stomach. 
Oyster broth, carefully freed from any oily matters in cooking and 
thoroughly pancreatized, is to be given. Ordinary whey obtained 
from milk by means of rennet is useful. 

Rectal alimentation to some degree is always useful, and Ewald of 
Berlin suggests the following nutrient enema : Beat up two eggs with 
a tablespoonful of cold water; to this add a little starch, boiled in 
half a cupful of a 20 per cent, solution of grape-sugar and a wine- 
glassful of red wine. The solution is to be well mixed at a tempera- 
ture not high enough to coagulate the albumin, and injected as high 
up into the bowel as possible. For a child this mixture should be 
somewhat less in quantity than that given for the adult, particularly 
as to the wine. 

An exceedingly important part of the dietetic treatment of gastric 
dilatation consists in the constant bearing in mind of the fact that the 
tendency of food is to accumulate, and the avoidance of the pernicious 
habit of adding solids or liquids to the quantity of ingesta still remain- 
ing from a previous meal. If the child is old enough, all the remains 
of previous feedings should be removed by lavage before anything 
more is given, since otherwise the sweet food is at once contaminated 
by the liquids which it meets in the stomach. 

The medicinal treatment of gastric ectasy is, unfortunately, very 
limited, so far as the stomach itself is concerned, and, indeed, we doubt 
whether any direct medication can ever be of much value unless in 
the form of disinfectant substances, such as we have spoken of when 
speaking of lavage, and these only prevent decomposition of the food 
and do not effect a cure. 

In a case of marked gastric dilatation we should, nevertheless, 
always resort to the bitter tonics, such as gentian or calumba, and for 
the improvement of the muscular coats of the viscus should employ 
the tincture or extract of physostigma in the dose of 5 to 10 drops 
(0.3-0.65) or \ to \ grain (0.005-0.01), respectively. In the case of a 
child under the author's care a very extraordinary improvement fol- 
lowed the use of this drug and the careful fulfilling of all the direc- 
tions just given except the lavage, which was not employed. 

Another remedial measure which has been comparatively recently 
introduced is the faradization of the gastric walls by an internal and 
external electrode made for this purpose by electricians. 



GASTRIC ULCER. 

In the treatment of gastric ulcer three points must be borne in 
mind as being essential. These are, rest for the stomach as far as 
possible, rest for the patient, and the maintenance of the gen- 



558 DISEASES. 

eral health. The first of these points involves a consideration of 
diet. If in any case the stomach is very irritable, it is best to place 
the patient in bed and nourish her for from two to eight days by means 
of enemata. Probably the best form of nourishment for this purpose 
is a mixture recommended by Dreschfeld, and consisting of 2 raw 
eggs with 2 ounces (64.0) of beef-tea and a little brandy, which may 
amount to 1 ounce (32.0) if the patient really needs stimulants. It 
may be well to place a little pepsin in this injection to peptonize the 
proteids, but if this is done the alcohol must be left out, as it will 
interfere with the activity of the pepsin. Pancreatin may also be 
used with advantage in some cases in the amount of 5 or 10 grains 
(0.35-0.65) in each injection. For the relief of thirst, which may 
be excessive if rectal alimentation is resorted to, the patient should 
hold in the mouth small pieces of ice or drink moderate quantities 
of barley- or rice-water. After this treatment has been used for some 
days, small quantities of food may be given by the mouth, such as a 
little peptonized milk or a little warm milk with lime-water in the 
proportion of half and half, or 1 part lime-water to 2 of milk. After 
this thin arrow-root or gruel may be given in moderate quantity. It 
is better to give the food in small amount every two hours than in 
larger quantity three times a day. The increase in rations, both as 
to variety and amount, should be most gradual, the physician extend- 
ing the dieting over at least six weeks, of which the first two had best 
be spent in bed. It is well to use massage and electricity under these 
circumstances to preserve nutrition, as in the rest cure. (See Rest 
Cure.) Beef-tea and soups had better be avoided during the early 
stages of the treatment, as they will irritate the stomach. Soft-boiled 
eggs, tender chicken or game, and minced lamb may be finally given. 
Cheese, coffee, tea, beer, and ale are to be avoided, as are al] hot 
drinks. Fresh green vegetables may be used in moderation, but fresh 
bread and unripe fruit must be carefully avoided. When milk is 
taken it should be warmed. The presence of gastric pain indicates 
that the diet must be cut down in quantity and the nutrition main- 
tained solely by rectal injection. 

The drug treatment of these cases is both palliative as to pain and 
curative. For the pain counter-irritation of a more or less severe and 
constant type should be applied to the epigastrium, either as a spice 
or mustard plaster or by means of a hot-water bag. The counter- 
irritation should be as continuous as possible. Sodium bicarbonate and 
the subnitrate and subcarbonate of bismuth are also of service in the 
dose of 20 grains (1.3) each, and to these may be added from -fa to -J- 
of a grain (0.003-0.015) of morphine hydrochlorate or 1 grain (0.05) 
of codeine. These may be given thrice daily if necessary. Only the 
smallest dose of morphine necessary to relieve the pain should be 
employed. By far the best treatment for the pain and for the ulcer 
itself is the following pill : 

R. — Argenti nitratis gr. iv (0.2). 

Extracti hyoscyami gr. x vel xx (0.65-1.3). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One pill half to one hour before meals. 



GASTRITIS, ACUTE. 559 

For the constipation which is frequently present the patient may 
receive a dose of Carlsbad salts or phosphate of sodium, or even the 
sulphate of magnesium. 

For the relief of vomiting and of hsematemesis absolute abstinence 
from food, so far as its administration by the mouth is concerned, is 
to be insisted upon. Nutrition must be maintained, under such cir- 
cumstances, by the rectum. Small doses of cocaine, J grain (0.015), 
mav be given, or cocaine and bismuth subnitrate together if the vom- 
iting is persistent. Sometimes drop doses of creasote are useful, or 
carbolic acid may be given in the same dose with 20 grains (1.3) of 
subnitrate of bismuth. One of the best remedies for h^ematemesis is 
oil of turpentine in the dose of 5 to 1Q drops (0.35-0.65) four times 
a dav. In other cases good results will often follow the use of the 
solution of the subsulphate of iron (Monsel's solution) in the dose of 
3 drops (0.15) every half-hour or by the employment of 3 grains (0.15) 
of the salt itself in pill. Cold compresses or an ice-bag should be 
applied to the epigastrium. 

Should perforation of the stomach occur, the prognosis is most 
gloomy unless inflammatory processes protect the peritoneal cavity, 
as often occurs. The tendency to peritonitis should be antagonized 
by the application of cold to the belly-wall, by the avoidance of food, 
hy perfect physical rest, and by supportive treatment in the way of 
heat to the limbs and the hypodermic use of ether, brandy, or 
ammonia. Morphine should also be given freely unless collapse is 
too pronounced, as it tends to prevent abdominal pain and inflamma- 
tion. Operative measures may be resorted to in suitable cases. 

GASTRITIS (ACUTE). 

This is generally due to the ingestion of irritant foods or drinks, 
rarely arising in its true acute form from other causes. 

The treatment is to be directed entirely to the prevention of the 
spread of the inflammation and to the relief of that already devel- 
oped. If the patient is seen soon after the onset of the trouble, the 
stomach is to be emptied of all irritant substances by means of vom- 
iting induced by large draughts of warm water, or, better still, by the 
use of the stomach-pump, as the retching may increase the irritation. 
Mucilaginous drinks are to be given freely, and albuminous materials 
seem especially useful. Oils and similar protective liquids aid in 
preventing further damage. Opium, to allay pain and the local and 
systemic irritation, is invaluable. This drug should always be given 
in liquid form, and the deodorized tincture is the best in this respect, 
owing to its freedom from narcotine. Paregoric contains too little 
opium to be of value, and is irritating because of its volatile oil. If 
the stomach will not retain drugs, they should be given by the rec- 
tum. If evidences of collapse appear, hot applications, atropine, or 
belladonna should be exhibited. It is important that the heat 
should be applied over the epigastrium and chest, and a flaxseed poul- 
tice is the best method of doing this. Practically, the same rules hold 
good in regard to diet in both acute gastritis and in gastro-enteritis. 



560 DISEASES. 



GASTROENTERITIS. 



Gastro-enteritis is a condition of inflammation affecting the entire 
alimentary canal in some instances, and commonly produced by the 
ingestion of some irritant substance, either in the form of bad food, 
poisons, or mechanical irritants, such as grape-seeds or cherry-stones. 
The symptoms accompanying it are exceedingly various, but consist 
chiefly in pain of a griping character with watery or mucous stools, 
or, if the inflammation be very severe, absolute and unyielding con- 
stipation may be present. The nervous symptoms depend upon the 
degree of irritation and the general nervous tendency of the patient, 
and if the trouble is very severe he may go on into a condition of 
shock or collapse. 

If the irritation is very intense, exfoliation of the mucous mem- 
brane may take place, the epithelium coming away in shreds. 

The treatment of gastro-enteritis depends upon its severity and 
cause. Almost always we first allay the pain and tendency to inflam- 
mation by the hypodermic use of morphine, and immediately follow 
this or precede it by an emetic of a non-irritating and rapidly-acting 
type, such as apomorphine, provided there is reason to believe that 
the poison or food still remains in whole or in part in the stomach. 
If the irritant has been taken some time before the physician is called 
in to see the case, emetics are contraindicated, as by disturbing the 
abdominal contents they render the inflammation worse. Following 
this, or in place of it if emetics are not useful because the poison has 
already passed through the pylorus, castor oil in the dose of 2 to 3 
tablespoonfuls (32.0-48.0) to an adult may be given to sweep out the 
offending materials and lubricate the intestinal walls. In other cases 
sulphate of magnesium may be used, but not sulphate of sodium or 
Rochelle salt, as they are both irritant. The sulphate of magnesium 
is of value, because, in addition to its purgative effect, it also depletes 
the inflamed bowel. Having gotten rid of all offending materials, 
opium is to be freely used to allay irritation and control diarrhoea (see 
Diarrhoea), and hot compresses are to be applied to the belly, or a spice 
or mustard plaster used instead. Vomiting when it is excessive is to be 
treated in the manner described under that head. The after-treatment 
of acute gastro-enteritis is very important, both in respect to food and 
drugs. The inflammatory process, if severe, will have interfered with 
glandular action to such an extent that starvation from the non-assimi- 
lation of food may occur. Predigested foods are therefore in many 
cases indispensable, and a carefully regulated diet is a sine qua non. 



GLAUCOMA. 

Glaucoma, or that disease dependent upon an increase of intra- 
ocular pressure, appears in an acute or a chronic form. The disease in 
general terms is characterized by halos appearing about the gas-light ; 
periods of obscuration of sight ; shrinking of the nasal half of the 
field of vision ; narrowing of the anterior chamber of the eye : anses- 



GONORBHCEA. 561 

thesia of the cornea ; and increased tension of the eyeball. In the 
"glaucomatous attack," or acute glaucoma, the injection of the eye- 
ball is intense ; the lids swell, there is photophobia, the cornea is 
steamy, the pupil dilated and motionless, and the vision rapidly 
destroyed. The case may be mistaken for iritis or acute ophthalmia 
— a fatal blunder. 

Iridectomy or an equivalent measure is the only treatment for 
glaucoma. If for any reason this is delayed, a solution of the sul- 
phate of eserine, 1 to 2 grains to the ounce (0.05-0.1 : 32.0), or pilo- 
carpine nitrate in twice this strength, should be dropped into the eye 
every two or three hours until relief follows. Atropine must not be 
employed. Hot compresses, opiates, and leeches are also useful to 
alleviate the pain if for any reason operation is delayed. 



GONORRHOEA. 

The therapeutics of urethritis varies in accordance with whether 
the disease is acute or chronic, and is very greatly modified by the 
seat of inflammation — a posterior urethritis, for anatomical and 
mechanical reasons, not being amenable to the same treatment which 
will prove successful when the disease invades the penile portion of 
the urethra. 

The membranous and prostatic portions of the urethra constitute 
its posterior part. They are surrounded by layers of powerful mus- 
cles which keep the canal constantly occluded and which play the 
part of vesical sphincters. Hence any injection forced into the 
urethra passes to, but not beyond, its membranous part, and is worse 
than useless if administered with the intention of combating inflam- 
mation of the posterior urethra. It is the rare exception for gonor- 
rhoea to be confined to the anterior urethra. Usually it extends back, 
and a common cause of gleet is failure to recognize this fact, and con- 
sequently the omission of measures calculated to cure the deep inflam- 
mation. 

Since the general acceptance of the gonococcus as a specific cause 
of gonorrhoea the treatment of acute anterior urethritis has been 
mainly antiseptic, those drugs being chosen which are found to act 
most powerfully upon the specific germs, and at the same time pro- 
duce the least irritant action upon the mucous membrane. Bichloride 
of mercury, as representing the most powerful germicide known to 
medicine, has been used most extensively. The main objection to its 
action lies in the fact that when employed in efficient strength it is 
exceedingly irritating. This effect may, to some extent, be avoided 
by using a large quantity in dilute solution, and one of the most sat- 
isfactory treatments yet advocated consists in thoroughly and repeat- 
edlv flushing the urethra with bichloride lotion, 1 : 20,000 or 1 : 
40,000. This may be accomplished by means of a bulbous catheter 
provided with numerous small apertures opening backward just behind 
the enlarged extremity ; immediately after urination the bulb is car- 
ried to the membranous portion of the urethra; the tube from an irri- 

36 



562 DISEASES. 

gator is then attached to the extremity of the catheter, and one or 
two pints of dilute mercury solution, as hot as can be borne, are 
injected. This may be repeated once or twice daily. When the 
urethra is so sensitive that the passage of an instrument is not prac- 
ticable, a conical nozzle of a size to close the meatus entirely when 
inserted may be employed for irrigation. After first thoroughly 
washing the glans and lips of the meatus the nozzle should be inserted 
and held firmly in place. This ensures the passage of the injection 
back as far as the membranous portion of the urethra, beyond which 
it will not pass if the pressure does not exceed that obtained by ele- 
vating the irrigator two feet above the level of the urethra. When 
neither of these methods of irrigation can be practised, a syringe 
with a conical nozzle and with a capacity of at least 1 ounce may be 
employed : this should be used two to six times a day, two syringe- 
fuls of the dilute lotion being injected immediately after urination. 
The liquid should be forced in very gently, being allowed to flow out 
by slightly lessening the pressure of the nozzle upon the meatus when 
the anterior urethra is full. When large injections are attempted by 
the ordinary small urethral syringe, the frequent application of the 
latter to the meatus occasions much irritation. It is desirable that 
the injection should pass back into the posterior urethra, since this 
portion of the canal is usually involved in acute inflammation. 

Copious irrigations inaugurated in the earliest stage of gonorrhoea 
are frequently successful in producing a complete cure in a few 
days. 

Much stronger solutions of mercury are frequently employed, the 
concentration depending upon the subjective sensations of the patient, 
and varying from 1 : 2000 to 1 : 6000. 

The following prescriptions are among the most efficacious in 
checking the discharge : 

R .—Argent, nit gr. ss (0.025). 

Aq. destil giij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Locally in the subsiding stage. 

R — Ext. hydrast (colorless) f^iv (16.0). 

Bismuth, sublact. £vj (24.0). 

Glycerin i£iv (16.6). 

Aq q. s. fjvj (192.0).— M. 

R. — Zinc, sulph. } 

Acid, carbol. [■ aa gr xij (1.0). 

Alum. crud. j 

Aq. destil fgvj (192.0).— M. 

S. — Locally. Dilute if painful. 

When the gonorrhoea has already assumed a markedly inflamma- 
tory type, with swelling and oedema of the penis, redness and ever- 
sion of the meatus, and great sensitiveness of the urethra, no injec- 
tion should be employed. The penis should be wrapped in cloths 
kept wet with alcohol and water or lead-water and laudanum. With 
the subsidence of acute inflammatory symptoms and the appearance 
of copious discharge the injection treatment may be inaugurated. It 



GONORRHOEA. 563 

must be remembered that injections may in themselves prevent the 
discharge from entirely disappearing. Hence, as the symptoms ame- 
liorate the injection should be made less frequently, finally being 
entirely omitted for some days if the discharge seems to continue 
longer than usual. 

Internal medication and constitutional treatment are most import- 
ant in all forms and stages of gonorrhoea. It is almost universally 
accepted that certain drugs, such as copaiba, cubebs, and oil of san- 
dalwood, when eliminated through the kidneys, possess the power of 
inhibiting the growth of the gonococci or of destroying their vitality. 
Bacteriological research has shown that of this class of remedies 
copaiba alone possesses such power. To this drug may be added 
salol, which has been proved by laboratory and clinical tests to exert 
a powerful germicidal action upon the gonococcus. Clinical experience 
has shown that oil of sandalwood is of great value in the treatment 
of acute gonorrhoea. An excellent formula for the administration of 
balsams is the following : 

R.— 01. santal. gr. v (0.3). 

Balsam copaib tt\,v (0.3). 

01. cinnamcm rr\j (0.05). — M. 

Encapsulate. 
These capsules should be taken one hour after meals, from six to twelve being admin- 
tered. 

Obstinate chordee may require bromide of potassium and chloral. 
Of these a drachm of the former must be given at bed-time, and 10 
grains of the latter ; this may be repeated in the night if painful 
erections persist. Lupulin in 30-grain (2.0) doses is also endorsed. 
When practicable, opium or belladonna suppositories, or hypodermic 
injections into or about the perineum of morphine gr. \ (0.015) and 
atropine gr. -g 1 ^- (0.001), will prove very satisfactory. In all cases the 
patient should be instructed to rise once during the night and pass 
his water. 

Ardor urince is usually relieved by the use of demulcent drinks 
and by the employment of bicarbonate of sodium or citrate of potas- 
sium in sufficient doses to render the urine but slightly acid. Either 
of these drugs is conveniently administered in the form of compressed 
tablets, taken one or two hours after meals in 10-grain (0.65) doses, 
the quantity being increased, if necessary, until the desired effect is 
produced on the urine. The instillation into the urethra, by means 
of an eye-dropper, of a 4 per cent, solution of cocaine a few minutes 
before urination markedly diminishes the burning. Finally, this 
symptom may often be relieved by instructing the patient to pass his 
water with the penis submerged in a vessel containing water as hot as 
can be borne. 

Where the inflammation is of a high grade and attended by fever 
and general malaise, the administration of 2 drops (0.1) of aconite 
repeated every two or three hours is followed by marked relief. 

In regard to the general treatment of a patient suffering from 
gonorrhoeal urethritis rest in bed is particularly desirable. This, 
however, is rarely possible, and the surgeon must be content with 



564 DISEASES. 

enforcing the avoidance of all active exertion and the observance of 
as much rest of mind and body as is compatible with the continuance 
of the daily routine of business life. While skimmed milk or butter- 
milk diet is theoretically desirable, the advantages to be gained by 
it are scarcely sufficient to justify insistence upon such a regimen, 
especially as it would excite suspicion as to the presence of venereal 
disease ; hence a light diet, consisting mainly of vegetables and fruits, 
and in quantity about half that usually taken, with a minimum amount 
of meat, should be advised. In addition the patient should be induced 
to drink liberally of plain water or any of the sparkling mineral 
waters, as by this means the urine is not only rendered bland, but 
greatly increased in quantity, thus enabling the urethra to be fully 
Hushed from behind many times a day. Flooding of the stomach 
with such large quantities of liquids as to produce dyspepsia is to be 
carefully avoided. It is scarcely necessary to state that copulation or 
any form of venereal excitement must be strictly interdicted. Finally, 
prolonged warm baths lasting from half an hour to two hours seem 
to exert a favorable influence upon local inflammation. 

Acute posterior urethritis does not usually develop until the dis- 
ease of the penile portion of the urethra has run a course of two or 
three weeks. During the very acute symptoms local treatment applied 
to any portion of the urethral canal probably aggravates the condi- 
tion, and even the internal administration of balsams and antiseptics 
must be employed with very great caution, their use being suspended 
at once if the inflammation seems to be aggravated by their employ- 
ment. Hence, when in the third week of gonorrhoea there is a violent 
outbreak of inflammation in the membranous and prostatic portions 
of the urethra, suspension of all active treatment is indicated. The 
bowels are kept open ; the diet is carefully regulated ; the urine is 
rendered bland, unirritating, and antiseptic ; continued warm baths 
are ordered, the painful symptoms being controlled by opium and 
belladonna, administered either hypodermically or in the form of a 
suppository. When the acute symptoms subside the quantity of anti- 
septics taken by the mouth may be increased, balsams may be added, 
and local treatment may be directed first to the posterior urethra, after 
the cure of which the anterior urethritis should receive attention. It 
has been stated already that injections forced into the meatus rarely 
penetrate beyond the bulbous portion of the urethra ; hence to influ- 
ence the deeper portions of this canal some other method of apply- 
ing these drugs must be devised. This end is best accomplished by 
means of Ultzmann's irrigation catheter or other instrument similar 
in principle. 

The patient is first instructed to empty the bladder of a portion of 
its contents ; by this means the urethra is flushed out. The catheter 
is then introduced into the membranous portion of the canal, and by 
means of a syringe 1 ounce (32.0) of the injection is forced into the 
membranous and prostatic portions of the urethra. This fluid does 
not regurgitate along the sides of the catheter, but enters the bladder, 
and is passed with the urine at the next act of micturition. The 
injection most employed is the following: Nitrate of silver, grain J 



GONORRHCEA. 565 

to 1 (0.015-0.05); distilled water, sj (32.0); carbolic acid, 1 grain to 
the ounce. Any of the injections, used in anterior urethritis may also 
be then employed. These injections should be made twice a week. 

/ Chronic Gonorrhoea. 

Chronic gonorrhoea differs from the acute form in the fact that the 
inflammation is distinctly localized in Certain portions of the urethra, 
and does not invade the whole canal with uniform intensity ; hence, 
efficient treatment must be directed not to the whole urethra, but to 
the diseased areas. Foci of chronic urethritis are usually found 
either in the bulbous portion of the urethra or in the membranous or 
prostatic portion. If the disease is located in the anterior urethra, 
it will commonly be found to depend upon the existence of a struc- 
ture of large calibre. The passage of sounds of full size — cutting 
the meatus if this is necessary for their introduction — will be followed 
by prompt relief in such cases. The sounds should be used not more 
frequently than twice a week, and should be most carefully sterilized 
before introduction. 

If after free dilatation the discharge still persists and a large por- 
tion of the anterior urethra is in a catarrhal condition, as shoAvn by 
examination of the urine, irrigation of the urethra should be prac- 
tised. This may be best effected by passing a soft-rubber catheter 
down to the membranous portion of the urethra, and injecting through 
it once daily 3 ounces (96.0) of a J-grain-to-the-ounce (0.025 : 32.0) 
solution of nitrate of silver. When the general catarrhal condition 
is materially modified, by means of an ordinary hard-rubber endo- 
scope and a head-mirror, the focus of inflammation may be exposed, 
and may be treated directly by strong astringent solutions carried 
in by means of a brush or by absorbent cotton secured to the extrem- 
ity of a long applicator. Nitrate of silver or sulphate of copper, 20 
grains to the ounce (1.3 : 32.0), may be employed. Unna has 
devised a most successful treatment for obstinate cases of gonorrhoea. 
He advises coating the sounds with the following mixture : 

R.— 01. coca? ^iij (96.0). 

Cergeflav ^ss (2.0). 

Argent, nitratis gr. xv (1.0). 

Balsam. Peruvian gss (2.0).— M. 

This is liquefied in a water-bath ; the sounds are dipped in it and are 
then hung up to dry. On being passed the heat of the body melts 
the coating. The objection to their use lies in the fact that the appli- 
cation is made to the entire urethra. Practically, however, their 
employment is often followed by brilliant results. 

Chronic posterior urethritis must be treated by remedies applied 
directly to the diseased area. Nitrate of silver is more commonly 
successful than any other medication. By means of Ultzmann's 
apparatus 3 or 4 drops (0.25-0.3) of a solution varying in strength 
from 0.1 per cent, to 5 per cent, may be employed. 

Finger recommends the following ointment : 



566 DISEASES. 

R. — Argent, nitratis vel cupri sulph gr. xv (1.0). 

Lanolin Jiij (96.0). 

01. olivse 3jss (6.0).— M. 

By means of an ordinary catheter — which is first filled, then intro- 
duced until its eye reaches the prostatic portion of the urethra — a 
definite quantity of the ointment can be forced into the canal by a 
graduated rod. 

In many cases pressure will exert a curative action, causing prompt 
absorption of inflammatory effusion. To accomplish this result large 
sounds may be passed into the bladder. Frequently the therapeutic 
influences of cold, together with pressure, are found beneficial. The 
best means of combining these two remedies is found in the psychro- 
phore, an instrument in the shape of a sound, but so arranged that a 
stream of water flows through its interior. 

It must be borne in mind that chronic gonorrhoea is commonly due 
to unskilful or not sufficiently prolonged treatment of the acute stages. 
Not only should the treatment of acute gonorrhoea be continued until 
the gonococci have entirely vanished, but for fully two weeks after 
the disappearance of all symptoms of inflammation. The same rule 
holds good in regard to the chronic manifestations of the disease. 
Only after careful examination of the urine fails to show any sign of 
inflammatory trouble for at least two weeks should the treatment be 
suspended ; and this should not take place suddenly, but the intervals 
between the applications be gradually increased in length, the patient 
being carefully watched in the mean time. 

Per contra, it must not be forgotten that long-continued irritant 
treatment may in itself indefinitely prolong a urethral discharge. 
Hence it is wise to suspend all injections in certain cases, and to 
examine the discharge carefully, as found in the urine, to determine 
whether or not the continuance of symptoms is dependent upon this 
cause. 

There is a mucous secretion which quite frequently follows gonor- 
rhoea, but which is in no way dependent upon the persistence of this 
disease. Microscopic examination will at once determine its nature. 
It is probably most rapidly cured by attention to general hygiene and 
by tonic and supporting treatment. 

Complications of Gonorrhoea. 

Among the many local and general complications which may occur 
in the course of an acute or subacute gonorrhoea are balanitis, balano- 
posthitis, prostatitis, and epididymitis. 

Balanitis and balano-posthitis are treated by perfect cleanliness. 
The discharge must be thoroughly washed out, and the surface must 
be dried and isolated. The thorough cleansing of the parts is best 
accomplished by weak astringent solutions, such as the chloride of 
zinc, 4 grains to the ounce (0.2 : 32.0), 1 per cent, boric acid, or 1.5 
per cent, carbolic acid ; nitrate of silver is particularly valuable, and 
in the proportion of 1 grain to the ounce (0.05 : 32.0) will be found 
sufficiently strong for use as a wash or injection. The superficial 



GONORRHOEA. 567 

ulcerations may be further touched with the solid stick of the nitrate 
of silver. The prepuce having been retracted and the parts having 
been thoroughly washed, dusting powder, such as tannin or oxide of 
of zinc, is distributed over the surface of the inflamed parts ; the glans 
is then covered with a thin layer of absorbent cotton and the prepuce 
drawn forward. This dressing is to be repeated three times daily. 

If the phimosis is so tight that the prepuce cannot be retracted, 
cleansing, astringent injections, and wrapping the penis in one or 
two thicknesses of gauze or other thin fabric, constantly kept wet 
with dilute lead-water, will be the treatment indicated. If, in spite 
of this treatment, inflammatory symptoms become more marked, cir- 
cumcision is indicated. 

Prostatitis rarely develops before the second or third week in the 
course of urethritis. Where the acute symptoms are fairly developed 
direct local treatment is of little avail. Rest in bed, light diet, care- 
ful regulation of the bowels, medication to render the urine bland 
and unirritating, elevation of the pelvis, local depletion by means of 
leeches applied to the perineum, and the administration of morphine 
and belladonna, either by means of suppository or by hypodermic 
injection, represent the general treatment of all inflammatory condi- 
tions at or about the neck of the bladder. In the great majority of 
cases prostatitis undergoes prompt resolution, and this is more' power- 
fully influenced by rectal injections than by any other method of 
treatment. For this purpose a two-way rectal tube must be employed, 
the nozzle of which is directed against the projection of the prostate 
into the bowel. From 2 to 4 quarts (2 to 4 litres) of water, either 
very cold or as hot as can be borne, are allowed to flow into the rec- 
tum by gravity, this arrangement of the tubes allowing the injection 
to flow out as rapidly as it flows in. This treatment should be re- 
peated three or four times a day. When, in spite of careful treat- 
ment and the free use of anodynes and antispasmodics, there is reten- 
tion of urine, a soft cathether should be passed into the bladder and 
allowed to remain there. 

If general and local symptoms denote abscess-formation, the pus 
should be evacuated by perineal incision as soon as its presence is 
positively determined upon. It is true that the pus collection usually 
is spontaneously discharged into the urethra, but this result cannot 
certainly be depended upon, and, at best, is an unsatisfactory termi- 
nation of the trouble. 

When the inflammation runs into a chronic type, the treatment 
suitable for chronic posterior urethritis is indicated — namely, the use 
of large cold steel sounds and local applications to the prostatic 
urethra. In addition rectal injections, by means of the two-way 
tube, are very efficient in producing a cure. 

Epididymitis requires rest in bed, cessation of all local treatment 
directed against the gonorrhoea, the elevation of the pelvis and testi- 
cles, and the systemic treatment applicable to acute inflammation. 
The general tendency of this complication of gonorrhoea is toward 
spontaneous resolution. The testicles may be supported by a hand- 
kerchief bandage, the base of which is passed beneath the scrotum 



568 DISEASES. 

while the ends and apex are secured in front to a circular band pass- 
ing about the waist. To combat the agonizing pain and hasten the 
cure punctures have been advised. These, by relieving tension, 
promptly alleviate the suffering. Ice-bags may also be applied, 
though it is claimed that as a result of this treatment there remains 
an obstinate induration of the epididymis. Local applications of 
the nitrate of silver and of tincture of iodine are also said to act 
beneficially. 

Since it is usually impossible for a patient suffering from gonor- 
rheal epididymitis to keep to his bed, a treatment must be devised 
which will allow him to attend to his business, and at the same time 
will prevent the inflammation from becoming aggravated. The part 
must be splinted ; if at the same time uniform pressure can be applied 
the cause of the trouble will be still further favorably modified. 
These indications are complied with, partially at least, by strapping 
the injured testicle. For this purpose a number of adhesive resin 
strips, each half an inch wide and long enough to pass three-fourths 
around the swelled testicle, are cut. The first strip encircles the 
scrotum between the affected testicle and the body, tightly imprison- 
ing the former in a pouch of skin. The succeeding strips are then 
placed, each overlapping the other in such a manner that the entire 
pouch is covered in, and a handkerchief bandage, applied as described 
above, may then be used to elevate the testicle. A better means of 
securing rest and pressure, and at the same time exerting the resol- 
vent influences of heat and moisture, is offered in the dressing pro- 
posed by Horand-Langlebert. The entire scrotum is first enveloped 
in a thick layer of cotton ; over this is placed a piece of rubber-dam 
sufficiently large to cover in the cotton, and the dressing is completed 
by an ordinary suspensory, gored at the sides and provided with tapes 
to allow of close fitting. Unless there be decided swelling of the 
spermatic cord, this dressing usually allows the patient to attend to 
his business, and is followed by as prompt resolution as though con- 
finement to bed had been insisted upon. When the acute symptoms 
have disappeared attention must be directed to the removal of infil- 
tration, which if it persists may be a cause of sterility. This is 
accomplished by the continuance of heat, moisture, and pressure : by 
local applications, such as iodine gr. iv (0.25) in lanolin 3j (32.0), or 
of equal parts of mercury ointment and belladonna ointment, or by 
ichthyol, with lard half and half, and by the internal administration 
of iodide of potassium, 10 to 20 grains (0.65-1.3) three times daily. 

Gonorrhoea in the Female. 

The symptoms of acute gonorrhoea in the female are usually so 
mild that the attention of the physician is rarely called to the disease 
until it has reached its chronic form and has invaded the uterus and 
its appendages. When, however, acute urethritis is found, the treat- 
ment, both local and general, is conducted on the same principles as 
when the disease attacks the male urethra. During the most acute 
stage no local treatment is advisable, but subsequently injections can 



GOUT. 569 

be made with the ordinary hard-rubber syringe, not more than a 
drachm and a half of the liquid being employed at a time. If the 
urethral discharge persists, the seats of the suppuration are readily 
found by the endoscope tubes, and treated directly by applications of 
strong solutions of nitrate of silver or sulphate of copper. The 
results of treatment are commonly satisfactory. 

Acute vaginitis is not very frequently observed, excepting in chil- 
dren and young girls. In addition to the general treatment of inflam- 
mation, local treatment directed to cleansing thoroughly the inflamed 
surfaces of discharge and acting upon them by a strong antiseptic 
lotion will be followed by a rapid cure. The patient is instructed to 
irrigate the vagina three times daily with 2 pints (1 litre) of bichlo- 
ride-of-mercury solution, 1 : 4000, thrown in by means of a fountain 
syringe. For this fluid to reach every portion of the diseased mucous 
membrane it is necessary that the patient should lie upon her back 
with the hips elevated. Before rising a pledget of absorbent cotton 
is placed between the labia. During the most acute stage of vaginitis 
hot-water injections and prolonged hot sitz-baths are indicated. In 
addition to the antiseptic irrigations which the patient is directed to 
make, the physician should every second day insert a speculum and 
paint every portion of the diseased mucous membrane with nitrate- 
of-silver solution varying in strength from 4 to 40 grains to the 
ounce (0.25-2.65 : 32.0). The vagina should then be packed with 
tampons of absorbent cotton, which may be dusted with astringent 
medication. 

Vulvitis corresponds to balanitis in the male, and is treated in a 
similar manner. Cleanliness is the most essential point in securing 
a cure. The parts are thoroughly washed with weak antiseptic 
lotions, and the abraded mucous surfaces are kept from coming in 
contact by means of a layer of absorbent cotton or a piece of lint 
soaked in dilute lead-water or other mild astringent solution. 

GOUT. 

Gout is a word used to signify a series of manifestations occurring 
chiefly in those who have led a lazy, sluggish life and have lived 
on the fat of the land, and partaken more frequently of alcoholic 
beverages than of water ; or it occurs in persons who do not live in 
this way, but whose ancestors will be found to have done so, and to 
have handed down to them the gouty taint or diathesis ; or, once 
more, in those who have had poor food for a long time. In other 
words, it is a disorder of nutrition and metabolism. Very few 
Americans have gout in its marked and characteristic forms, owing 
to the active life pursued, and to the fact that the inhabitants of the 
Western hemisphere drink large amounts of water, thereby contin- 
ually dissolving effete matters in the system and washing them away. 

The therapeutic importance of pure water in this state is remark- 
able, and the so-called lithia waters depend for their value more 
upon their freedom from salts than their presence. When a patient 
goes to medicinal springs he simply acts as a sluice-way, and by 



570 DISEASES. 

continually drinking water washes out the kidneys and prevents 
deposits of calcareous matters throughout the body. In a gouty 
individual the liquids of the body may be said to be so overladen 
with salts that they deposit them wherever a spot is found which is 
easy of access, just as water laden with lime forms a deposit on the 
sides of its bed when a drought comes on, and dissolves and removes 
these formations when a freshet takes place. Very often, when such 
waters are not attainable, satisfactory results will be reached by ordi- 
nary distilled water, the insipid taste of which can be overcome by 
charging it with carbonic acid gas. 

When an acute attack of gout comes on, it is generally situated, as 
is well known, in the joint of the big toe or other toes, but it may 
involve any part of the body, even to the heart and the abdominal 
viscera. By far the best remedy for the relief of the pain is mor- 
phine, which should be given hypodermically. At the same time the 
best remedy for gout that we have, colchicum, should be freely given 
until the patient shows the full effect of the drug, as evidenced by gas- 
trointestinal discomfort or pain and slight laxity of the bowels. The 
drug should be used in the form of the wine of the root, not that of the 
seeds, in the dose of 20 drops (1.3) at first, and increased by 1 drop 
(0.05) every four hours until relief is obtained or symptoms of poison- 
ing appear as noted above. In other instances the method of adminis- 
tration suggested in the article on Colchicum may be resorted to. 

The local treatment of gout, when it is active, consists in the appli- 
cation of a number of remedies. For hospital practice a very useful 
mixture is made by adding 1 part of bicarbonate of sodium to 9 parts 
of linseed oil. The joint is then wrapped in a piece of lint soaked 
with this concoction. In other cases collodion may be applied in one 
or two good coats, not more, with relief, and in still others oil of pep- 
permint has been recommended. It is to be remembered, however, 
that the inflamed joints are not to be treated by depletion through 
leeches or bleeding, as by this means they ultimately become worse ; 
or, in other words, the treatment of gouty inflamed joints is not iden- 
tical with that of inflamed joints from other causes. "When the pains 
of acute gout are very severe at night, potassium iodide, in the close of 
15 grains (1.0) at four or five o'clock in the afternoon, will sometimes 
give relief; this drug should always be combined with colchicum if the 
disease is subacute or chronic. 

In chronic gout, except during the acute exacerbations of the dis- 
ease, colchicum is almost useless, but potassium iodide should be 
pushed to the point of iodism if the trouble be painful. Here diet 
comes in for a great part of the treatment, and should consist of 
foods which are not fatty nor rich, but plain and nourishing. Milk 
and eggs, the white meat of chicken, and fruits cooked without sugar 
being added are allowed, tea and coffee being used only in modera- 
tion. If any wine is taken, it must be followed by copious draughts 
of pure water, and this last article should be used ad libitum. On 
the other hand, pastries, and, more than all, sweet wines, are the 
worst things that such a patient can take, and must be absolutely 
prohibited. 



HEADACHE. 571 

The insomnia of chronic or subacute gout is best put aside by 
potassium bromide and chloral, the former drug being the safest and 
best. 

Nothing should be done in the neighborhood of gouty joints which 
will injure the skin, as it is easily disorganized and its injury may lead 
to erysipelas. Where the deposit around the joints is very great and 
the normal movements are impossible, relief is often obtained by the 
application of a solution of citrate or carbonate of lithium, 5 to 10 
grains to the ounce (0.35-0.65 : 32.0) of water, on lint wound around 
the parts. Where the skin is broken and will not heal, this treat- 
ment often permits healing by dissolving the crystals in the wound 
which prevent the approximation of the edges and so cause local irri- 
tation. Iodine ointment or the tincture of iodine is often placed 
around chronic gouty joints with advantageous results. 

A standard remedy in subacute or chronic gout is arsenic, and its 
administration in the form of 3 drops (0.15) of Fowler's solution, 
with either perfectly pure or lithiated water, is always to be resorted 
to. If anaemia is present, arsenic is particularly indicated, and cod- 
liver oil and syrup of the iodide of iron are also of value in this 
state. 

We find, therefore, in conclusion, that the use of large amounts 
of pure water devoid of salts, and the administration of colchicum. 
potassium iodide, and arsenic, are the greater points about which the 
rest of our treatment should centre. In those cases where retrocedent 
gout comes on the heart must be supported by stimulants, particu- 
larly by hypodermic injections of ether until the slower drugs can 
act, by heat over the belly, by the use of opium to allay irritation, 
except when the brain and kidneys are seriously affected, by the use 
of diuretics and alkaline drinks, and finally by counter-irritation in 
the shape of a mustard plaster placed over the abdomen or chest as 
the case may require. 

HEADACHE. 

{For Neuralgic Headaches, see Neuralgia ; for Bilious Headache, 

see Biliousness.) 

Probably no single source of pain compares in its frequency to 
headache, chiefly because it is essentially a symptom of many dis- 
eased processes or functional disturbances, and nothing more. It 
may arise from eye-strain, from brain disease, from anaemia, from 
uraemia, from plethora, from nervous breakdown, and from a multi- 
tude of causes which, if they were all recounted, would cover many 
pages of this book. 1 The only forms of headache which will be con- 
sidered here are those due to congestion or those which arise from 
fatigue. 

Congestive headaches, dependent upon an engorgement of the cere- 
bral vessels with blood, are to be treated in a number of ways, and if 
*any direct cause of congestion can be discovered, this must, of course, 

1 See article on Headache in the author's Practical Diagnosis, Lea Brothers & Co. 



572 DISEASES. 

be removed. So far as the direct application of drugs is concerned, 
we find two methods of promoting a cure. The first consists in the 
use of ergot, which will cause contraction of the dilated vessels ; the 
second, in the employment of vascular sedatives, which will produce 
arterial depression and so remove congestion. Sometimes one of 
these methods will succeed where the other fails, and it is almost 
impossible to tell beforehand which case should have one drug and 
which another. It is to be remembered that when the congestion is 
due to vascular relaxation and weakness the vascular sedatives are 
contraindicated. 

The use of a hot mustard foot-bath is of great value, and a mus- 
tard plaster or dry cup applied to the nape of the neck is often of 
service in congestive headaches, while in severe cases an ice-bag applied 
to the head or leeching behind the ears or on the temples may be re- 
sorted to. Bleeding often gives relief at once in severe congestive 
headache. 

Where headache depends upon fatigue, either general or local, 
stimulating treatment is necessary. If eye-strain be the cause, full 
doses of strychnine or nux vomica are of service, but these remedies 
cannot be used if there is much retinal irritability. In many instances 
a combination of caffeine, bromide of potassium, and antipyrin is very 
successful, as follows : 

R. — Caffeinse citratis gr. xl (2.65). 

Potassii bromidi ^iv (16.0). 

Antipyriui £ij (8.0).— M. 

Ft. in chart. No. xx. 
S. — One powder in water as needed. 

Sometimes the caffeine makes the headache more acute, and if this 
occurs only the antipyrin and bromide can be used. (See articles on 
Antipyrin, Acetanilid, and Phenacetin.) 

Another useful prescription is — 

R. — Extract, guaraupe gr. x vel xx (0.65-1.3). 

Ext. apii graveol gr. x (0.65). — M. 

Ft. in capsul. vel chart, vel pil. No. x. 
S. — One every half hour till relieved or three are taken. 

Sleep is generally a more useful prescription than any drug, and 
if city life creates so much mental anxiety during the day as to be 
wearing upon the nervous system or make the patient wakeful at 
night, business must be put aside and health and recreation sought 
at a watering-place. Horseback exercise is very useful indeed, and 
should be resorted to by all who can afford it if they are sufferers 
from nervous headaches. 

A form of headache which is often very severe, sometimes fleeting, 
sometimes persistent, is that due to gout, and it is to be treated by 
means quite distinct from those named so far. Some practitioners of 
wide experience employ salicylic acid in doses of from 5 to 15 grains 
(0.3-1.0), while others rely on the iodide or acetate of potassium. 
In cases where anaemia is present Peabody uses the following pre- 



HEART DISEASE. 573 

scription, which is compatible, whereas most of the preparations of 
iron and salicylic acid are incompatible : 

R. — Acid, salicylic gr. xx (1.3). 

Ferri pyrophosphat gr. v (0.3). 

Sodii phosphatis gr. j (0.05). 

Aqua? dest f£ss (16.0).— M. 

S. — This is to be taken every three hours. 

Cohen has used the following, which is more pleasant to the taste : 



R. — Sodii salicylatis 



Glycerini 

01. gaultherise . 

Tr. ferri chloridi 

Acid, citrici . . 

Liq. ammonii citratis, B 



P.* . q 



#v (16.0). 



m (64.0). 
n^xx (1.3). 
f^iv (16.0). 
gr. x (0.65). 
ad f^iv (128.0).— M. 



S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) in water twice, thrice, or four times a day. 

Other cases of a gouty headache require colchicum, particularly 
if the gout be widely distributed in its manifestations, and to these 
Hamilton gives — 

R. — Vini colchici seminis f^ss (16.0). 

Potassii acetatis ~\ 

Potassii iodidi > aa fgv (20.0). 

Tr. cimicifugse racemossej 

Aqua? q. s. ad fjiv (128.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every four hours. 



HEART DISEASE. 
(For Treatment of Angina Pectoris see p. 451.) 

The writer classifies all forms of heart disease under this heading 
advisedly. In valvular disease the profession are beginning to under- 
stand more and more that the mere destruction or laming of this valve 
or that has little to do with the treatment, although the ultimate 
result of the case is somewhat dependent upon these conditions. It 
matters not whether the leak in a valve be minute or great, provided 
the heart can still do its work ; the condition of the cardiac muscle 
is the important factor to be considered. If an irreparable leak 
exists in a pump which cannot be stopped for repairs, the question is 
not, Can we cure that leak ? but rather whether we can work the pump 
with enough force and rapidity to obtain all the water needed for the 
maintenance of life. Some physicians use heart tonics, such as digitalis, 
whenever they find a valve diseased, as if to mend the broken valve. 
Nothing can be more erroneous, for a valve once injured is never re- 
generated. 

It should be an invariable rule with every physician in examining 

1 Liquor ammonii citratis, B. P., is made by adding 5 fluidounces (imperial meas.) 
of strong solution of citrate of ammonium to 15 fluidounces (imperial meas.) of dis- 
tilled water. The stronger solution of citrate of ammonium is made by taking 12 
ounces (avoirdupois) of citric acid, strong solution of ammonia 11 fluidounces, and 
adding enough distilled water to make 24 fluidounces (imperial meas.). 



574 DISEASES. 

a patient with heart disease to determine whether or not the tissues 
of the body receive their normal blood-supply. If they do not, even 
though the leak is so small as almost to escape notice, treatment is to 
be instituted ; but, on the other hand, if the murmur heard on auscul- 
tation is as loud as that of a machine-shop and the tissues are not 
starved, no remedy is needed. 

Another very important point in regard to the treatment of cardiac 
disease in children in the remembrance that the stunting of the body 
and the slowness of growth are not merely the result of heart trouble, 
whereby the tissues do not increase in size from lack of nourishment, 
but occur for a special purpose. Let us suppose that a child of eight 
or nine years has scarlet fever or rheumatism, which leaves the cardiac 
valves impaired in function for a few days, or hours at least, the 
question must arise in the heart : " Can I properly fill all the blood- 
vessels?" If the heart can supply the vessels, the child lives, but is 
stunted, because Nature is wise enough to understand that the strug- 
gling heart has all it can do to supply even a stunted frame, and 
realizes that a rapidly increasing area of blood-vessel surface in a grow- 
ing child would exhaust the cardiac muscle. 

The physician should not permit the parents to worry over this lack 
of growth, but by the use of gentle gymnastics or tonics, and attention 
to the care of the general health, he is enabled to improve the cardiac 
condition. As soon as this organ is strong enough to permit of growth, 
growth will take place. 

In the general treatment of heart disease in persons who have until 
recently had no signs of heart failure the most important thing for the 
physician to prescribe is rest. A tired heart cannot supply an active 
body. 

Having made these preliminary remarks, let us turn to the direct 
application of drugs to heart disease, the chief drug in the list being, 
of course, digitalis. 

The value of digitalis may be said to rest upon a number of 
influences possessed by it. In the first place, evidence is constantly 
accumulating to show that digitalis increases the nutrition of the 
heart-muscle by the stimulating influence which it exerts on the 
pneumogastric nerve, this nerve having been partly proved to be a 
trophic nerve of the heart. Aside from any such nervous influence, 
the heart-muscle receives a greater blood-supply under the use of digi- 
talis, since both diastole and systole are influenced by the drug, the 
systole being more complete and the diastole being prolonged and 
more extensive. 

Two theories concerning the nutrition of the heart-muscle through 
its blood-supply have been promulgated. One is, that the coronary 
arteries are filled with arterial blood as the heart drives its contents out 
of the left ventricle into the aorta, or, in other words, during systole. 
The other hypothesis rests upon the belief that the contracting muscle 
prevents a free circulation of blood through the cardiac blood-vessels, 
and that the blood is driven into the coronary arteries during diastole 
by the pressure in the aorta, the aortic valves being closed. The 
latter view is incorrect so far as the coronary arteries are concerned, 



HEART DISEASE. 575 

for they are filled during ventricular systole, and this systolic con- 
traction of the muscular fibres urges onward the blood already in 
the intramural vessels. Nevertheless the complete passage of the 
blood through the smaller vessels of the cardiac muscle only takes 
place as relaxation or diastole occurs. The ground for this belief 
consists in the observation that a muscle when firmly contracted 
always presses upon its supplying blood-vessels, and particularly 
interferes with capillary flow. The heart of one of the lower animals, 
if carefully watched after the chest-wall is removed, will always be 
found to become paler during systole and redder during diastole. As 
the blood everywhere in the body nourishes the tissues, not when in the 
arteries, but while passing through the capillaries, it w r ould seem self- 
evident that, while the coronary arteries are filled by the systole or 
contraction of the heart, the nutritive changes and perfect capillary 
circulation go on during diastole. If these things are true, the increase 
in cardiac nutrition and growth under the action of digitalis is only 
what one would expect, for we have learned when studying this drug 
that it prolongs diastole and increases the force and volume of the 
systolic wave of blood. In other words, digitalis fills the coronary 
arteries almost to bursting, and so, when diastole occurs, not only 
floods the cardiac capillaries with blood, but prolongs the period during 
which the interchange between the blood-stream and tissues takes 
place. 1 

There is still another way in which digitalis does good in cardiac 
disease by reason of its peculiar powers. Normally, the heart beats 
fast or slow according to the demands for blood made upon it by the 
system, and its action is varied by the calls which it receives from the 
tissues. In heart disease, with failure of compensation owing to the 
leaky valves, the tissues are starved, and continually send messages 
for more nourishment to the cardiac muscle, which finally becomes 
exhausted by its endeavors to supply their wants, and beats now fast 
and now slow, uncertain w T hat to do. If digitalis is given, the vagi 
render the cardiac action regular and effective, acting as regulators 
and directors of its energies, thereby supplying the tissues and using 
the remaining power of the heart to the greatest advantage, in addi- 
tion to improving its blood-supply by the methods already described. 
The starving tissues of the body having been satisfied, as Wood has 
eloquently expressed it, " the angry messengers from the periphery 
cease their callings, and the heart is at peace and in comfort." 

From w^hat has been said it becomes evident that this drug, digi- 
talis, generally does good when the heart is weak, and we find for this 
reason that cardiac dilatation, simple cardiac failure, or heart-failure 
dependent upon the presence of poisons, all indicate its use. 

The mechanism of the action of digitalis in the different cardiac 
valvular lesions still remains to be described, and before doing so the 
author desires to remind the reader that a patient under the full influ- 
ence of digitalis ought to maintain the recumbent posture. (See article 
I on Digitalis.) Further, the drug tends to accumulate, and therefore it j 
| should be stopped for several days at the end of each week of its use. $ 
1 See article on Digitalis in Part II. of this book. 



\ 



576 DISEASES. 

Digitalis should be begun in small doses, which can be gradually 
increased in size if need be. 

Taking up the most common condition, that of mitral regurgitation, 
we find that in this disease the blood passes, in its normal flow, from 
the auricle into the ventricle, and, when the ventricle is filled, that 
the cardiac muscle contracts on all sides equally. Normally, the 
mitral valves close the auriculo-ventricular opening and prevent any 
of the blood from regurgitating back into the auricle, and the greater 
the pressure the tighter they become. Abnormally, the blood is still 
pressed upon on all sides as before, and, trying to escape, as do all 
liquids, from pressure, finds that, owing to disease of these valves, it 
can, in part at least, slip back into the auricle from which it came, 
rather than pass out into the high pressure of the arterial system. 
The ventricle, therefore, propels blood in two directions — in the wrong 
way and in the right way. If the leak is large enough to permit of the 
regurgitation of a large part of the blood, then death occurs. Digitalis 
does good in mitral regurgitation, because, by increasing the force of 
the ventricle, it increases the friction at both the mitral leak and the 
aortic opening ; but, as the aortic opening is a large one and the mitral 
leak a small one, the greater quantity of blood passes out into the cir- 
culation. The same fact arises for consideration as before — namely, 
that it is not the amount of leak, but the amount of supply to take its 
place, which is the vital question in the case. Sometimes relief does 
not occur, and the patient is made worse by digitalis, because the leak 
is increased as much as the normal flow. 

In mitral obstruction the difficulty is that the blood cannot enter 
the ventricle with sufficient rapidity, and 'this part of the heart con- 
tracts before it is well filled. By the prolongation of diastole the 
blood is given sufficient time to enter and the ventricle is filled, send- 
ing out into the system a large wave of blood Avhen it contracts. 
Further than this, the stimulation of the right ventricle by the 
digitalis enables this part of the heart to overcome the tendency to 
congestion which arises from the obstruction on the left side of the 
heart. Often the right side of the heart must be relieved by vene- 
section and active purgation. 

In aortic stenosis there is obstruction to the normal flow of blood 
out of the heart, and the digitalis is needed to increase the ventric- 
ular force, so that it may overcome the difficulty. 

In aortic regurgitation digitalis, by its stimulation of the heart, 
may cause a sufficient output of force to clear itself of the regurgi- 
tant flow, but in many cases the drug fails, because the prolongation 
of diastole gives so much more time for the blood to flow backward 
into the dilating ventricle. The cardiac remedies to be used in such 
cases are strophantus, in the form of the tincture, dose 3 to 5 drops 
(0.15-0.3), adonidin, dose J to } grain (0.013-0.025), and sparteine 
J grain (0.025). These remedies may also be used in the other forms 
of cardiac disease where digitalis fails. It is important to remember, 
however, that some cases of aortic regurgitation do improve, at least 
temporarily, under digitalis. 

Physicians often meet with cases of. severe cardiac disease in which 



HEART DISEASE. 577 

there are present a laboring heart, distended jugulars, and cyanosis, 
indicating engorgement of the right ventricle. This is to be relieved 
by free venesection from the arm, and, after the engorgement is re- 
moved, by the use of digitalis. 

In many cases of cardiac disease there is associated with the heart 
lesion general debility and anaemia. These cases should be treated not 
only by the use of heart tonics, but also by iron, arsenic, simple bitters, 
and, if constipation is present, by mild purgatives. 

In cardiac dropsy digitalis and the other heart stimulants do good 
by raising blood-pressure and pulse-force, and in some instances by 
stimulating the kidneys to increased efforts at elimination. (See 
Dropsy.) In these cases, too, the patient will often be greatly bene- 
fitted if he receive every few days a dose of one of the hydragogue 
cathartics, which will relieve his dropsy and unload the portal circula- 
tion. 

On the other hand, if the heart is feeble and the arterial tension is 
high, we not only have to give nitroglycerin to relax the spasm, but it 
is best to employ a cardiac tonic which at the same time that it stimu- 
lates the heart will not raise arterial pressure, as, for example, stro- 
phantus, in preference to digitalis, which stimulates the arterial system 
and increases the tension. 

In sudden cardiac failure from weakness or poisons the use of 
ether and ammonia is to be resorted to at once, and these are to be 
followed by alcohol and digitalis if necessary. The ammonia is a 
direct heart-stimulant, as are also the alcohol and ether. 

In cardiac palpitation dependent upon indigestion this condition 
must be relieved by appropriate digestive remedies ; but in that form 
of palpitation due to over-exertion or heart-strain digitalis is useful. 
Iron is to be used if the irritability is due to anaemia. Tea, coffee, 
tobacco, and excessive venery are to be forbidden. Sometimes nux 
vomica does good by stimulating the heart and nervous system, and 
belladonna seems of great value where arhythmia is present. In other 
cases of arhythmia the patient will be more benefited by the use of* 
cactus grandiflorus and sparteine, and sometimes a prescription of aco- 
nite and digitalis, as suggested in the article on Aconite. Ringer rec- 
ommends the use of veratrine ointment over the prsecordium in many 
of these cases. 

In cases of cardiac dilatation and asthenia digitalis is often very 
useful ; but should the patient be advanced in years and have a ten- 
dency to arterio-sclerosis we should, simultaneously with its use, give 
nitroglycerin to relieve any arterial spasm which will resist the action 
of the heart. 

Very often such patients will suffer from scanty secretion of urine 
and albuminuria, and will develop cyanotic induration of the kidnev. 
This may be controlled and greatly relieved by the use of full doses 
of digitalis, say 5 drops of the tincture every four hours with 20 
grains of bitartrate or citrate of potassium every four hours. The 
addition of the alkaline diuretic very greatly aids in the diuretic 
effect of the digitalis in these cases. Sometimes diuresis can only be 
established after free purgation. In some cases it is best to substi- 

37 



578 DISEASES. 

tute for the digitalis either strophanthus or caffeine. Both should be 
given freely, say 3 grains (0.18) of caffeine or 5 minims (0.35) of the 
tincture of strophanthus every four hours. (See Nephritis.) 

Cardiac hypertrophy is rarely seen without some other lesion ac- 
companying it, but it may occur from prolonged and excessive exer- 
cise or other cause. It is to be treated by perfect rest and avoidance 
of excessive exercise, and by the use of moderate amounts of food of 
a non-stimulating character. Wines and coffee should be forbidden, 
and small amounts of veratrine ointment or a belladonna plaster may 
be placed over the prascordium if the action of the heart is very exces- 
sive. Both palpitation of the heart and cardiac hypertrophy are very 
favorably influenced in many cases by aconite or veratrnm viride. 

Physicians who are in the habit of seeing young men professionally 
will constantly have their attention called to a condition of shortness of 
breath on exertion, palpitation, or violent pulsation of the heart, and 
in some instances the development of severe symptoms which, at first 
glance, may seem to be those of true angina pectoris. In many of these 
youths there will be a history of the excessive use of tobacco, or that 
they have left college, where they have been indulging in severe ath- 
letic exercise, such as running or bicycle-racing, and have gone into 
business, where they lead a most sedentary life. In these cases the 
condition which exists is comparable to the condition which exists in 
a steamer whose engines are too strong for her hull. The heart, which 
has heretofore been supplying the body of an athlete with blood, now 
finds itself too strong for the sedentary individual. There is prob- 
ably no remedy which will give such good results under these circum- 
stances as aconite, given in the dose of 1 minim (0.05) of the fluid extract 
or 2 to 3 minims (0.1-0.15) of the tincture three times a day, partic- 
ularly if at the same time a good belladonna plaster about four inches 
square is applied over the praecordium. Many cases of tobacco heart, 
in which there is arhythmia, with an excessive cardiac impulse over 
the prsecordium, with palpitation on exertion, will be benefited by 
aconite used in this way ; but where the heart seems much depressed, 
so that the apex-beat is feeble and the first and second sounds are not 
clearly heard, aconite will seldom, if ever, do good. 

In that form of functional cardiac disorder due to indigestion aco- 
nite is not capable of producing the results which are obtained in the 
cases which we have just mentioned. It may, however, be used as a 
remedy of value at the same time that the physician is directing his 
attention to the cause of the trouble — namely, the gastro-intestinal 
disorder, with the treatment of which this article has nothing to do. 
Here, again, a condition of cardiac feebleness contraindicates the 
employment of this drug. 

Passing to the employment of aconite in cases of true cardiac dis- 
ease, we find that a careful study of a certain number of cases will 
soon show the physician that this drug is capable of doing more good 
in some instances than is digitalis. 

The history of the following case illustrates this point : A man, 
aged nineteen, was brought to the hospital suffering from aortic 
obstruction, and as a result of this was attacked with dyspnoea on the 



HEART DISEASE. 579 

slightest exertion, marked cardiac arhythraia, with palpitation, some 
giddiness, and a tendency to nose-bleed. He stated that in the early 
part of the year, and for several years preceding it, he had been a 
deck-hand on a coastwise vessel, where he performed hard manual 
labor, notwithstanding the condition of cardiac disease which was 
present, and of which he knew nothing. During this time he suf- 
fered from no symptoms indicating cardiac disorder. In other words, 
compensatory hypertrophy was complete. Because of the exposure 
incident to the work he was forced, under the advice of a physician, 
to earn his living on shore. He was unsuccessful in trying to obtain 
employment, and a prolonged period of muscular inactivity followed. 
As a consequence of this the cardiac hypertrophy, which had hitherto 
been compensatory, was now excessive, and he suffered from marked 
cardiac palpitation, with disordered circulation in the extremities, 
and from a considerable amount of cough. Very early in the study 
of the case it was recognized that these disorders were due to the 
excess of cardiac hypertrophy, and not to failure in compensation, 
and, as a consequence, that a cardiac depressant was indicated rather 
than a cardiac stimulant in the shape of digitalis. 

He was given from 1 to 2 minims (0.05-0.1) of the fluid extract of 
aconite three times a day, and during the continuance of this treatment 
was purposely confined to his bed. At the end of the week so much 
improvement had taken place in his condition that he was allowed to 
rise and go about the ward as he wished, and after four weeks, the 
medicine being continued during this period, he was so well that he 
was discharged from the hospital, with no other evidence of cardiac 
disorder than physical examination would show. 

When aconite is used, rest in bed is essential, in order that the 
heart may not be excited to great activity by exercise of the limbs, 
and also -because the recumbent posture allows the physician to use 
larger doses of the drug. 

An exceedingly useful treatment of valvular disease with or with- 
out excessive cardiac hypertrophy is rest in bed without medication. 
The results in some cases are extraordinary. 

Fatty heart occurs in two forms — that in which true fatty degen- 
eration has taken place in the muscular fibre, and that in which there 
is a deposit of fat about the heart and between the fibres. Nothing of 
any importance can be done for the first state, except to relieve arterial 
tension if it be too high by the use of nitroglycerine or by the iodides. 
Strophanthus with or without nux vomica may be useful to relieve 
symptoms of cardiac distress. Much can be done for the second form. 
In neither form is digitalis of much value. If given, it should be 
combined with nux vomica, or nux vomica may be given alone in 
full doses. The patient suffering from the second form of heart- 
trouble is nearly always obese, and should abstain from fats and rich 
foods, from all sweet wines or malt liquors, from sugars and milk, 
and, at the same time, take exercise. At first this treatment may 
cause dyspnoea, but by gradually increasing the severity of the exer- 
cise great feats can generally be effected in the end, with marked 
improvement in the cardiac action. (See Obesity.) 



580 DISEASES. 

Heart disease associated with failure of the muscle may not only 
be treated with drugs, but with other remedial measures, such as 
gentle, active exercise, passive exercise, and baths, the latter being 
given with care to avoid too great shock and for the purpose of 
improving the general circulation. 

Within the last few years a method has been brought forward by 
Schott, of Nauheim, Germany, which consists in treating patients 
with feeble hearts by means of movements and baths of water derived 
from the springs at Nauheim. The movements are so-called resist- 
ance-movements, the patient slowly flexing and straightening his 
limbs and neck against gentle resistance on the part of an attendant. 
By this means the circulation of blood and lymph in the tissues is 
aided without tiring the heart. These resistance-exercises do not, 
however, agree with all cases. In persons with very feeble hearts 
massage given gently is far better. The rule should be, never to give 
enough exercise or massage to cause acceleration of the respiration or 
marked increase in the action of the heart. Very feeble cases should 
have the massage first, the exercise next, and the baths last. The 
bath when made from natural water at the Nauheim springs pos- 
sesses not only the stimulating effect of its natural warmth and its 
sodium chloride, but also contains a large amount of carbonic acid 
gas, which exercises a powerful stimulating effect upon the peripheral 
capillaries, bringing the blood to the surface and equalizing the cir- 
culation. The patient is gently immersed in a tub of the water at 
about 95° F., and allowed to remain there about five or ten minutes, 
according to the seriousness of his disease. If it is grave, the first 
baths are very short, for if they are prolonged reaction will not take 
place. The patient is then removed and carefully dried by an attend- 
ant, and must rest absolutely in a reclining position for at least one 
hour. At first the bath is used only every two or three days. As the 
patient gets a little strength the baths are gradually increased in length 
and frequency, and finally additional mother salt obtained by the evapo- 
ration of the water is added to the natural water in the tub. Later 
on, when still stronger, the patient takes the foam, or "strom" bath, 
in which the gas is present in such quantities that the water foams. 
This is, of course, very stimulating and dangerous for a weak patient 
with poor reaction. When the patient recovers enough to use gentle 
walking-exercise this is permitted, the resistance-exercise being 
employed on days between the baths as a rule. 

These baths may be prepared artificially and are resorted to in this 
country, being now installed in several watering-places. The form- 
ulae for making the baths are as follows in each 40 gallons of water at 
95° F.: 

Bath No. 1 : sodium chloride, 4 pounds ; calcium chloride, 6 
ounces. 

Bath No. 2 : sodium chloride, 5 pounds ; calcium chloride, 8 
ounces. 

Bath No. 3 : sodium chloride, 6 pounds ; calcium chloride. 10 
ounces. 

Bath No. 4 : sodium chloride, 7 pounds ; calcium chloride, 10 



HEMORRHAGE. 581 

ounces ; sodium bicarbonate, ^ pound ; HC1 (25 per cent.), 12 
ounces. 

Bath No. 5: sodium chloride, 9 pounds; calcium chloride, 11 
ounces: sodium bicarbonate, 1 pound; HC1, 1|- pounds. 

Bath No. 6 : sodium chloride, 11 pounds ; calcium chloride, 12 
ounces ; sodium bicarbonate, 2 pounds ; HC1, 3 pounds. 

The alkali should always be slightly in excess unless a porcelain 
or paper tub is used. 

A small bottle containing the hydrochloric acid is submerged at 
the bottom of the tub, uncorked, and its contents allowed to escape 
into the water, in which effervescence at once occurs, the patient 
entering the bath at that time. Recently Tyson has used a series of 
perforated iron tubes placed upon the bottom of the tub under a 
wooden rack. These tubes are connected to a large cylinder con- 
taining carbonic acid gas, which is allowed to bubble through the 
water, thus supplanting the crude method of producing the gas by 
the acid just named. The tub should be of wood. 

The numbers of the baths are simply numbers for different 
strengths. Patients may never use them stronger than that repre- 
sented by the second or third formula. Toward the close of the 
treatment the temperature may be lowered to 85° F. 

These baths are indicated chiefly for feeble hearts, as already 
stated, Thus, if there be cardiac dilatation resulting from such 
depressing causes as epidemic influenza, they often prove useful. 
So, too, in cardiac neuroses and functional disorders dependent upon 
lack of vasomotor tone they are serviceable. In valvular disease 
with perfect compensation they are not needed, and when compensation 
is ruptured they are dangerous, owing to the production of syncope. 
If the bath acts favorably, the pulse becomes stronger and fuller, the 
heart's action slower, and the physical signs of cardiac dilatation dis- 
appear. Congestive engorgement of the liver also passes away. As 
with all other methods of treatment, the cases submitted to this 
treatment should be carefully selected, as it has its therapeutic limi- 
tations. This treatment does not necessarily exclude the use of 
drugs. A liberal vegetable diet, with small amounts of meats, is 
given. 

HEMORRHAGE. 

{Including Menorrhagia, Metrorrhagia, Haemoptysis, Hcematemesis, 
Intestinal Hemorrhage, Hematuria, and Post-part um Hemoi*rhage.) 

Under this heading the author will consider all forms of hemor- 
rhage which can be controlled by drugs or measures not directly sur- 
gical in their scope, with the exception of epistaxis, which has already 
been spoken of. 

Whenever a hemorrhage can be arrested by the application of a 
ligature or by compression, as in a cut of the finger or some similar 
wound, no styptic should be used. Styptics are employed for the 
double purpose of constringing the tissues and coagulating the blood, 
and, in consequence, form coagula which tend to make a nasty septic 



582 DISEASES. 

mass about the wound. In their place the physician should resort to 
a compress soaked in some antiseptic liquid or filled with some disin- 
fectant powder, and if this fails to control the bleeding, then ligation 
of the bleeding vessel becomes necessary. 

Where the bleeding point cannot be reached by direct compression 
or for ligation, the use of packing and of astringents is advisable, 
and drugs which are antihemorrhagic should be used by the mouth. 
As these forms of hemorrhage are generally given separate names, 
they will be so considered. 

In all forms of hemorrhage in which the flow has been sufficiently 
great to endanger the patient's life resort should be had to hypoder- 
moclysis or to transfusion. (See Hypodermoclysis and Transfusion, 
Part III.) 

Menorrhagia is an excessive flow of menstrual blood, either excess- 
ive in quantity during two or three days or prolonging itself over 
an unusual number of days, while metrorrhagia is a state in which 
bleeding takes place from the uterus independent of menstruation 
and at any period of the month, or even after the menopause has 
occurred. 

Menorrhagia, or excessive menstruation, is not to be judged by the 
amount of the flow, but by whether the loss is sufficient to cause 
decrease of health or to indicate disease. In some cases it is a means 
of relieving plethora. 

When the physician decides that something should be done to 
improve the condition of the patient, when suffering either from 
menorrhagia or metrorrhagia, it will be necessary for him to find 
out whether a polypus or other form of uterine disease is directly 
responsible for the trouble, and in the mean time to employ drugs 
known to act favorably upon uterine hemorrhage. The most 
prominent of these drugs are ergot and oil of erigeron, the first 
being the more active and the best remedy for active bleeding, the 
second better for oozing and for cases where there is a continual 
"show." 

The fluid extract of ergot may be given in varying dose, from 10 
to 60 drops (0.65-4.0), according to the necessities of the case, and 
the oil of erigeron in capsules in the dose of from 3 to 5 minims 
(0.15-0.3), or, if capsules cannot be had, the physician must employ 
the oil in an emulsion made by using syrup of acacia or other similar 
substance. 

Where menstruation is irregular and the menorrhagia is almost a 
metrorrhagia, bromide of potassium or sodium in the dose of 10 
grains (0.65) once or twice a day is often very serviceable indeed, and 
the distilled extract of hamamelis in the dose of 1 drachm (4.0) 
three times a day is almost as useful. Cannabis indica, if an active 
sample is obtainable, is also said to be of service, but the writer has 
never used it to any extent. Oil of cinnamon in the dose of J drachm 
(2.0) is very efficacious in the slow oozing of some cases where erige- 
ron cannot be used or obtained. Sometimes, where congestion of 
the pelvic viscera is the cause of the trouble, dry cups over the sacrum 
give relief. 



HEMORRHAGE. 583 

Hcemoptysis, or hemorrhage from the lung, is nearly always due to 
tubercular ulceration of a small or large blood-vessel, and the life of 
the patient depends in reality more upon the rapidity with which a 
clot naturally forms than upon the skill of the physician. Though 
text-books order atomized solutions to be inhaled and other remedies 
to be taken by way of the lung, in most cases these measures will be 
found impracticable, simply because the nervousness of the patient 
and the constant cough will noi permit of inhalations to any extent, 
and even if a full breath is taken, it generally increases the bleeding 
and coughing. The only occasions on which inhalations of styptics 
are of service are those in which the hemorrhage is just beginning or 
so slight as to streak the sputum or to be at least thoroughly mixed 
with it. The solutions to be so employed must be used in an atomizer 
which will throw a fine spray — sufficiently fine to enter the smallest 
air-tubes with the inspiratory wave of air. A very good fluid is one 
made from Monsel's solution, as follows : 

R. — Liquor, ferri subsulphat gtt. xx to xxx (2.0). 

Aquffi dest. f^iv (128.0).— M. 

S. — Use in an atomizer every few minutes. 

Or the following : 1 

R. — Acid, tannic gr. xx (1.3). 

Glycerini f^ij (8.0). 

Aqua? dest. q.s. ad f^iij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Use in an atomizer. 



Or. 



R. — Aluminis gr. vj (0.4). 

Aqua? dest f^iij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Use in an atomizer. 



Some clinicians advise that the patient should swallow, whether 
the hemorrhage be acute or not, not less than 1 to 1J drachms (4.0- 
6.0) of the fluid extract of ergot, or a solution made by adding 20 
grains of gallic acid to 1 ounce (1.3 : 32.0) of water. Tannic acid 
given by the stomach is not as good as gallic acid, because it must be 
absorbed and changed into gallic acid before it can reach the bleeding 
point through the circulation. On the other hand, the tannic acid, if 
locally used, is the better, for it constringes the tissues and forms a 
clot, whereas gallic acid does not coagulate the blood. There is no 
doubt that of all the internal remedies for hemorrhage from the lungs, 
aconite is the best. Careful studies show that ergot causes primarily 
an increased flow of blood to the lung, although its dominant and final 
action is to cause contraction of the blood-vessels. Hemorrhage from 
the lung is to be regarded as any other hemorrhage. The object of 
the physician is not to stimulate the heart and vasomotor system, 
thereby increasing the leakage from the bleeding vessel, but to lower 
the arterial pressure to as low a point as is safe. The rule to follow 
is best stated as follows : If the patient is seen early in the attack, give 

1 If the Monsel solution does not stop the hemorrhage, tannic acid will probably 
fail; but, more important still, the two should not be used together, as the tannate of 
iron will be formed, which is as black as ink. 



584 DISEASES. 

full doses of aconite to prevent further hemorrhage. If when seen 
so late that he is too much exsanguinated to use sedatives, place his 
head lower than the feet and apply Esmarch bandages to the limbs to 
keep the blood in the vital parts as far as possible. The use of stimu- 
lants can only increase the hemorrhage by increasing the pumping power 
of the heart and by dislodging the clot from the eroded blood-vessel. 

Daremburg and Yeo have employed ice or ice-cold compresses to 
the scrotum or vulva in such cases, and claim good results from this 
use of cold. 

To allay nervous excitement many writers advise that a hypodermic 
injection of morphine should be used. The author is convinced that 
it should be used with caution, for morphine is a circulatory stimu- 
lant, and by increasing the power of the heart increases the hemor- 
rhage. Chloral and the bromides are often better remedies, and 
should be given by the mouth, or, if vomiting is present, they should 
be given by the rectum, dissolved in starch-water. (See Chloral and 
Bromides.) 

Sometimes the patient can point directly to the spot where he 
thinks the hemorrhage exists, and under these circumstances a dry 
cup or a piece of ice placed over this point may prove useful. 

After an attack of haemoptysis there is great danger in many cases 
of a traumatic pneumonia being set up by the presence of the extrav- 
asated blood. This should be combated by the use of a carefully 
regulated diet, and the reduction of any arterial excitement by small 
doses of aconite in persons not weakened by advanced disease or bleed- 
ing. Complete rest in bed is to be insisted on, and no stimulants 
allowed in food or drink unless the weakness of the patient requires 
it. 

Hamiatemesis. — This depends either upon some injury to the stom- 
ach or, much more commonly, upon gastric ulcer, cancer, or some other 
severe form of gastric trouble, and is one of the easier of the so-called 
"internal hemorrhages" to treat, because by ordering the patient to 
swallow styptic drugs we can act directly upon the bleeding surface. 1 
In such a case small pieces of ice should be swallowed frequently, and 
this may be accompanied by 3 drops (0.15) of Monsel's solution in a 
half tumblerful of water every fifteen minutes till four doses are 
taken. Tannic acid may be given instead in the dose of 20 grains 
to a drachm (1.3-4.0), but the two should never be given at once in 
the same case. (See foot-note to p. 539.) Monsel's salt maybe given 
in pill in the dose of 2 to 3 grains (0.1-0.15). The acetate of lead 
is also of value in pill form in the dose of 2 to 3 grains (0.1-0.15) 
with morphine or opium. Tincture of the chloride of iron, the sul- 
phate of iron, turpentine, ipecac, ergot, and hamamelis may all be 
used, the last three particularly in slow or passive hemorrhages. 
Sometimes nitrate of silver in the dose of J of a grain (0.016) in 
pill form is of service if the hemorrhage is a slow one. 

1 Hsematemesis also ensues as a result of swallowing blood which has escaped into 
the mouth or naso-pharynx, and this symptom is sometimes induced by malingerers 
in order to further their ends. These forms of hsematemesis should, of course, be sep- 
arated from those dependent upon some lesion in the stomach itself. 



HEMORRHAGE. 585 

Hemorrhage from the bowel is to be treated according to its point 
of origin. If in the small intestine, as from ulceration of Peyer's 
patches or other glands, the medicines must be used by the mouth ; if 
it be from the colon or rectum or from hemorrhoids, medication must 
be by way of the anus. 

Hemorrhage of the first class is best combated by the applica- 
tion of a small ice-bag to the belly and by the use of Monsel's salt 
(ferri subsulphas) : 3 grains (0.15) made into a pill should be given 
every half hour or oftener, the pill being made hard enough to reach 
the intestine without being dissolved and its contents decomposed in 
the stomach. Ergot has been resorted to, but is of doubtful value 
unless used hypodermically (see Ergot) ; but tannic acid may be given 
with advantage in large amount in solution if the Monsel salt is not 
obtainable. The other remedies which are of service are sulphuric 
acid in the dose of 5 to 10 drops (0.3-0.65) in water in acute or 
passive bleeding, or turpentine given in capsule, or, better still, in 
emulsion with acacia in the dose of 10 drops (0.65) every half-hour, 
particularly when the hemorrhage is not active. Chloride of calcium 
is useful (which see). Acetate of lead and camphor in the following 
pill may be of service in some cases : 

R. — Plumbi a'cetatis gr. v (0.3). 

Camphor*? gr. x (0.65).— M. 

Ft. in pil. No. v. 
S. — One pill every hour. 

Where the hemorrhage is dependent upon ulceration of the colon 
or rectum injections are to be resorted to. These are both styptic and 
curative, the styptic injections being particularly useful when the 
bleeding is to be stopped at once, the others where it is sought to 
remove the condition producing the trouble. 

To the first class belong alum, sulphate of copper, Monsel's solu- 
tion, sulphate of iron, tannic acid, and cold water. In the second we 
find nitrate of silver, the sulphates of copper and of iron, and the 
chlorate of potassium. 

The alum solution used should be fairly strong, 10 grains to the 
ounce (0.65 : 32.0); the copper, 5 grains to the ounce (0.3 : 32.0); 
the Monsel's salt, 10 grains to the ounce (0.65 : 32.0); or J to 1 
drachm of Monsel's solution to each 2 ounces (64.0) of water. The 
tannic acid should be used in the strength of 20 grains to the ounce 
(1.3 : 32.0) of water and glycerin. When chlorate of potassium is 
used it should be employed in saturated solution in small injections 
(25 grains to the ounce [1.65 : 32.0]), or weaker if the injection be a 
large one (10 grains to the ounce [0.65 : 32.0]). 

These injections should be carefully given, and the success or 
failure attending the treatment of these states depends as much upon 
the technique of the operation as upon the injection of the medicinal 
substance. It should never be forgotten that an injection designed 
for local medication should be as small in bulk as circumstances will 
permit. Thus, in inflammation of the rectum the amount of the 
injected liquid should not be above 4 ounces (128.0) at the utmost, 



586 DISEASES. 

and preferably 2 ounces (64.0) unless the diseased area is high up. 
An enema is given in bulk so as to cause distention and excite the 
bowel to movement, whereas from a medicinal injection no movement 
is desired. Again, the apparatus for sending in the fluid ought not 
to be a "family" or ordinary syringe, but a fountain syringe, the 
pressure being hydrostatic. This may be dispensed with if the injec- 
tion be small and only intended for the lower part of the rectum, but 
it is indispensable if the injection be intended to reach the upper part 
of the colon. The entrance of the liquid should always be gradual 
and easy. If resistance is met with, the pressure must be overcome, 
not by force, but by waiting a moment until it passes off. When the 
entire colon is to be flooded, at least a gallon of warm liquid may be 
needed. In these cases those drugs which are capable of absorption 
and the production of poisonous symptoms are not to be used except 
in small amounts. (See Enteroclysis. Part III.) 

Where the injection is to reach high up into the bowel the patient 
should be put in the lithotomy position with the buttocks elevated. 

Sometimes in dysentery the injection of a pint to a quart of ice- 
cold water has a most favorable effect upon bloody purging. 

Whenever a medicated injection is to be used for the cure of ulcers 
which cause hemorrhage, the entire tract which is to be invaded 
should be washed out with pure water or with a saline or soapy liquid, 
in order to dislodge mucus and faeces, which prevent the drugs from 
acting on the bowel-wall. 

Hematuria is a condition in which blood appears in the urine, and 
may be divided into two classes — that in which the blood comes from 
the kidney or bladder, and that in which it comes from the urethra. 
In the first class the blood is always well mixed with the urine, 
which is changed in color from its decomposition, and appears either 
through the entire act of urination or just at the end of the act. In 
those instances in which the blood is in the first part of the stream 
it arises in the urethra, is nearly pure, and not well mixed with the 
urine. 

If the blood is due to the presence of an acute nephritis, the 
kidneys need treatment, and for directions as to this point the article 
on Acute Nephritis should be read ; while, if the hemorrhage is due 
to the presence of a lesion in the bladder, the directions governing 
the use of turpentine, erigeron, or ergot, as given for Menorrha- 
gia and Metrorrhagia, should be followed, or if any morbid growth 
be present it should be removed. Sometimes 10 to 20 grains (0.65- 
1.3) of camphor in divided doses are of service, given in pill form, 
while in others cannabis indica is of value. 

Gallic acid, in 20-grain (1.3) doses, may be used, and is very val- 
uable. If the hemorrhage is alarming, injections of astringent 
washes, such as 2 or 3 grains of alum to the ounce of water, should 
be injected into the bladder. It must be remembered, however, that 
this simply fills the bladder with clots, which are not readily passed 
and are liable to become septic. 

A very useful prescription is — 



HEMORRHOIDS. 587 

R. — Acid, gallic 3j (4.0). 

Acid, sulphuric, dil f^ij (8.0). 

Aqua? . . ._ q. s. ad fgiij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) in water every four hours. 

If the hematuria be malarial, quinine has been employed, but in 
a large number of cases it makes the hematuria worse; and in the 
Southern United States, where severe malarial poisoning is often seen, 
physicians ought never to use the drug for malarial hematuria. The 
value of quinine consists in its ability to prevent further attacks 
rather than to relieve the result of the attack — namely, the hematuria. 
Hyposulphite of sodium is a most useful remedy in malarial hematuria 
in the dose of 5 to 15 grains (0.3-1.0) every five hours. Some prac- 
titioners use as much as a drachm of hyposulphite of sodium every 
two hours till purgation takes place, give morphine and atropine hypo- 
dermically to relieve pain and quiet the stomach, apply cups over the 
kidneys, and give water to drink so as to freely flush the kidneys. 

Post-partum hemorrhage is to be controlled by the use of friction 
and kneading or grasping the dilated uterus through the relaxed ab- 
dominal wall; by the use of drachm doses of the fluid extract of ergot 
or a wineglassful of the wine of ergot ; and by the irritation of the 
uterine wall by passing the hand, which must be absolutely aseptic, 
up through the vagina into the uterine cavity. Sometimes ice may be 
passed up the vagina and into the uterine cavity with success in stop- 
ping the bleeding, and even vinegar and lemon-juice may be tried if 
the case is a desperate one. In other cases injections of water as hot 
as can be borne may be resorted to. 



HEMORRHOIDS. 

Hemorrhoids are vascular dilatations of capillaries, arteries, or ven- 
ules situated outside or inside of the sphincter am, or are composed, 
in the case of what are called external piles, of tags of skin which 
are more or less vascular and become troublesome when inflamed. 

The internal pile, if large, is apt to prolapse and to become 
strangulated by the sphincter muscle. It is covered by mucous 
membrane, and is sometimes very small or like a mulberry in shape, 
consisting of a tuft of capillaries, a loop of an arteriole, or of a venule. 
The capillary or arterial hemorrhoid is apt to be bright red, and to bleed 
profusely when touched or when scraped by hard faeces. The venous 
tuft also bleeds, but not so freely, and the blood is not so bright in 
color. In cases in which the hemorrhoids " come down " — that is, 
pass out through the anus, so being in danger of becoming stran- 
gulated — the protruding mass should be washed with cold water, 
thereby at once cleansing the mass and reducing its congestion, 
and then gently pushed back with the fingers, which should be well 
oiled. Care should be taken that an external hemorrhoid is not 
mistaken for an internal pile, since if an external growth is pushed 
through the sphincter, it also becomes strangulated. 

The treatment of internal hemorrhoids is to a great extent iden-* 



588 DISEASES. 

tical with that of the external variety. A suppository may be used, 
made up as follows, if there is a tendency to slight hemorrhage : 

R —Acid, gallic gr. xx (1.3). 

Extract, opii gr.j(0.05). 

Extract, belladonna gr. ij (0.1). 

01. theobromse q. s. — M. 

Ft. in suppos. No. x. 
S. — Use one every night, or distilled witch-hazel extract may be injected into the 
rectum. 

If the hemorrhage is profuse, the physician should use a speculum, 
find the bleeding point, and touch it with strong nitric acid, followed by 
the suppository named above. If this is done, the bowels should be 
confined for some days, until the spot under the slough made by the 
acid can heal. If the prolapsed hemorrhoid is inflamed and difficult 
of reduction, the following ointment of Mathews may be ordered ; 

R. — Cocain. hydrochlor gr. xij (0.8). 

lodoformi , ^j (4.0). 

Extract, opii gr. xxx (2.0). 

Petrolati 5J (32.0).— M. 

S. — Use as a salve. 

If the pile still refuses to be reduced, place the patient in bed and 
apply hot poultices, and if this fails operation is demanded. 

The treatment of external piles themselves consists in the mainte- 
nance of the most rigid cleanliness. Immediately after each move- 
ment the parts should be thoroughly washed by means of a sponge 
dipped in cold water, or better still, by the use of the bidet or a nozzle 
attached to a fountain syringe or to the general water-supply. After 
they are thoroughly cleansed, it is well to bathe them with distilled 
extract of hamamelis. Often it is well to precede the regular morn- 
ing evacuation by a cold rectal injection of pure water to soften the 
faeces, but more important still to decrease congestion. If the inflam- 
mation of the external piles is very acute and profound, the patient 
should be placed in bed and the cold injections frequently repeated 
or hot poultices applied to the anus. After the acute stage is passed 
a lotion of lead-water and laudanum (laudanum f ^ss to dilute lead- 
water f ^ij) may be used. 

The injection of carbolic acid into hemorrhoids is a dangerous 
practice, but if employed only 1 drop is to be used. 

In addition to these applications there are important general rules 
to be observed. 

The patient's habits should be so arranged that his daily act of 
defecation is at night before going to bed, rather than in the morn- 
ing, as under these circumstances the rest in bed relieves congestion 
and soreness, which the maintenance of the erect posture might make 
worse. Plethoric persons should not use upholstered chairs for office 
or lounging purposes, as the heat of the body relaxes the rectal tis- 
sues. A cane-seated chair is best, or an air-cushion with a hollow 
centre. The liver plays a most important part in relation to hemor- 
rhoids, and, if it is congested, congestion of the hemorrhoidal veins 
'is very apt to ensue. The connection between the liver and the 



HEPATITIS. 589 

hemorrhoidal plexus is most intimate, since the plexus is formed by 
the superior hemorrhoidal veins, which are branches of the inferior 
mesenteric, and the middle and inferior hemorrhoidal veins, which 
terminate in the internal iliac. The portal venous system is com- 
posed in part of the inferior mesenteric vein, and any obstruction to 
venous flow in the liver at once results in engorgement of the 
hemorrhoidal plexus. 

(For the surgical treatment of piles reference must be made to 
surgical works.) 



HEPATITIS. 

(Acute and Chronic Hepatitis and Hepatic Abscess.) 

Inflammation of the liver may be produced by many causes, such 
as injuries, cold, exposure to high heat (as in the tropics), syphilis, 
and the presence of any infectious disease or of parasites. It may 
also arise from alcoholism. The acute form is rarely directly pro- 
duced by syphilis unless by the presence of some other form of the 
disease, such as gumma or the absorption of septic materials into the 
circulation from wounds or sores. The same may be said of the hepa- 
titis of hot climates, which is generally subacute or chronic. The 
pain, swelling, and general symptoms of the acute form of inflamma- 
tion of the liver are described thoroughly in the text-books on the 
practice of medicine. The measures commonly adopted for the relief 
of the symptoms and the disease itself are of two kinds : the first, 
medicinal : the second, dietetic. 

The patient, if the attack be acute or severe, will commonly be 
found in bed, owing to the pain and fever, but if not he must be 
placed in bed and kept in a recumbent posture. Over the surface 
of the right hypochondrium should be placed two cantharidal blisters 
of the diameter of from one to three inches, or, if this is not possible, 
a large mustard plaster is to be used. Sometimes hot cloths applied 
over this area not only give relief, but also aid in the formation of the 
blister. At the same time, if the bowels are greatly confined, a saline 
purgative may be given, and be preceded by 1 grain (0.05) of calomel 
given in fractional doses. In regard to internal medication, the phy- 
sician should recollect that hepatitis is, like every inflammation, a local 
hyperemia or vascular engorgement, and, in consequence, that aconite 
in full doses is useful. Veratrum viride may be used, but as it may 
produce vomiting and disturb the liver, it should rarely be employed. 
The kidneys may be kept active by spirit of nitrous ether and citrate 
of potassium, or by any one of the diuretic waters, such as Vichy, in 
moderate quantities. 

If the inflammation is not aborted by this treatment, it may go on 
to hepatic abscess. 1 If hepatic abscess develops, the best thing to be 

1 Just here it may be well to recall that many cases of hepatic abscess are now- 
known to be due to dysentery, and that the diseased state of the lower bowel may 
infect the liver. 



590 DISEASES. 

done is to aspirate and draw off the pus. Very frequently the in- 
flamed organ will form so strong an attachment with the peritoneal 
coat of the abdominal cavity that a bistoury may be used to free the 
pus if an aspirator is not at hand. After pus is once formed any con- 
stitutional evidence of its presence, as by night-sweats, hectic, or 
rigors, is a sign for immediate interference with the purulent collec- 
tion by the physician. If amoebic dysentery exists, it must be cured 
as rapidly as possible by the measures generally employed for this 
purpose. (See Dysentery.) 

The diet during the early and later stages of acute hepatitis should 
be limited to those articles of food which are easily digested and assim- 
ilated, and rich or greasy dishes are to be excluded. " Strong foods," 
as meats of all kinds, particularly beef, pork, and mutton, are to be 
sedulously avoided. All spices in the food must be forbidden, and 
alcohol utterly tabooed. If koumyss cannot be had, the patient may 
be fed on peptonized milk or pancreatized oysters. (See Part III.) 
After the abscess develops the same recommendations are to be fol- 
lowed, and the diet is to be . as supportive as possible, small doses of 
quinine and iron being used. 

In the treatment of the subacute or chronic hepatitis of hot 
climates no remedy compares to freshly-prepared strong nitromuriatic 
acid, used both externally and internally. The acid should be a deep 
lemon color, and be mixed with water only when about to be taken, 
in the dose of 3 to 4 drops (0.15-0.2) three times a day. This rem- 
edy is contraindicated in acute hepatitis, because it acts by stimulating 
the organ, and would only increase the severity of the acute form of the 
disease if administered at this time. Externally, it is to be used by 
mixing it with water and applying it by means of a flannel wrung out in 
the mixture, or by placing it on spongiopiline in the proportion of from 
1 to 3 fluidrachms to the pint (4.0-12.0 : 500 cc.) of warm water and 
applying it over the liver. If 3 fluidrachms (12.0) irritate the skin 
too greatly, the smaller quantity should be employed. This applica- 
tion causes a tino-lino* of the skin and a localized sweat. 

The hepatitis due to syphilis generally shows itself as a cirrhosis, 
and is to be treated by antisyphilitic measures. (See Syphilis.) 

If ascites develops from cirrhosis, the liquid is to be withdrawn, 
and frequent aspirations, as often as the liquid returns, have been 
known to result in apparent cure or arrest of the disease. In all forms 
of chronic hepatitis iodide of potassium is a useful remedy in the dose 
of from 5 to 10 grains (0.3-0.65) three times a day, or larger amounts 
may be used if the disease be due to syphilis. 



HICCOUGH. 

This is an affection arising from many causes, depending upon irri- 
tability of the nerves supplying the diaphragm as a result of gastric 
irritation, nervousness, uraemia, and as a complication of several 
exhausting diseases, such, for example, as typhoid fever. 

The mechanism of its production rests upon the sudden contrac- 



INCONTINENCE OF URINE. 591 

tion or descent of the diaphragm, whereby a vacuum is formed in the 
chest into which the outside air attempts to rush, but is prevented 
from doing so by a sudden closure of the glottis, the peculiar sound 
of the hiccough being thus developed. Generally the symptom stops 
of itself, but it may become continuous and excessive. 

The remedies to be employed are used according to the cause of 
the disorder. If there be gastric or intestinal irritation, the irritating 
matter must be removed by emetics or purges, and nervous and local 
sedatives used. A few drops of spirit of chloroform do good in many 
cases, and a little tincture of capsicum may be employed in other 
instances, say 2 or 3 drops (0.1-0.15) well diluted. Children should 
only have J to 1 drop (0.025-0.05) of the tincture, well diluted. 
Spirit of camphor, or the tincture of valerian, in the dose of 1 drachm 
(4.0), may be serviceable, and Hoffmann's anodyne is peculiarly appro- 
priate in the dose of 1 drachm (4.0) in starch-water. In the hiccough 
of typhoid fever nothing compares to musk, 10 grains (0.65) by the 
rectum, and, if this cannot be used, oil of amber may be given by 
the mouth in the dose of 5 to 10 drops (0.3-0.65) in capsule or emul- 
sion, and followed by a drink of milk to prevent irritation of the 
stomach. Nitrite of amyl may also he inhaled. 

Where external remedies are resorted to, ether thrown in a fine 
spray on the epigastrium may stop an attack. 

In cases where the affection comes on after meals and is due to 
indigestion, a course of tonic treatment will often give relief. Thus 
nux vomica in pill or tincture, accompanied by some dilute mineral 
acid, such as hydrochloric or nitric, may be employed, or 

R.— Sodii bicarb 3j (4.0). 

Tinct. nucis vom fgj (4.0). 

Tinct. cardamomi q. s. ad f^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) before each meal. 

If the symptom be uraemic, a hot pack or a hypodermic injection 
of hydrochlorate of pilocarpine may be found of service, unless contra- 
indicated by advanced depression and systemic weakness. 



INCONTINENCE OP URINE. 

Incontinence of urine may be classified either according to its forms 
or the methods of its treatment. 

Four varieties may be recognized as occurring separately, although 
all of them may occur in one case. There are cases where the bladder 
fails to hold the urine day or night, those in which the incontinence 
is only nocturnal, and those in which it occurs only upon some ner- 
vous start or in which the sphincter becomes relaxed from general 
atony. The first of these occur in children, the last in adult females. 
A fourth form of incontinence depends upon paralysis arising from 
centric nervous disorder or from paralysis due to retention and conse- 
quent paralytic distention. 

Taking up the consideration of the first forms — namely, those 
occurring in children, in which the' trouble is generally nocturnal — 



592 DISEASES. 

the complete history and the present condition of the case must be 
discovered. Many of the most obstinate cases will yield when the 
urine is made constantly clear and mild by the use of alkalies, and 
others will recover upon the removal of worms from the vagina, which 
have crawled there from the rectum, or upon circumcision of a redun- 
dant prepuce, particularly if this be tight and smegma and urine be 
found back of it in large or small quantity. The cause of the incon- 
tinence in both these conditions is reflex irritation of the bladder-walls, 
by irritation at the end of the penis or in the vagina, and the rea- 
son that alkalies do good is that they render the urine, which is con- 
centrated and irritating, dilute, alkaline, and mild. Belladonna in 
these cases is rarely, if ever, curative, and is at most only palliative, 
the condition returning as soon as the passing off of the effects of the 
drug permits the irritation to be felt by the nerves of the bladder. 
After alkaline diuretics have been used belladonna is, however, very 
valuable. 

Where the urine is concentrated and dark in color the following 
prescription is always useful : 

R. — Potassii citratis £ss (2.0). 

Spt. setheris nitrosi f £j (4.0). 

Aquae q. s. ad f§j (32.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every four hours in an equal quantity of water. 

As the urine becomes clear after several days a few drops of tinc- 
ture of belladonna may be added to the mixture ; but if a little is not 
sufficient, it must not be increased, as belladonna will not cure the 
condition, and may make the urine concentrated — a condition directly 
opposed to that which is wanted. 

Sometimes these cases are dependent not so much upon vesical 
irritability as upon weakness of the spinal centres governing the 
bladder. If this be the case, the urine should first be rendered mild 
and then remedies should be directed to the improvement of these parts. 
The following pill or the succeeding solution should be administered : 

R. — Acid, arsenosi gr | (0.02). 

Extract, nucis vomicae gr. ij (0.1). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One three times daily after meals for a child of eight or ten years. 



Or 



R. — Liquor potassii arsenitis gtt. xxiv (1.6). 

Tinct. nucis vomicae gtt. xvj (1.0). 

Aquae . . . q. s. ad f^iij (96.0).— M. 

S.— Teaspoonful (4.0) three times daily after meals for a child of eight or ten years. 

This mixture is so bitter as to be exceedingly disagreeable, and 
Fowler's solution may often be used alone in the dose of J to 1 drop 
(0.025-0.05), and at the same time strychnine in gelatin- or sugar- 
coated pill or granule. 

It must be remembered that this last treatment is only to be 
employed in chronic cases devoid of all irritation and dependent upon 
atony. It will not do good if the urine is not previously made clear. 

Nothing can be more unfortunate in the treatment of these cases 
than punishment by severe scolding or whipping the child, as they 



INDIGESTION. 593 

never do good, and, the fault being beyond the child's control, the 
unjust punishment makes him sullen, or through nervousness, aug- 
mented by such treatment, his trouble becomes worse. In some cases 
it may be necessary, in order to cure the habit, to let the child drink 
diuretic waters for years. The patient should always be taken up from 
bed when the parents retire for the night and made to evacuate the 
bladder. 

For the incontinence of adult females or males on laughing or sud- 
den movement nothing compares, from a curative point of view, to 
drop doses of tincture of cantharides three times a day, the urine 
being kept flowing freely from the kidneys by means of alkaline 
diuretics. 

The treatment of the fourth form of incontinence of urine comes 
into the province of surgery. The bladder must be relieved by the 
catheter if the trouble be from retention with distention. If the dis- 
order is due to paralysis, nothing can be done except to carry out those 
general measures valuable in such cases — to maintain the urine in as 
normal a state as possible, to frequently catheterize with an aseptic 
catheter, and to wash out the bladder every few days or hours, as the 
case may be, with some weak antiseptic fluid, such as the 1:10,000 
solution of bichloride of mercury, or 1 : 100 of carbolic acid, or 1 : 100 
of boric acid. 



INDIGESTION (GASTRIC AND INTESTINAL). 

Under the heading u Biliousness " the writer has already described 
many of the conditions arising out of indigestion, and, this being the 
case, the consideration of that state known as dyspepsia or indigestion 
will only receive attention at this point in so far as its cure is con- 
cerned, without the relief of the symptoms produced. 

Lack of gastric digestion depends for its existence upon a very 
great number of causes, and is always a symptom, not a disease. It 
occurs during the course of short or prolonged fevers from atony of 
the gastric walls and glands, from lack of secretion of the proper 
character, from hypersecretion of mucus by the mucous glands, and 
by fermentative changes in the food, or as the result of any one or 
all of these conditions, and, lastly, because the food is unsuitable to 
the case, or is of a kind difficult of assimilation, or is readily split up 
into effete products by the juices of the organ, and these in turn, being 
absorbed, produce toxic symptoms. Sometimes it is due to organic 
changes in the abdominal viscera, as carcinoma or ulcer, and sometimes 
to acute or chronic gastritis. In each of these states the treatment is, 
of course, different, because widely-separated causative factors must be 
removed. 

The indigestion attendant upon the course of fevers can nearly 
always be avoided by a proper diet and the use of predigested food, 
such as pancreatized beef-tea, milk, or broths. The necessity of this 
artificial digestion is the more readily recognized when we recall the 
investigations of Hoppe-Seyler upon the quality of the gastric juice 

3S 



594 DISEASES. 

of a patient suffering from typhus fever, for he found that no hydro- 
chloric acid was present. Uffelmann has also found in a similar study 
that the peptone-forming secretion of the stomach ceases entirely 
during fever. 

Where indigestion results from the presence of gastric catarrh the 
remedies applicable to such a state must be resorted to. (See Gastric 
Catarrh.) 

The studies made within recent years upon the chemical conditions 
of the gastric contents have changed our methods of treatment from 
being empirical to being rational, for we now know that disorders of 
digestion depend on deficient or excessive acidity of the gastric juice, 
deficient formation of pepsin, deficient motility of the gastric walls, 
and other less important causes. Before carrying out any line of 
treatment the physician must therefore decide, if possible, as to the 
underlying cause of the dyspepsia found in each case, and his decision 
may be based on well-described subjective symptoms by the patient, or 
upon this description aided, or it may be replaced, by examination of 
the stomach-contents after a "test-meal." 

In those cases in which the dyspeptic symptqjjis result from imper- 
fect mastication and insalivation of food it is evident that careful 
eating rules are to be given the patient, with the additional advice, 
which is equally good in all cases, that exact meal-hours shall be 
adhered to, since irregularity in meal-hours results in imperfect diges- 
tion as commonly as irregularity of habit in regard to defecation 
results in constipation. If the dyspeptic symptoms are due to deficient 
secretion of gastric juice, particularly if it is found that hydrochloric 
acid is the chief deficient element, one of two plans presents itself 
for employment. In many cases it will be found that the administra- 
tion of small doses of bicarbonate of sodium, 5 to 10 grains (0.3-0.65), 
before each meal will cause a free secretion of gastric juice, particu- 
larly if it be given simultaneously with bitter substances which act 
as stimulants to the gastric mucosa. These facts are not based solely 
on the apparent improvement in the patient, but also upon careful 
chemical studies of the acidity of the gastric juice by means of the 
stomach-tube. In mild cases the taking of a glass of Vichy water 
before each meal serves to provide sufficient sodium to produce good 
effects. The bitter substances which it is best to employ in cases of 
deficient acidity of the gastric juice are, among the simple bitters, 
such drugs as quassia, cascarilla, Colombo, and gentian. Among 
the peculiar bitters we have nux vomica, quinine, rhubarb, and con- 
durango. These may be employed in the following forms : 

R. — Sodii bicarbonatis ^j (4.0). 

Tinct. nucis vomicae f£j vel. ij (4.0 vel 8.0). 

Tinct. gentian, comp. . . q. s. ad f^iij (96.0). — M. 
S. — Teaspoonful to a desertspoonful (4.0 to 8.0) before meals. 

If the stomach is lazy and atonic, but with no true disease which im- 
pairs its secreting power, an alkali will, in the majority of cases, prove 
to be the best drug ; but if, on the other hand, there is deficient gas- 
tric secretion through atrophy of the gastric tubules or carcinoma of 



INDIGESTION. 595 

the stomach, the use of hydrochloric acid is the better plan. Under 
these circumstances the following prescription may be ordered : 

R.— Acid, hydrochloric, dil f^j (4.0). 

Ext. condurango fl f^j (32.0). 

Tine, cardamomi corap q. s. ad f^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful with or after each meal in water. 

The symptoms manifested by persons needing the treatment first 
named are variable, but generally of sufficient constancy in type to be 
fairly pathognomonic. There is generally loss of appetite, some 
impairment in general health and nutrition, and marked difficulty in 
digesting food, particularly if it be in solid form. Complaint is usually 
made of a sensation of weight after eating, without any real pain, 
but indigestion is not complete, owing to the food being finally dis- 
posed of in the duodenum. Often because of the delay in gastric 
digestion there is some belching of gas due to fermentation of the 
food in the presence of warmth and moisture, and without the anti- 
septic influence of the gastric juice. . If any food is brought up with the 
belching, it is unalto^d or changed only by fermentation. Examina- 
tion of the stomach^ontents for hydrochloric acid by the phloroglucin- 
vanillin test will speedily confirm the diagnosis of absence of hydro- 
chloric acid, and this confirmation should be sought for in every case. 

In the cases of gastric indigestion depending upon hypersecretion 
of the acid of the juice a line of treatment quite at variance with that 
just discussed must be instituted. This may be divided into the 
direct and indirect forms, including the remedies which distinctly 
decrease gastric secretion and those which antagonize or overcome its 
acidity after it is poured out from the glands. In the first-class we 
find both general and local nervous and glanular sedatives, and in the 
second alkaline drugs. 

Of the first class we have hyoscyamus, belladonna, and opium 
from the vegetable kingdom, and the bromides, bismuth, and nitrate 
of silver from the mineral. Of the second class Ave have massive 
doses of sodium bicarbonate taken during or after meals, ammo- 
nia, generally in the form of the aromatic spirit, and magnesia and 
chalk. 

As many, if not all, of the cases suffering from hyperacidity are 
of a nervous temperament, these drugs do good by quieting reflex 
activity throughout the nervous system connected with digestion, and 
by a local action on peripheral nerves, or on the glands themselves, 
diminish secretion. Of particular value for this purpose is hyoscy- 
amus, which very markedly decreases gastric secretion directly and 
indirectly, and at the same time relieves gastric pain by its local 
sedative influence. 

Taking gastric ulcer as a typical instance of a condition of 
excessive secretion of hydrochloric acid, it will be found that the fol- 
lowing pill, combined with an absolute milk diet or, for the first few 
days, allowing only rectal alimentation by peptonized food, will be 
most useful : 



596 DISEASES. 

R. — Argenti nitratis gr. v (0.3). 

Extract hyoscyami gr. x (0.65). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One pill one hour before taking food. 

Sometimes in place of this pill it is wise, particularly if no ulcer 
exists, to give 10 to 20 grains (0.65-1.5) of bromide of strontium 
one hour before meals, and in any case where this fails to control 
excessive secretion of acid full doses of sodium bicarbonate may be 
given, 20 or 30 grains (1.5 or 2.0) or more, after each meal. The 
bromide had better be given in solution. If the stomach is very irri- 
table and there is a tendency to vomiting, a powder composed as follows 
is often useful : 

R. — Acid, carbolic, (cryst) tt\,xx(1.5). 

Bismuthi subnitrat. gr. cc. (14.0). — M. 

Ft. in chart. No. xx. 
S. — One t. i. d. with or before food. 

The symptoms manifested by the patients requiring this treatment 
are as follows : There is often a constant sense of gnawing or hollow- 
ness in the stomach, which is sometimes temporarily allayed by the 
taking of food. The patient is, as a rule, of a nervous temperament 
and in a condition of nervous depression due to some exhausting cause. 
Tenderness and even pain in the epigastrium may be produced by 
superficial or deep palpation, or the patient may complain that the 
pressure of his clothes is distressing. If ulcer of the stomach is 
present, all the characteristic symptoms of that lesion may be 
found. When belching occurs, there is often vomiting of sour 
masses or acid eructations or heartburn. Grastralgia more or less 
severe may also occur. 

In cases where testing the stomach-contents shows that the exces- 
sive acidity is not due to hydrochloric acid, but to the acids of fer- 
mentation, the use of the sedative drugs we have named is of no avail 
for obvious reasons, but in their place we may employ sodium bicar- 
bonate as a palliative, and antiseptic or antifermentative drugs, such 
as thymol, creosote, chloral, and sodium hyposulphite, as direct reme- 
dial agents. Lavage of the stomach should also be resorted to. 

In still other cases a mixture containing chloral and hyposul- 
phite of sodium is useful because of its antiseptic influence. (See 
Chloral.) 

Often these cases are relieved if all fats, and butter in particu- 
lar, are excluded from their diet-list. 

If much gas is developed and a sensation of weight in the stom- 
ach is felt after eating, so that the patient feels as if the food lay 
undigested in that organ, the following prescription may be used, but is 
contraindicated if the stomach is tender on deep palpation, or, in other 
words, if acute irritation or inflammation of the stomach is present. It 
is useful in atonic states of the stomach, and it is surprising how much 
relief may be afforded by the use in such cases either of this prescrip- 
tion or of one of the volatile oils, such as oil of cinnamon, given in 
capsule or pill after meals. 



INDIGESTION. 597 

R.— Oleoresin. capsici Try^ij (0.1). 

Pepsin, vel pancreatin gr. xx (1.35). 

Pulv. zingiberis . . . . gr. xx (1.35). 

Carbo ligni gr. xl (2.65). 

Creosoti tt\x (0.65).— M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One after eating. 

Intestinal indigestion depends upon almost the same causes as does 
gastric dyspepsia, and is to be treated in much the same manner, chiefly 
by a careful study and regulation of the patient's diet, and by the use 
of a number of remedies calculated to supplant to some extent the 
normal juices by some artificial ferment. These ferments should be 
given with the meals or the food predigested before it is taken. 

The pancreatin should be given in full dose (5 to 10 grains [0.3- 
0.65]), with bicarbonate of sodium, and alkaline mineral waters used 
if the urine is concentrated. (See Biliousness.) 

Sometimes where intestinal indigestion is present great flatulence 
comes on, and is an annoying symptom. Very commonly in these 
cases it will be found that the patients think they have heart disease 
because of the pain they suffer under the prsecordium. This pain is 
due to the accumulation of flatus in the small intestine, or more com- 
monly to its pressing upward at the angle where the transverse colon 
turns to go down to form the descending colon and sigmoid flexure. 
Under these circumstances the following prescription will be found 
of service : 

R — Acid, nitric, dil f.^j (4.0). 

Tinct. cardamom, comp f^vj (192.0). — M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) in water four times a day. 

In old persons flatulence of the large bowel is frequently found, 
and is often associated with atony of the muscular coats of the gut. 
Under these circumstances the following prescriptions will be found 
of service : 

R.— Asafcetida? gr. xl (2.6). 

Extract, nucis vomicae gr. iv (0.25). 

Extract, physostigmatis gr. iij (0.18). 

Oleoresin. capsici rr^x (0.65). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One pill three times a day, two hours after meals. 

Or, 

R.— Tinct. belladonnas f^ij (8.0). 

Tinct. physostigmatis f^j (4.0). 

Spt. camphora? q. s. ad f^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) two hours after meals or whenever needed. 

Where intestinal indigestion results in lientery the treatment 
becomes entirely changed, except in regard to the use of a predi- 
gested milk diet, and efforts must be made to increase the secretion 
of the glands of the intestinal wall. Often minute doses of mercury 
bichloride or podophyllin may do this, -^ to ^ grain (0.001-0.0016) 
of the first or second, respectively. More commonly, however, the 
mixture of nitric acid, given above, will be the proper treatment, or 
perhaps the following if the liver is found to be torpid : 



598 DISEASES. 

R. — Acid, nitro-hydrochlor. (not dil.) . . . f^ss vel f^j (2.0-4.0). 

Infus. gentianre comp q. s. ad f^vj (192.0). — M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every four hours or after meals, in water. 

Chloroform spirit is often valuable in these cases in the dose of 
20 drops (1.3). (See Chloroform.) 



INFLUENZA. 

The disease known as influenza affects various individuals so 
differently, and presents so many symptoms associated with functional 
disorder of various organs in the body, that it is almost impossible to 
do more than consider the remedies which are to be employed in the 
treatment of the more frequent or more immediate manifestations or 
complications. Greater in importance than the employment of drugs 
must be regarded continuous rest, and stimulants are in many cases 
absolutely essential. 

In those cases in which the disease is ushered in by a severe chill, 
accompanied by violent pains in the back, if the patient is seen early 
enough it may be necessary to employ remedies for the relief of the 
rigor, with the double purpose of improving the patient's general con- 
dition and preventing internal congestion of vital organs. In the 
majority of instances, however, the patient will not be seen during 
this period of the disease, but during the febrile stage, which succeeds 
that just mentioned. Under these circumstances the author does not 
believe that it is well for the physician to resort to any of the rem- 
edies which have been so largely used during the last few years, and 
which are known as the '' antipyretics " or the derivatives of coal- 
tar. Although originally introduced for the purpose of reducing 
febrile temperatures, practical experience has taught us that their 
sphere of action is very limited under these circumstances, and the 
author almost never gives antipyrin, phenacetin, or acetanilid with 
the object of reducing fever. Although he does not believe that 
these remedies are to be used for the reduction of temperature, he 
has certainly seen very marked relief follow their employment with 
the object of relieving the severe pain which occurs in the back, 
limbs, or head. Small doses are usually sufficient to at least reduce 
the suffering, if not to remove it entirely, but, as cardiac complica- 
tions are by no means unusual, large doses are contraindicated in 
most persons. The author prefers to allow the patient to suffer from 
a moderate degree of pain rather than from the dangers incident to 
the administration of doses large enough to entirely relieve it, because 
in his experience these doses have to be very large if they are to be 
entirely competent as analgesics in influenza. 

If any of the coal-tar products are used either for the relief of 
fever or of pain, phenacetin and acetanilid should be chosen. Ex- 
periments made in America and in Germany on animals have proved 
that phenacetin is far less toxic in its relations to the heart than is 
antipyrin or acetanilid, and while it has in a number of instances 
seemed more apt to produce cyanosis in man than either of the 



INFLUENZA. 599 

other drugs, this cyanosis rarely, if ever, has been associated with 
any other dangerous symptoms. Indeed, it is quite extraordinary 
the amount of cyanosis which phenacetin may produce without the 
respiration becoming greatly disordered, very much less cyanosis 
when caused by acetanilid or antipyrin being accompanied by much 
more alarming symptoms. A very favorite combination with prac- 
titioners who have had a large experience is one of salol and phena- 
cetin. The action of the phenacetin in relieving the pain and in 
reducing the fever seems to point to it as a rational remedy, but the 
exact influence of salol under these circumstances is not so clear. 
Composed, as it is, of 60 per cent, of salicylic acid and 40 per cent, 
of carbolic acid, it seems to possess a therapeutical power different 
from that possessed by either of these two constituents alone, for 
neither carbolic acid nor salicylic acid has much power in the relief 
of pain Avhen used alone, unless, as in the case of carbolic acid, it 
is applied directly to the part affected. Perhaps the condition of 
pain in the lumbar and other muscles during the attack of influenza 
is in some unknown way associated with the condition which we 
have called "rheumatism," and in which salicylic acid does good 
in an unknown manner. Salicylic acid alone might be equally use- 
ful if it were dissolved in the intestine and did not irritate the 
stomach. 

On seeing a case of influenza during the first few hours of the 
attack the author resorts to those remedies which have been in use 
by the profession for many years, and, so far as he can learn, it is 
the custom of other members of the profession to give a mixture 
composed of tincture of aconite, spirit of nitrous ether, and a solu- 
tion of citrate of potassium in preference to any other medicine at 
this time. This mixture possesses the advantage of increasing the 
action of the skin and kidneys, and of reducing the temperature, of 
quieting the circulation, and of being readily taken by the patient 
without danger of disordering the stomach at this time or later on, 
which is important, as this organ is apt to become irritable. As a 
general rule, citrate of potassium is given in too small doses, and, 
unless there are reasons to the contrary, it should be given in the dose 
of 10 to 15 grains (0.65-1.0) three times a day to an adult. 

If the fever becomes excessive, so that there is clanger of the 
patient suffering from a true hyperpyrexia, it is better to resort to 
cold bathing instead of the antipyretics just spoken of. It is true 
that the patients themselves and the friends of the patients will some- 
times protest against what they deem an heroic measure, but the 
author is satisfied that if the cold is used in the proper manner it is 
devoid of danger to the patient. The majority of physicians do not 
seem to carry out the treatment of Brand and Liebermeister as it is 
carried out by its originators. Most of them forego the very import- 
ant portion of the treatment, which consists in frictions designed to 
bring the heated blood to the surface, and the author has again and 
again seen physicians apply cold either by means of a wet sheet, by 
sponging, or a cold bath without using any measures which are di- 
rected against internal congestion. (See Cold and Fever.) 



600 DISEASES. 

Hyperpyrexia in influenza does not seem to possess the same dangers 
that it does in the course of some other diseases. In the first place, as 
a general rule, the course of the disease is a brief one, and, although it 
may leave the patient weak and exhausted, the duration of the febrile 
portion of the malady does not extend beyond a few days. Clinical 
experience and physiological study have proved that it is not the tem- 
perature of 105° or 106° F. which is distinctly dangerous, but the 
continuation of this temperature for many hours which is harmful. 
Similarly, a patient ill from typhoid fever, having a temperature of 
103° for many days, suffers very much more than does a patient who 
is suffering from pneumonia, and who may have for forty-eight hours 
a temperature of 104.5° or 105°. For these very reasons a tempera- 
ture of 104.5°or 105° is not particularly alarming in the condition 
which we are considering, unless there are symptoms pointing to the 
fact that the patient is being injured by an excessive temperature, as 
may be indicated by somnolence and an exceedingly dry skin as well 
as cerebral symptoms. Of course, if renal trouble, associated with 
cardiac disease, comes on at this time, methods for the reduction of 
•the temperature must be resorted to. The point to be strongly 
emphasized is that the mere existence of high temperature is not to 
be regarded as a condition to be overcome by the use of drugs. 

It seems to be the general consensus of opinion, both in America 
and in England, that any measures of a depleting character are dis- 
tinctly harmful in influenza, even at its earliest stages, and we would 
naturally expect that this would be the conclusion arrived at by phy- 
sicians who treat their patients rationally. Although influenza is a 
short-lived disease, there is probably no malady in which the patient 
goes so quickly into a condition of profound depression, or even exhaus- 
tion, as in this one. The abstraction of blood from a vein or by the 
use of cups should not be resorted to, as it will increase the exhaustion. 
Before the system has a chance to recover from the onset of the attack 
it will be still further depressed by the therapeutic measures of the 
physician who is unwise enough to bleed. 

As the case of influenza progresses a condition of marked depres- 
sion, or even collapse, very frequently develops. The expression of 
anxiety on the patient's face is to a physician who is accustomed to 
see it in other diseases a most alarming symptom, and it is not until 
one has seen it repeatedly in influenza that he is able to give it its 
exact value. Associated with this condition, the skin is frequently 
covered with a profuse perspiration, and the pulse is very apt to be 
very rapid, running, feeble, and easily compressed. At first glance 
the old saying, that "we treat the symptoms as they arise," would 
seem to cover to a very large extent the indications which are present 
at this period ; yet the author's experience, which may differ from that 
of some of his readers, is that the cardiac stimulant which we are 
most frequently accustomed to use — namely, digitalis — does not seem 
to take hold of the circulatory apparatus and to act upon it in the 
manner which is desired. It may be that the pressing symptoms 
have made us more anxious and impatient as to the use of any medi- 
cament, and that we have not had the patience to wait and allow such 



INFLUENZA. 601 

a slowly-acting remedy as digitalis to take effect. Be this as it may, 
the author regards strychnine as infinitely preferable to foxglove 
when these symptoms appear ; and he has been able to prevent 
their appearance, or at any rate to modify them to a very great 
extent, by using strychnine in full doses from the first portion of the 
stage of depression. We believe that, as a general rule, strychnine 
is given in very much smaller doses than safety requires, and that in 
many instances it fails to act because the doses are too small to strug- 
gle with the profound condition of exhaustion which is present. In 
an adult we can see no reason why -fa of a grain (0.003) may not be 
given three or four times in twenty-four hours, and in some cases we 
have given it every four hours without producing any of the symp- 
toms of an overdose of strychnine. Divided doses are better than a 
few very large ones. 

The author knows of no better illustration of the fact that in some 
conditions we are to give drugs for effect rather than according to 
customary dose than the employment of strychnine in influenza, and 
the physician who is timorous in the presence of this frequent com- 
plication, depression, certainly increases the patient's danger. As 
with everything else, the drug should be carefully watched, and at 
the first sign of muscular twitching or stiffness at the back of the 
neck its administration should be cut down or discontinued. In 
many instances where the collapse comes on suddenly the strychnine 
should be administered hypodermically and followed by full doses by 
the mouth, in order to keep up the full effect exercised by the drug 
upon the nervous and circulatory systems. In some cases it will be 
found that the blood-paths seem to be so relaxed and atonic that the 
strychnine is unable to produce a sufficient vascular effect to bring 
the patient out of his difficulties, and under these circumstances very 
good results follow the combination of belladonna with strychnine, 
the belladonna being, as we well know, a powerful vasomotor stim- 
ulant under such circumstances. It also should be given in full doses 
for effect. As the acute stage of depression passes off the belladonna 
should be stopped and the strychnine continued alone through con- 
valescence. It is proper to point out, however, that strychnine is not 
a drug suitable for the purpose of producing constant stimulation. It 
is a whip to the nervous system, and if used in too large a dose for too 
long a time the overwhipped system fags out. 

Alcohol has not seemed to be of much value during the active 
period of the disease. In milk-punches and eggnogs it is of course 
useful during convalescence. 

If delirium comes on, it has not seemed to be a symptom of very 
serious character either for immediate results or in influencing the 
prognosis as to the ultimate recovery of the case, and in cases of 
pneumonia complicating grippe, in which delirium is the prominent 
symptom, it appears that delirium is not to be regarded in the same 
light as similar manifestations complicating ordinary pneumonia or 
other diseases. The delirium may be either talkative or muttering, 
but does not in the majority of cases require treatment, passing away 
with the fever and rarely extending into the stage of exhaustion. 



602 DISEASES. 

For the irritative cough steam inhalations, laden in the first stage 
with benzoin or other innocuous and sedative substances, seem par- 
ticularly useful. For the bronchitis which is often present it is gen- 
erally sufficient to administer the ordinary mixtures, containing ipecac 
and potassium citrate, in the earliest stages, and to follow them by 
chloride of ammonium and cubebs in the later stages. The author 
does not think that the compound liquorice mixture containing anti- 
mony should be given in the second stage of influenza. A complica- 
tion too apt to occur at this time is oedema of the lung or a wide- 
spread bronchitis, with a profound exudation which bids fair to drown 
the patient in his own secretions. Antimony is not only a substance 
depressing to the circulatory and respiratory systems, but aids very 
materially in causing the peculiar excess of secretion which has just 
been spoken of. 

It may be necessary to use bromides if the cough is excessive, or 
to replace them by codeine or very small doses of morphine. In many 
cases still better results will be obtained by a good preparation of 
cannabis indica, which may be pushed until it relieves the cough with- 
out in any way endangering the patient's life— a safety which cannot 
be obtained by the employment of any other of the drugs named, 

If sleeplessness is so pressing a symptom as to require attention, 
the bromides may be given, but it will be generally found that the 
insomnia comes after the attack rather than during it, or in any event 
it will not require attention until the patient is convalescent. Under 
these circumstances chloral or chloralamide, or even sulphonal, may 
be administered, care being taken, of course, in the case of chloral 
that the cardiac apparatus is in good condition, and in the case of 
sulphonal that it is administered in a powdered form or dissolved in 
hot water and given four or five hours before the time at which sleep 
is desired. 

For the vertigo and dizziness which are sometimes bitterly com- 
plained of by the patient either during or after the attack, small doses 
of bromide with ergot or cannabis indica have seemed particularly 
valuable, probably because they exercise some effect upon the blood- 
vessels of the brain or its membranes or perhaps upon the blood-ves- 
sels of the ear. Certain it is that in those cases of tinnitus not asso- 
ciated with organic change in the aural canals bromides and ergot do 
more toward relieving them than any other medication. 

In the constipation which is sometimes present in the early stages 
of influenza it is generally advisable to administer either castor oil or 
in other cases half an ounce (16.0) of the sulphate of magnesium, or 
for more fastidious patients the citrate of magnesium. A full purga- 
tive effect of any of these salines seems to lessen the fever when the 
bowels are unloaded. Care should be taken that the dose of the purga- 
tive is not excessively large, as it will weaken the patient as much as 
would bleeding. For the constipation following the attack probably 
no drug is as efficient as cascara sagrada, combined perhaps with 
aloin. (See Constipation.) If diarrhoea supplants the constipation, 
the ordinary astringents, such as aromatic sulphuric acid or haematox- 
ylon, will be found sufficiently active. (See Diarrhoea.) 



INSOMNIA. 603 



INSOMNIA. 

Insomnia is a condition complicating many diseases, and arises from 
such a host of causes that the physician may not be able to discover 
them for some days after the patient is first seen. As a general rule, a 
patient consulting a physician with this symptom expects a prescription 
to be given at once and the cause of the insomnia found out afterward. 
Under these circumstances the physician may safely employ several 
drugs according to the information that he has concerning the patient's 
state. 

One of the most common remedies is chloral given in the following 

manner : 

R.— Chloralis ajiij (12.0). 

Syrup. f#v (16.0). 

Aquae cinnamomi q. s. ad f^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) at night. 

Or, 

R.— Butyl chloral-hydrat 3J (4.0). 

Ft. in pil. No. xii. 
S. — One, two, or three pills at night, as needed. 

Where, for any reason, as the presence of a weak heart, chloral 
is contraindicated, resort may be had to the bromide of potassium 
or sodium, and if the patient is a female these drugs should always 
be accompanied by a small dose of arsenic, generally in the form of 
Fowler's solution, 1 to 3 drops (0.05-0.15) three times a day, in order 
to avoid all danger of the production of acne. The following pre- 
scription is useful : 

R.— Potassii bromid .^ij (8.0). 

Liq. potassii arsenit f^ss (2.0). 

Aquae cinnamomi q. s. ad f^vj (192.0). — M. 

S. — One to two dessertspoonfuls (8.0-16.0) at night. 

In many cases larger amounts of the bromide will be needed. 

Where the sleeplessness is due to pain, chloral is of little value and 
bromides are worth but little more. Under these circumstances by 
resorting to what is known as the " crossed action of drugs," we can 
often obtain a very good effect. Thus morphine and chloral both act 
on the brain to produce sleep, or, in other words, their action is here 
crossed, for one relieves pain and the other does not ; one kills by 
failure of the heart in overdose, the other by respiratory failure ; as 
a consequence, large doses of neither can be given alone. The fol- 
lowing is therefore a useful combination, either where one drug fails 
or when dangerously large doses of either alone have to be used to 
obtain the desired result : 

R. — Morphinae sulphatis gr. iv (0.2). 

Chloralis ^ij (8.0). 

Syrup fgij(60.0). 

Aquae q. s. ad fgiv (128.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) at night. 

In cases where insomnia is due to mania hyoscine is said to be very 



604 DISEASES. 

useful, given in the dose of jfa to -^ grain (0.0007) by the mouth 
or y^-Q to y^-Q- grain (0.0006) by the hypodermic needle. Owing to its 
tastelessness the powder may be put on the tongue, and it is best to 
order a little sugar of milk or white sugar (1 grain) to be added to 
each dose of hyoscine, in order to give it bulk. 

Where insomnia follows mental effort avoidance of all cerebral 
activity should be insisted upon during the evening, and if the feet are 
cold on going to bed sleep should be induced by relieving the cerebral 
congestion by a hot foot-bath or the use of a hot-water bag at the feet 
while cold is applied to the head. In other instances a general hot 
bath, during which an ice-bag is applied to the head, will produce sleep 
when drugs fail, and it is to be remembered that in the insomnia of 
convalescence hydrotherapeutic measures are to be used to the exclu- 
sion of drugs (see Cold and Heat), for the former cure the condition, 
while the latter only palliate and may produce a drug-habit. 

During the last few years a very large number of remedies have 
been introduced as hypnotics, such as somnal, paraldehyde, chloral- 
amide, sulphonal, trional, amylene hydrate, hypnal, and others. Not 
one of these is comparable in therapeutic activity with the older rem- 
edies. Of these the best, from every point of view, are sulphonal and 
trional. The dose of sulphonal and trional is 10 to 20 grains (0.65- 
1.3) in powder, but, as they are large in bulk and hard to swallow, they 
should be used in a prescription made up as follows : 

R— Sulphonal gr. xxx (2.0) 

Syrupi simplicis f^ij (8.0). 

Mucilaginis acacise fjij (8.0). 

Aquae destillat q. s. ad ffj (32.0).— M. 

S. — Half to all of this at one dose, as may be needed. 

In other instances sulphonal may be dissolved in very hot water, and 
the solution swallowed before it cools sufficiently to permit precipi- 
tation. 

Chloralamide may be used in the dose of 15 to 60 grains (1.0-4.0), 
dissolved in wine or given in capsule. Paraldehyde is given in the 
dose of 20 to 60 minims (1.3-4.0). As it is disagreeable in odor and 
taste, it must be given in capsule, and it is very apt to disorder the 
stomach. 

The dose of amylene hydrate is the same as that of paraldehyde. 
It is a liquid, and, like the rest of the drugs named, with the excep- 
tion of hypnal, has no effect in insomnia from pain. 

Somnal is used in the dose of 10 to 40 minims (0.65-2.65) with 
liquorice and water, and possesses considerable power. 

In the treatment of insomnia it should be remembered that if pos- 
sible those drugs should be used which will quiet the part of the brain 
which is most active. Thus if the patient tosses much, we use bro- 
mides and chloral as motor depressants. If sensation is active, bro- 
mides and the hot pack are used to act as sensory quietants. 

In some cases horseback exercise taken late in the afternoon does 
good, particularly if the patient follows a sedentaiy life. Many per- 
sons who are usually sleepless will obtain a refreshing slumber by tak- 



INTERMITTENT FEVER. 605 

ing a very light and easily-digested meal just before retiring for the 
night or by eating a cracker or drinking a glass of milk when they 
awake during the night. 

INTERMITTENT FEVER. 

In all forms of intermittent fever, whether the attacks are diurnal, 
quotidian, tertian, or quartan, the best remedy for their prevention is 
quinine, which should under these circumstances be given ahout two 
or three hours before the attack is expected, so as to be absorbed and 
be physiologically active when the paroxysm is due. This precaution 
is often overlooked, and the dose ordered at the time of the expected 
attack, with failure as a result. Not only should sufficient time 
elapse for absorption, but the fact should be remembered that the 
chill often begins an hour earlier each day, and will be in full sway 
before the quinine can stop it if the drug be not administered at the 
proper time. Experience has proved that quinine never acts as favor- 
ably if constipation is present as when the bowels are lax, and hepatic 
activity seems particularly necessary for its full effect. To obtain the 
full influence of the drug it should be preceded, by some four or five 
hours, by -§- to J grain (0.010-0.016) of calomel every fifteen minutes 
until a grain (0.05) is taken, or by a dose of podophyllin amounting 
to T "\j- to -§- grain (0.006-0.008). If podophyllin is used, a longer 
time should be allowed before the antiperiodic is given, because of the 
slow action of this purgative, and if the patient has been rendered 
unusually insensitive to purgatives, larger doses of both the remedies 
named must be used ; particularly is this true in the South. 

The dose of quinine varies with the exigencies of the case, which 
in turn generally depend upon the region in which the patient lives 
or has lived. 10 to 15 grains (0.65-1.0) in one dose are generally 
sufficient in the Eastern and Northern States, but as much as 20 to 
45 (1.3—3.0), or even 60 grains (4.0) may be required in the south- 
ern parts of the United States and elsewhere. When still larger 
doses are employed, the drug should be given partly hypodermically 
and partly by the rectum in suppository or in solution, as well as by 
the stomach, as this viscus will rarely withstand 60 grains (4.0) of 
quinine without irritation. (For the best salts for hypodermic use, 
see article on Cinchona.) If the stomach is irritable, resort to these 
means of entrance into the body are absolutely necessary and must be 
entirely relied on. 

In cases where the attacks are several days apart small doses of 
quinine of from 3 to 6 grains (0.15-0.3) are to be taken daily between 
the paroxysms, or, what is better, arsenic may be given in moderate 
dose for its antiperiodic influence during the intermission. In this 
manner the quinine acts with full force when most needed. 

Having considered the prophylaxis of a chill, let us turn to the 
treatment of the attack itself. It must be remembered that the 
greater part of the harmful effect of the malarial poison is exerted at 
this time by the internal congestions and engorgement of the abdom- 
inal and thoracic organs. The physician should therefore try to pre- 



606 DISEASES. 

vent, as far as possible, too great a rigor, and if stasis results from 
the chill, overcome it, not by depletants, unless the case is very 
sthenic, but by stimulants, such as strychnine or digitalis, which will 
drive out the blood from the congested area. 

If a full meal has just been eaten, the stomach should be emptied 
by an emetic dose of ipecac, 2 drachms (8.0) of the powdered drug 
to an adult, or by 20 grains (1.3) of sulphate of zinc. It is almost 
useless to give quinine at this time, as absorption from the stomach 
and subcutaneous tissues is almost entirely absent. Alcoholic stimu- 
lants are not to be employed, as clinical experience seems to indicate 
that they act unfavorably. 

If the chill is severe enough to endanger the patient's life, meas- 
ures must be used to control it. Chloroform may be inhaled, and 
immediately preceded by laudanum by the bowel or mouth. If the 
laudanum is given by the mouth, a little ether or chloroform may be 
added to the dose of the opiate. The opium may be used hypoderm- 
ically in the form of morphine in the dose of -J- of a grain (0.01) com- 
bined with -g 1 -^ of a grain (0.001) of atropine. 

In the fevered stage little can be done except to give the patient 
comfort by cool drinks and cool sponging, or, if the fever becomes 
excessive, by the use of ice-cold sponging with active friction. These 
measures have seldom to be used, as the fever is generally too fugitive 
to need such treatment. 

The sweating stage needs no particular treatment, unless exhaus- 
tion is caused by it, when stimulants may be cautiously used as 
needed, and large draughts of water at ordinary temperatures swal- 
lowed. 

Many measures have been resorted to to put off a malarial attack, 
the chief of which is the use of ether or chloroform anaesthetization 
at die time of the expected, paroxysm, of nitrite of amyl or of the 
nitrite of potassium or sodium in 10-grain (0.65) dose for the same 
purpose. Where the "chill habit" exists and depends largely upon 
nervousness, it has been broken by misplacing the hands of the clock, 
and so getting the patient past the time for his attacks without his 
knowledge. 

It should be remembered that the use of quinine in malarial 
fevers is no longer based on empiricism, but upon the fact that the 
drug exerts a peculiarly lethal influence over the cause of the dis- 
ease, the Plasmodium malaria? of Marchiafava and Celli, or, as it is 
sometimes called, the malarial germ of Laveran or the haematozoon 
of malaria. 

It is worth remembering that methylene blue possesses antimala- 
rial properties in the dose of 1 to 4 grains (0.05-0.2). (See Methyl- 
ene Blue.) 

IRITIS. 

Iritis, or inflammation of the iris, as usually encountered is caused 
either by syphilis, rheumatism, or gout. It may also be traumatic : 
less frequent causes are gonorrhoea, diabetes, malaria, and tuberculo- 



IRITIS. 607 

sis. Metastatic iritis occurs in pyaemia, relapsing fever, etc. The 
most marked symptoms are severe brow pain; fine ciliary injection; 
discoloration of the iris and immobility of the pupil, due to the for- 
mation of adhesions between the iris and the capsule of the lens. 
The most important local remedy is atropine, to be used every two 
hours according to circumstances. If for any reason this is not 
tolerated, duboisine, scopolamine, or daturine may be substituted. 
Cocaine increases the mydriatic power of atropine. 

Pain may be relieved by leeches to the temple and the use of dry 
heat externally (cotton batting heated over a register will suffice) or 
hot fomentations — water, chamomile infusion, or laurel-water (1 : 15). 

In traumatic iritis iced compresses are suitable in the early stages, 
but not in the later periods and not in any other form of iritis. Great 
care must be taken not to mistake iritis for conjunctivitis on the one 
hand, and glaucoma for iritis on the other ; delayed use of atropine 
and the employment of astringents on account of the former error, 
or the instillation of atropine because of the latter, would constitute 
a serious therapeutical blunder. In serous iritis, or that variety in 
which there is a hypersecretion of the aqueous humor, which becomes 
turbid, and a precipitate of dark spots occurs upon the membrane of 
Descemet, atropine must be cautiously instilled, owing to the tend- 
ency to increased tension. If this occurs, paracentesis of the cornea 
may be needed, and pilocarpine should be given internally if the vit- 
reous becomes opaque. 

Subconjunctival injections of sublimate (2-5 drops of a 1 : 2000 
solution) are recommended in syphilitic iritis, and, if the inflamma- 
tion is not too acute, produce good results. Similar injections of 
physiological salt solution are equally efficacious. 

In true syphilitic iritis mercury must be pushed to the point of 
tolerance, but it is not necessary to salivate the patient. Any form 
of mercury usually employed in secondary syphilis may be used — 
calomel, blue mass, or protiodide of mercury — but the most efficacious 
method is by inunction : this is preferable even to hypodermic medi- 
cation in the opinion of many authors. After the mercurial impres- 
sion has been made and the pupil is well dilated, potassium iodide, 
either alone or in combination with bichloride of mercury, is indicated. 

In plastic iritis, appearing six to eight months after the disappear- 
ance of the secondary symptoms, this latter treatment without the 
previous use of mercury has been recommended. Carmichael's plan, 
consisting in the administration of drachm doses of turpentine, in 
addition to which the potassium iodide may be given, receives the 
endorsement of some surgeons and is useful in serous iritis. 

Rheumatic iritis calls for salicylic acid, oil of gaultheria, and, 
later, potassium iodide ; in the chronic types of the affection Zolli- 
coffer's mixture is an excellent remedy. Potassium iodide should be 
administered in gonorrhoeal iritis, and relief occasionally follows a 
pilocarpine sweat. In all forms of iritis the treatment of the consti- 
tutional disorder which has occasioned the local inflammation is neces- 
sary, and if the iritis becomes purulent surgical interference is usually 
required. In any variety of iritis the intense pain should be alle- 



608 DISEASES. 

t 

viated with morphine or other anodyne sufficiently active to secure 
sleep. During the course of the disease saline laxatives may be 
administered, and after the subsidence and cessation of the specific 
treatment a course of iron tonics is an excellent routine practice. 

KERATITIS. 

Keratitis is the name applied to the various types of inflammation 
of the cornea. If this inflammation is associated with a breach in 
the continuity of the corneal surface, it is termed corneal ulcer, and 
four characteristic symptoms supply the indications for local treat- 
ment : (1) photophobia, or dread of light ; (2) blepharospasm, or spas- 
modic contraction of the orbicularis muscle ; (3) congestion of the 
blood-vessels ; (4) pain ; while any existing dyscrasia or constitutional 
condition upon which the local disease may depend requires general 
medication. 

Interstitial Keratitis. 

Interstitial keratitis is that form of chronic diffuse inflammation 
of the cornea characterized by ciliary congestion and a ground-glass 
appearance of this membrane, most common between the ages of five 
and fifteen years, and in the vast majority of cases the result of 
inherited syphilis. No local measure is sufficient, antisyphilitic treat- 
ment being of paramount importance. During the height of the 
ciliary congestion warm antiseptic lotions and atropine are indicated, 
the latter especially to prevent the tendency to iritis. Severe pain 
may be alleviated by the use of a leech to the temple if the subject 
be of sufficient age to justify the employment of local bleeding. 

Various other types of keratitis are described as the result of con- 
stitutional disturbances, such as gout (Hutchinson), malaria (Kipp, 
Van Milligen), or any condition of the system associated with great 
exhaustion, such as irregularities in the menstrual functions, certain 
forms of pulmonary disorders (true herpes of the cornea, Horner). 
The local management of these cases does not differ from that which 
has been described. The coexisting constitutional disturbances must 
be combated with suitable remedies. 

Phlyctenular Keratitis. 

Phlyctenular keratitis appears in the form of small, blister-like 
bodies, sometimes single, sometimes multiple, frequently situated 
directly at the corneo-scleral margin, which become yellow, break 
down, and leave an open ulcer (phlyctenular ulcer), to which runs a 
leash of injected blood-vessels. The disease is common in children, 
often follows in the wake of the exanthemata, and is so frequently 
associated with a strumous diathesis that it was formerly called 
strumous ophthalmia. In the majority of cases there is coexisting 
nasal disease, especially adenoid vegetations, which is responsible for 
the frequent relapses of the disorder, even if does not cause it. 
Congestion may be relieved by frequent irrigation with a warm 



KERATITIS. 609 

boric-acid solution. Pain and irritation call for the use of atropine 
drops (4 grains to the ounce [0.2 : 32.0]), which should be continued 
until the ulcer is covered with regenerated epithelium, when the 
process of cicatrization may be hastened by the insertion daily into 
the conjunctival sac of a small quantity of yellow-oxide-of-mercury 
salve or dusting it with finely-powdered calomel, providing the patient 
is not taking at the same time any form of iodine. During the whole 
treatment the eyes should be protected by dark glasses and the sub- 
ject permitted to go out into the open air. All local treatment will 
prove unsatisfactory unless associated with strict hygiene, carefully 
regulated diet, and constitutional measures — tonics and alteratives — 
and the treatment of the naso-pharyngeal lesions. 

If the photophobia becomes distressing in spite of the other treat- 
ment, it has been suggested that this may be relieved by the use of 
cocaine, a practice that by no means commends itself in corneal ulcera- 
tion, in spite of the temporary relief from the local anaesthesia. Relief 
of this symptom in many instances follows the use of a douche of cold 
water on the closed eyelids, or by touching with blue-stone the ulcer- 
ated fissure at the external commissural angle, which is commonly an 
exciting cause of the spasmodic closure of the lids. 

Suppurating- Keratitis. 

Suppurating keratitis, or that form of inflammation characterized 
by the formation of pus in the cornea, may be either diffuse, as, for 
example, a complication of purulent ophthalmia, or circumscribed, 
forming an abscess of the cornea. If the pus gathers in the bottom of 
the anterior chamber, the condition is called hypopyon and the dis- 
ease hypopyon keratitis. These conditions require prompt treatment — 
namely, frequent application of hot compresses, which may be advan- 
tageously composed of slightly carbolized water, and atropine drops. 
If the abscess forms, the pus should be evacuated by a formal opera- 
tion, either by dividing the anterior surface or by performing the 
operation after the manner of Saemisch. 

In addition to the types of diseases which have been described we 
have the examples of sloughing or infective ulcers, which are seen 
under a variety of conditions, and often are directly traceable to an 
injury. The tendency of all these ulcers is to spread, whence one 
important variety has received the name serpiginous, which is now 
known to be due to Fraenkel's pneumococcus. The mild measures 
are the use of antiseptic lotions, either boric acid, formalin, or bichlo- 
ride of mercury, iodoform, hot compresses, and instillations of atropine. 
Threatened perforation may be averted by a pressure bandage. This 
is made by placing upon the eye a wad of antiseptic cotton, over which, 
in figure-of-eight turns, a flannel roller is applied. If in spite of this 
the process continues, the following measures have met with the great- 
est success : Touching the margin of the ulcer with a strong solu- 
tion of nitrate of silver, 10 to 20 grains to the ounce (0.65-1.3: 32.0), 
or tincture of iodine, care being taken that the ulcer alone receives 
the application ; scraping the floor of the ulcer with a small curette 



610 DISEASES. 

or spud and dusting upon its surface iodoform ; finally — and this, in 
cases in which the ulceration is not too extensive, is the best method 
— the use of the actual cautery. In every case of sloughing ulcer 
the lachrymal passages must be explored for obstruction. 



Sequelae of Corneal Ulceration. 

After healing of a corneal ulcer the cicatrix consists of a more or 
less dense white spot in the cornea (macula). If these scars are thick 
and white, they are irremediable by local medication and require sur- 
gical interference for optical relief. If, however, they are diffuse, 
much good will follow systematic massage of the cornea, aided by 
the introduction of a small particle of yellow-oxide-of-mercury salve. 
The massage is performed as follows : A piece of the salve the size 
of a split pea is introduced beneath the upper lid ; upon the closed 
lid a finger is placed, and regular motions made through the lid over 
the surface of the cornea — namely, vertical, lateral, and radial motions, 
the seance being completed by circular movements. The whole should 
last from one to three minutes. Alleman claims excellent results in 
dissipating corneal opacities by the use of electricity by connecting a 
suitably prepared electrode with a battery, the cathode being placed 
directly on the previously anaesthetized cornea and the anode on the 
cheek. Subconjunctival injections of physiological salt solution, 
placed near the corneal margin, have some power in causing absorp- 
tion of corneal nebula. 

LACHRYMAL ABSCESS. 

Lachrymal abscess results from suppuration in a chronically dis- 
tended lachrymal sac, owing to the presence of obstruction in the 
nasal duct, and exists as a swelling under the skin at the inner can- 
thus, pressure upon the surface causing an escape of pus through the 
canaliculi. The treatment is practically confined to surgical inter- 
ference — that is, division of the canaliculi and washing out the dis- 
tended sac with antiseptic fluids, and restoring the patulency of the 
nasal duct by the use of probes as soon as the inflammatory symptoms 
have subsided, or, if the skin over the seat of the abscess is thinned 
and rupture is threatened, by free puncture downward and outward. 
In purulent discharge from the lachrymo-nasal duct solutions of formal- 
dehyde (1 : 3000), injected through the passage, favorably modify 
the unhealthy secretions. Much comfort will ensue from the use of 
hot compresses over the inflamed area. These may be made in the 
ordinary way, or are still more efficacious if composed of a lead 
lotion, the ordinary lead-water and laudanum answering the purpose 
very well. 

LARYNGITIS (ACUTE). 

The treatment of acute laryngitis is identical in many respects 
with that directed against acute inflammatory processes elsewhere. 



LARYNGITIS, ACUTE. 611 

It may be divided into local, external, and internal methods. The 
condition of the larynx when acutely inflamed is that of intense hyper- 
emia and irritation, and the object of the physician must be to allay 
this irritability. This is best accomplished by the use of compound 
tincture of benzoin, which is placed in boiling hot water (1 ounce to the 
pint [32.0: 500 cc.]), and the steam inhaled as it rises from a pitcher or 
as it passes out of the nozzle of a deep coffee-pot. A better apparatus, 
if it can be obtained, is a can or wide-mouthed bottle arranged with 
one long and one short tube like a Wolff bottle, the air being drawn 
into the larynx through the short tube. This inhalation should be 
resorted to six or eight times a day, but the patient must not go out of 
doors or into a cold room, as the steam relaxes the parts involved and 
renders them more susceptible to cold. Sometimes advantage is gained 
by adding to this inhalation 1 grain (0.05) of menthol. If the patient 
is unable to remain in an equable temperature, then the steam-inhaler 
should be supplanted by the use by the physician of an Oliver nebu- 
lizer, and in this atomizer should be placed a mixture as follows : 

R— Menthol gr. iij (0.15). 

Albolene f£j (32.0).— M. 

S. — Use as a spray. 

The patient is directed to gently inhale this vapor, which because of 
its lightness readily passes deeply into the air-passages, and has the 
effect of soothing rather than irritating them as does the spray from 
an atomizer. 

Rarely in the very acute stages of laryngitis should the physician 
employ a watery spray to wash the laryngeal mucous membrane, as it 
is apt to increase the irritation. If any aqueous spray is used, as may 
be necessary when the irritation has resulted from the inhalation of dust, 
it may be made up as follows : 

R. — Sodii chlorid. gr. xv (1.0). 

Acid, boric gr. x (0.65). 

Sodii borat gr. x (0.65). 

Aquae rosse f^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Use as a spray. 

The external treatment, if the inflammation is exceedingly severe 
and the patient can be confined to bed, is a mustard plaster or hot 
application over the larynx, care being taken that the volatile mus- 
tard does not render the inhaled air irritating to the larynx. A mus- 
tard foot-bath and a warm drink on going to bed are useful. 

The internal treatment should consist in opening the bow T els with 
calomel and a saline purgative if constipation is present, and in the 
adminstration of full doses of aconite and bromide of sodium or potas- 
sium, as follows : 

R. — Tine, aconiti ^^ij y el xxiv (1.0-1.6). 

Sodii bromidi pjij (8.0). 

Syr. lactucarii (Aubergier) .... f^j (32.0). 
Aquse q. s. ad fgirj (96.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every hour for six or eight doses. 

This prescription may in many cases be continued until convalescence, 






612 DISEASES. 

as it stops cough, quiets the inflamed area, and allays arterial excite- 
ment. Often it is best to omit the aconite after the first few days. 
By the second day the patient should be directed to make a heavy 
application of tincture of iodine over the trachea and episternal notch, 
as high as is possible without the stain showing above the collar. In 
children and in some adults this is well substituted by oil of amber and 
sweet oil in the proportion of 1 to 3 parts rubbed on the skin. 

For the stiffness following the inflammation preparations of coca 
are very useful, given internally, and tonics to the general system 
are needed. 

LEUCORRHCEA. 

This is a condition — vulgarly known as the " whites " — consisting 
in a hypersecretion from those glands which pour out their contents 
into the vagina or the cervical canal of the uterus, or even into the 
cavity of this organ. 

It is a state dependent upon many causes for its existence, the 
chief of which is a condition of the system when it is " run down " 
from any cause, with perverted functions of the glands or their sur- 
roundings. In some persons, who seem perfectly strong and well it 
would appear to be due to an effort of the system to overcome plethora. 
The character of the discharge varies with almost every case. In 
some instances it is thick and tenacious, in others so liquid as to 
trickle down the limbs in a stream and greatly soil the clothing. In 
most of the latter cases catarrh of the Fallopian tubes or ovarian irri- 
tation and tenderness will be present. Where the secretion is very 
thick and tenacious it generally arises from the cervical canal, while 
that from disorder of the vaginal wall alone, independent of other 
morbid conditions, may be either thick or thin. 

The treatment of these forms of leucorrhoea may be divided into 
two parts — one, that directed to the remedying of the morbid process 
through the use of drugs by the mouth ; the other, by their employ- 
ment locally. 

It is needless to state that in that form dependent upon excessive 
lactation or other exhausting manner of life tonics of an active cha- 
racter are needed. As a general rule, anaemia will be present, and 
the following pill will be found of service : 

R. — Acid, arsenosi gr. i (0.016). 

Ferri redacti gr. v (0.25). 

Quinine sulph §j (1.3).— M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One pill three times a day, after meals, for an adult. 

0r > 

1£. — Tr. cinchona? comp f.^ij (64.0). 

Tr. gentian, comp. .... .. q. s. ad f^iv (128.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) three times a day, after meals. 1 

1 In both these prescriptions the small amount of iron and arsenic given will prob- 
a,bly be noted, but this is done advisedly, as iron and arsenic do as much good to the 
blood in small as in large amounts under most circumstances. (See Iron. J 



LEUCORRHCEA. 613 

Sometimes small doses of the sulphate of iron are better for this 
purpose, owing to its astringent properties, but when any prepara- 
tions of iron are used care must be taken that the bowels are kept 
active and that the stomach is not disordered. Associated with the 
use of these internal remedies should be a moderate amount of exer- 
cise and the avoidance of late hours and rich foods. 

The local applications which are of value in these states consist in 
counter-irritation and vaginal injections or painting the mucous mem- 
brane of the parts from which the discharge comes with proper fluids. 
In the leucorrhoea dependent upon irritation of the ovaries with 
catarrh of the Fallopian tubes the use of small blisters formed by 
the employment of cantharidal collodion or a cantharidal plaster over 
the groin on either side is often accompanied by good results. At 
the same time the vaginal surfaces surrounding the cervix uteri may 
be painted with a mixture of iodine, carbolic acid, and chloral, such 
as is used by Dr. Goodell, as follows : 

R. — lodi resublimat - . giv (16.0). 

Acid, carbol. crystal. ) -- z . , Q on\ 

Chloralis } . . . • aa |j (32.0). 

Eub the iodine and chloral in a glass mortar into a powder and add the 
carbolic acid. 
S.— Formula. To be used by the physician only. 

The following pill may also be employed : 

R. — Hydrarg. chlor. corros gr. \ (0.03). 

Ft. in pil. No. xx. 
S. — One pill three times a day, after meals or a tablet triturate may be used instead of 
a pill. 

The remaining treatment of watery leucorrhoea consists in the use 
of astringent injections. A very cheap astringent injection is made 
by adding 1 ounce (32.0) of powdered white-oak bark to each pint 
(500 cc.) of water, or tannic acid and glycerin in the proportion of 1 
ounce to 2 quarts (32.0 : 2 litres) of warm water. Ringer recom- 
mends the following : 

R. — Sodii bicarbonatis 3j (4.0). 

Tincturse belladonna? f^ij (8.0). 

Aquae Oj (500 cc.).— M. 

S. — Use as a vaginal wash. 

Where the discharge is foetid a solution of permanganate of potas- 
sium should be used as an injection in the strength of J drachm to 1 
pint (2.0 : 500 cc.) of water. In purulent vaginitis, specific or other- 
wise, the following injection is serviceable : 

R.— Creolin f^ss vel fgij (2.0-8.0). 

Ext. hydrast. canaden. fl fnijss (10.0). 

Aquse . y f^viij (256.0).— M. 

S. — Add 2 tablespoonfuls to a pint (32.0: 500 cc.) of hot water, shake thoroughly, and 
use as an injection. 

Sometimes a tampon thoroughly saturated with a powder of iodo- 
form and tannic acid, equal parts, and packed around a discharging 
uterine cervix, is of service. 



614 DISEASES. 

When using vaginal injections in females it is important to remem- 
ber that they should be in large quantities. Nothing is more antago- 
nistic to true asepsis than the usual manner in which these applica- 
tions are made. Generally a pint of the solution is placed in a basin 
over which the woman squats, and by means of a syringe forces the 
liquid into the vagina as fast as it runs out, thereby filling the syringe 
joints with the dissolved secretions, and returning to the vagina as 
soon as they flow away the impurities which have left it. The only 
proper way to give such an injection is to have the solution in one 
basin, to the extent of 1 gallon (4 litres), while the patient squats over 
a second basin, into which the impure liquid may run. 

A very useful astringent injection may be made by ordering 

R— Zinc, sulphat fzj (4.0). 

Alumin. sulph f£j (4.0). 

Glycerini 13 vj (192.0).— M. 

S. — A tablespoonful (16.0) to each quart (1 litre) of water. 

LID ABSCESSES. 

Lid abscesses are seen more frequently in children than adults, as 
the result of injury, the sequel of acute illness (epidemic influenza, 
pulmonary catarrhs, fever, etc.), or from local infection ; under the 
latter circumstance they may assume a gangrenous type. The treat- 
ment is that for any form of abscess — poultices, preferably in the form 
of hot compresses, early incisions, antiseptic solutions, and tonics. 

LUMBAGO. 

This is a form of myalgia or muscular rheumatism of the muscles 
of the loins and small of the back, and is frequently the result of 
lifting heavy weights or it results from other strains. In many cases 
acupuncture is very useful, particularly if the trouble is bilateral. (See 
Part III.) Sometimes after the employment of this measure the patient 
can straighten the back at once and retain that position. In other 
instances antipyrin or acetanilid, in 5- to 10-grain (0.35-0.65) doses 
of the former and 2- to 4-grain (0.1-0.2) doses of the latter, are of 
service, and iodide of potassium and salicylic acid are not to be for- 
gotten if the condition of the patient does not rapidly improve. 
Phenacetin and salol are also useful, combined or alone. A large hot 
poultice applied to the back is often efficacious in obstinate cases. 
Sometimes the use of a hot foot-bath and a Dover's powder on going to 
bed will produce a cure, and ironing the back with an ordinary hot 
laundry iron at a proper heat, a piece of newspaper or cloth being 
placed over the skin under the iron, is very efficient. Counter-irrita- 
tion in the shape of a blister, a mustard plaster, or capsicum draft will 
often give relief. 

Where these measures fail the reverse treatment may be tried, such 
as an ice-bag placed over the loins or an ether spray turned on the 
part until the skin is greatly blanched. 



MALARIAL FEVER— MELANCHOLIA. 615 



MALARIAL FEVER. 

(See Intermittent and Remittent Fevers and Pernicious Mala- 
rial Fever.) 



MANIA (ACUTE). 

Space is wanting to consider the thorough and complete treatment 
of mania as it comes to the neurologist. All that can be done here is 
to denote temporary measures suitable for cases which are brief in 
their course. 

In those cases which occur after confinement and are not supposed 
to be based upon permanent trouble, cimicifuga racemosa is said to 
be very useful in the dose of 20 to 30 drops (1.3-2.0) of the fluid 
extract three times a day, while for the rapid quieting of the patient 
we may use hyoscine hydrobromate in the dose of y^ grain (0.0006). 
In other instances, if the .kidneys and heart are healthy, full doses 
of chloral may be used, and if an active preparation of cannabis indica 
can be had, at least 1 grain (0.05) of the solid extract or J to 1 drachm 
(2.0-4.0) of the tincture should be employed. Cannabis indica will be 
found particularly serviceable if 60 grains (4.0) of one of the bromides 
can be combined with it. 

Where a patient suffering from mania is so violent that nothing 
can be done with him, he should be held, and an emetic dose of 



i 

12 



grain (0.005) of apomorphine be given hypodermically to produce vom- 
iting and so relax the muscular system, or he may be tied or anaesthet- 
ized sufficiently to enable the physician to administer proper remedies. 
Sometimes full doses of morphine are needful, and in others a cold 
douche to the head while the body is in hot water is of service. 



MELANCHOLIA. 

This is not the place for the discussion of melancholia of so severe 
a form as to amount to insanity, since the treatment of this latter state 
is very various and largely depends upon the skill of trained physi- 
cians who are alienists. 

There is one form of melancholia, however, which may often be 
rapidly relieved by a simple measure. It is that dependent upon the 
condition of the system in which oxaluria is present. Whenever an 
individual complains of melancholia the urine should be examined, 
and if any oxalate crystals are found, undiluted, fresh nitromuriatic 
acid should be given in the dose of 5 drops (0.3) after each meal 
in a half-tumblerful or more of water. In order to guard against 
errors in diagnosis it is well to remember that pears, tomatoes, rhu- 
barb, and cabbage all cause oxalates to appear in the urine for a short 
period after their ingestion. 



616 DISEASES. 



MENINGITIS (ACUTE). 

Meningitis is to be treated as is any other form of acute inflamma- 
tion occurring in a sthenic or dynamic individual, and particularly 
does its treatment correspond to that of the other inflammations of 
large serous membranes, such as peritonitis or pleurisy. 

In the early stages the patient should receive sufficiently large 
doses of aconite or veratrum viride to strongly impress the circulatory 
system. These drugs have the power of producing such dilatation of 
the blood-paths throughout the body that the congested or inflamed 
area is relieved of its excess of blood, because, the pressure being 
less elsewhere, the blood obeys the law that liquids always try to 
escape from pressure, and so leaves the meninges of the brain for 
the vessels of the limbs and trunk. A good-sized blister should 
always be placed at the nape of the neck as a counter-irritant to 
prevent effusion. 

The proper dose of veratrum viride in the form of the tincture is 
3 drops (0.15) every hour until the skin becomes moist or nausea is 
developed. 1 The tincture of aconite is also useful in full dose. If 
great arterial excitement is present, venesection may be practised 
(see Bleeding), but veratrum viride and aconite are better remedies if 
they are at hand. Associated with these two drugs we should em- 
ploy mercury and opium, the first for its antiphlogistic influence, the 
second for its power in allaying irritation. J grain (0.016) of pow- 
dered opium and J- grain (0.03) of calomel may be given every hour 
until the full effect of the opium or mercury is manifested. In some 
instances the deodorized tincture of opium (Tinctura opii deodorati) 
is better than the crude drug, in the dose of 2 to 5 drops (0.1-0.25) 
every one or two hours. Sometimes belladonna is of great service, 
and this is particularly the case where the drugs already named are 
contraindicated because of a condition of weakness or asthenia. In 
both conditions ergot is of value in allaying the congestion, but its 
period for exerting a favorable effect is not at the very first part of 
the attack, but a little later, when the stage of exudation is at hand. 

During the first acute stage an ice-bag should be applied to the 
head, both for its local influence and its antipyretic effect, and leeches 
may be put at the nape of the neck with advantage. As the disease 
advances and the nervous disorders of the affection become marked, 
nervous sedatives are required to allay the twitchings, muscular 
spasms, or convulsions, and for this purpose no drugs are to be com- 
pared to chloral and the bromides. The doses to be used vary with 
the violence of the symptoms, but it may be stated that the chloral 
should rarely, if ever, be used in doses above 10 grains (0.65), and 
the bromides given in the dose of from 5 to 40 grains (0.3-2.65). 
If coma comes on, a large blister should be applied to the nape of 
the neck. 

1 It is to be remembered that veratrum viride often causes nausea, and even vomit- 
ing, in susceptible persons, and in consequence it should be carefully given in menin- 
gitis, lest if vomiting come on the disease be made worse. 



MIGRAINE-MYALGIA. 617 

Quinine has been recommended in meningitis, but it is absolutely 
contraindicated, as it predisposes to this condition. It may be em- 
ployed only in convalescence, and then used most carefully. 

The treatment of the second stage of meningitis must be neces- 
sarily supportive, owing to the reaction consequent upon great ner- 
vous and arterial excitement. Under these circumstances the use of 
opium is still indicated, because it allays nervous unrest and supports 
the system, partly by conserving the tissues and partly by inhibiting 
the waste of nervous force apt to occur at this time. Alcohol should 
be given with the food if weakness is present, and a very simple or 
milk diet insisted upon. 



MIGRAINE. 

(See Neuralgia.) 

MUSC^J VOLITANTES. 

Muscae volitantes is the name applied to the dark specks which 
patients frequently see floating across their fields of vision, especially 
if the eyes are directed toward a bright sky or a white page. Usually 
they indicate no disease of the vitreous humor, and the ophthalmo- 
scope fails to detect abnormal changes. They are attributed to tor- 
pidity of the liver by the laity. Muscae volitantes may indicate eye- 
strain, and if the refraction is abnormal this should be corrected ; a 
mild course of alteratives is often a useful adjuvant. 

MYALGIA. 

Soreness of the muscles either on pressure or on movement may 
be dependent upon a number of causes, such as strains, bruises, rheu- 
matic taint, or inflammation due to cold. Here, as in many other 
states, the treatment is to be divided into the external and the inter- 
nal methods. Of the internal remedies, the best are the salicylates 
or the iodide of potassium if rheumatism be at the base of the trouble. 
On the other hand, if a bruise or cold be the cause the chloride of 
ammonium will be of service in 10- or 20-grain (0.65-1.3) doses 
given in a solution with extract of liquorice. (For prescription see 
Bronchitis.) Other remedies which may be tried with a good chance 
of success are full doses of a good fluid extract of cimicifuga (20 
drops to 1 drachm [1.3-4.0]) or the citrate or acetate of potassium in 
20-grain (1.3) doses. 

The local medications are numerous, but only a few T can be consid- 
ered as w T orthy of routine employment. The chief one is iodine, in 
the form of the pure ointment or diluted one-half with lard if the 
skin is easily irritated. Another method is to employ a liniment, well 
rubbed into the skin, made up as follows : 



618 DISEASES. 

R.— Tr. belladonna? f£j (4.0). 

Tr. aconiti f^ij (8.0). 

Tr. opii fgij (8.0). 

Liniment, saponis q. s. ad f^vj (192.0). — M. 

S. — Poison. To be used externally and only as a liniment. 

Sometimes chloroform liniment is singularly successful, and poul- 
tices applied as hot as can be borne and covered by oil-silk and cotton 
to retain the heat are often of great value. Massage or good rubbing 
is also a sine qua non for the successful treatment of this state. 



NASAL CATARRH (ATROPHIC). 

In atrophic nasal catarrh the nostrils are roomy and the mucous 
membrane red and shiny. The formation of connective tissue has, 
to a great degree, obliterated the delicate serous glands, and the dis- 
charge of mucus, no longer diluted, forms inspissated crusts, which 
adhere to the mucous membrane of the septum and turbinated 
bones. 

Areas of ulcerated or abraded membrane are disclosed upon 
removal of these adherent crusts. 

The turbinated bones are gradually absorbed and the secreting 
surface thereby much reduced. Sometimes the wasting is so great 
that the posterior wall of the pharynx is clearly visible from the 
front. The inspissated secretion may make a cast of the nostril, and 
as fresh layers form underneath the oldest part is raised until the 
whole interior of the nostril becomes a mass of decomposition, giving 
rise to an overpowering stench. This form of catarrh causes loss of 
the sense of smell, and the odor is not recognized by the patient him- 
self. Ulceration or caries of the bony structure produces an odor 
even worse than the so-called ozcena. The pharynx suffers from the 
general wasting, and presents a dry, varnished appearance called 
pharyngitis sicca, which is rather a symptom of nasal atrophy than 
a separate disease of the pharynx. 

The indications are the removal of all accumulations in the nose 
and naso-pharynx and the healing of abraded or ulcerated surfaces. 
The early removal of dead bone is imperative, and what secreting 
surface remains must be stimulated as far as possible, to compensate, 
in a measure, for the glands that are hopelessly destroyed. In other 
words, our efforts are directed toward producing a compensatory hyper- 
trophy of the glandular tissue that remains. Therefore with the use 
of antisepsis we combine alteratives and local stimulation. 

The nose should be thoroughly cleansed with an alkaline wash — 
Dobell's solution — warmed to increase its solvent power. To relieve 
the odor increase the amount of carbolic acid or substitute for it 
eucalyptol and thymol in the wash. Listerine contains both of these, 
and may be added to the wash. Its own pungent odor masks some- 
what the offensive odor. Permanganate of potassium may be used in 
weak solutions, but it is painful except when sensation is entirely lost. 
Peroxide of hydrogen is recommended, but the writer has had no 
experience in using it over such an extensive surface. 



NASAL CATARRH, CHRONIC. 619 

The solutions are best applied by means of an atomizer or post- 
nasal syringe in the hands of the physician or by snuffing from the 
hand or cup. 

The odor, if due to decomposition, is much decreased as soon as 
the passages are clear. The discharge must never be allowed to 
reaccumulate or much time will be lost. 

Ulcerations require local stimulation by a strong solution of nitrate 
of silver or a superficial application of the flat surface of the galvano- 
cautery heated to a dull redness. Necrosed bone should be removed, 
and it is often found detached in the nostril. 

Local stimulants should be judiciously combined with alteratives. 
Powders of nitrate of silver in starch, varying in strength from 1 to 
10 grains to 2 J drachms (0.65-10.0) of the latter, may be blown 
into the nostrils by means of an insufflator. Cover gently the whole 
surface with a thin layer, and use it only of sufficient strength to be 
slightly felt. Nitrate of silver, in solution, 1 to 10 grains to 1 fluid- 
ounce (0.05-0.65 : 32.0), gives better results at other times when 
applied to the mucous membrane. Avoid over-stimulating, and so 
exhausting, the glands which it is wished to strengthen. The use of 
alteratives may alternate with the silver salt and iodide of potassium, 
and this may be done by using solutions of iodine and glycerin, as 
recommended for hypertrophic nasal catarrh. Internally, the physi- 
cian should employ iodide of potassium to increase nasal secretions 
and mucous-membrane stimulants and tonics. He should also pay 
attention to the activity of the skin. 



NASAL CATARRH (CHRONIC). 

Chronic nasal catarrh is essentially a disease of civilization, which 
may occur at any period of life, but more commonly develops from 
youth to early adult life. 

Although more prevalent among the upper classes, it is in the 
lower ranks that it most frequently reaches its later stages and its 
worst forms. This does not result from lack of opportunity for treat- 
ment, but from the ignorance or indifference which this class show to 
diseases while there is no suffering and no interference with business. 

Hypertrophic nasal catarrh commonly has its origin in a neglected 
cold in the head or in a series of colds occurring in rapid succession, 
keeping the nose in a congested state until the erectile tissue covering 
the turbinated bones loses in a measure its power of contracting, and, 
decreasing the calibre of the nostrils, becomes a source of permanent 
obstruction to breathing. 

As the disease increases there is increased susceptibility to cold. 
Slight exposure produces a stuffy feeling in the nose. The nostrils 
may become completely occluded ; usually, however, only one side 
at a time is obstructed at first, the obstruction showing a tendency 
to change sides. This change is most noticeable in turning in bed, 
the lower side usually stopping, and on changing the position the 
obstruction is reversed, the clearing being accompanied by a crack- 



620 DISEASES, 

ling sensation. A slight tickling cough and tendency to clear the 
throat in the mornings may result from irritation of the pharynx or 
larynx. 

The first indications for treatment are the reduction of inflamma- 
tion and restoration of the breathing-space. 

As the chief function of the nose is respiratory, the re-establish- 
ment of free nasal respiration, combined with the liberal use of anti- 
septic washes, will lessen the inflammation and irritation and produce 
a healthier state of the secretions. 

The writer places cleanliness at the head of the list of remedial 
measures. The alkaline wash recommended on page 510, sprayed 
into the nose by a hand atomizer or gently snuffed from the palm of 
the hand or from a small cup, gives good results. The hand warms 
the solution slightly, but when snuffed from a cup the solution should 
be artificially warmed. This wash may be used two or more times 
a day. 

The nasal douche should never be used where there is nasal ob- 
struction, on account of the risk of forcing the solution into the 
Eustachian tube and causing catarrh of the middle ear. 

In addition to the antiseptic wash where the mucous membrane is 
congested and irritable, the treatment recommended for coryza may 
be instituted for a few days with good results. A solution composed 
of equal parts of distilled extract of hamamelis and water or a dilute 
solution of hydrastis may be sprayed into the nose during the acute 
stage. 

A little later a spray of ferric alum, 5 grains to the ounce (0.3 : 
32.0), may be applied carefully in an atomizer by the physician. 

It is not advisable to use alum in any considerable strength in the 
nose, as its continued use is liable to impair the sense of smell. 

The alterative and absorbent action of iodine makes it a valuable 
remedy for local application in chronic nasal catarrh. Combine it 
with glycerin in the strength of 6 or 8 grains to the ounce (0.35 : 
32.0), with enough potassium iodide to make a solution. Apply this 
by means of a piece of absorbent cotton on the end of an applicator, 
along the floor of the nose, until it reaches the pharynx. It is need- 
less to say that such an application as this should be made with the 
utmost gentleness. The cotton should project beyond the probe, and 
care should be taken to avoid bruising the tissues. 

After the acute stage has subsided, as shown by the disappearance 
of the livid color and lessened sensibility, any remaining hypertro- 
phied tissue should be removed by a snare or the galvano-cautery. 

NEPHRITIS (ACUTE). 

The treatment of acute nephritis accompanied by any active 
inflammatory change requires intelligent care. The pain in the loins, 
and perhaps the bloody urine, which is scanty and high-colored, 
febrile disturbance, and the history of exposure or other exciting 
cause, all form a clinical history typical in its major points. Here, 
as elsewhere, for the reduction of inflammation circulatory depress- 



NEPHRITIS, CHRONIC. 621 

ants are to be resorted to, and aconite is generally most service- 
able. The patient should be kept quietly in bed and supplied with 
a milk diet, cups or leeches being used over the loins if the urine is 
scanty. Blisters are not advisable, as the irritant substances pro- 
ducing them may be absorbed and cause increased renal irritation. 
The restlessness will generally be quieted by the aconite ; but if this 
fails, resort must be had to bromides or small doses of opium, which 
must be given cautiously, as these drugs are not readily eliminated 
when the kidneys are diseased. Cannabis indica is thought to be of 
great service if bloody urine is present, but chloral is generally too 
irritating to the kidney to justify its employment. The appearance 
of large amounts of blood in the urine at about the fifth day of the 
illness is an indication, according to Sydney Ringer, for the use of 
drop doses of tincture of cantharides, given every few hours. Should 
the urine be scanty and of high specific gravity, and constipation be 
present, some calomel, or a purgative dose (-J- an ounce [16.0]) of sul- 
phate of magnesium should be used to aid in the elimination of 
impurities by the bowel. Warm mucilaginous drinks, as flaxseed 
tea, are of service, and the use of the citrate of potassium and the 
sweet spirit of nitre with copious draughts of pure water should be 
resorted to to increase urinary flow and promote the action of 'the skin. 

If dropsy or symptoms of uraemia' (see Uraemia, Part IV.) come on, 
they may be relieved by the use of hydragogue purges, such as elate- 
rium, which is particularly useful in that it is supposed to aid in the 
elimination of the urea by the bowel. If vomiting is present, elate- 
rium ought not to-be used, as it irritates the stomach. Jaborandi or 
pilocarpine may^be used to sweat the patient at this time or in the 
earlier stages with advantage; -J grain (0.008) of the hydrochlorate 
should be given hypodermically, and repeated in fifteen minutes if no 
sweat appears ; but it should never be forgotten that when the heart 
is feeble or the patient very susceptible pilocarpine may produce 
serious collapse. This can sometimes be guarded against by the simul- 
taneous use of strychnine in -j- grain (0.003) doses. Hot-air baths 
are often useful to provoke a sweat. (See Heat, Part III.) 

The treatment of the later stages consists in the use of stimulants 
to the kidneys to arouse them from the atony consequent upon the 
excitement of inflammation. To this end digitalis and squill, or digi- 
talis and calomel, or caffeine citrate, may be used in small amounts, 
gradually increased and followed by the compound spirit of juniper or 
gin as the case progresses. If the renal structure is persistently atonic, 
\ to 1 drop (0.01-0.05) of the tincture of cantharides at each dose may 
be used, and, as anaemia is often a prominent symptom, tincture of the 
chloride of iron, which is both a diuretic and a tonic, should be resorted 
to. If renal hemorrhage is excessive, gallic acid and ergot are indi- 
cated to control the bleeding. A milk diet should be rigidly enforced. 

NEPHRITIS (CHRONIC). 

The treatment of chronic nephritis is a very different matter, so 
far as prognosis is concerned, from that of the acute form. It is 



622 DISEASES. 

almost, if not quite, impossible to cure the condition present, and we 
can only improve the state of the kidneys and other organs by care 
and the use of proper drugs. As Tyson has aptly put it, we must 
try to arrest the development of the renal lesions and improve the 
general health, treat the symptoms which are not dependent upon the 
nephritis, except indirectly, and, last, treat those signs which are due 
to the nephritis itself. To arrest the disease all alcoholic drinks 
should be avoided as far as possible, and business cares and worries 
be cast aside. Great care should be taken to avoid cold, and a warm 
climate is generally to be recommended to the patient, since sudden 
changes of temperature tend to produce congestion of the kidneys by 
the chilling of the skin. 

The diet and drink are important considerations, and should con- 
sist largely of milk. Many physicians direct that skimmed milk be 
used. The author believes that this advice is not wise, as it deprives 
the patient of the nutritive fats, which he needs and which are not 
contraindicated, whereas the proteids of skimmed milk, while the 
best form of albuminoid food we can give, are not advantageous, but 
have to be used to maintain nutrition. If the cream in the milk dis- 
agrees with the patient, it may be removed or diluted by effervescent 
water. 

The treatment suggested so far is applicable to all forms of chronic 
nephritis, but there are symptoms and complications of both the inter- 
stitial and parenchymatous forms of the disease which require special 
treatment. If the urine be scanty in the parenchymatous form, and the 
heart is feeble, digitalis and caffeine are useful to improve the renal cir- 
culation and act directly on the kidney. In other cases we may pre- 
scribe the well-known pill of digitalis, squill, and calomel. These drugs 
not only increase urinary flow, but also decrease albuminuria, in many 
cases. In still other instances we may give the acetate and bitartrate 
of potassium as diuretics, which are particularly valuable if combined 
with digitalis in those cases of albuminuria dependent upon failure 
of the heart muscle ; nor should the bichloride and protiodide of 
mercury be forgotten, as they are very valuable indeed for their 
alterative influence. These remedies are also of value to relieve the 
dropsy, and one of the most efficacious forms of treatment is a com- 
bination of the bitartrate of potassium and juniper-berries, so that 1 
ounce (32.0) of the former is dissolved in 1 pint (500 cc.) of an infu- 
sion (1 ounce (30.0) to the pint) of the latter and taken in twenty- 
four hours. A most valuable aid in decreasing the albuminuria is 
the use of 1 to 3 drops of tincture of cantharides in water three times 
a day, particularly if the kidney seems torpid and is secreting too 
little urine. If dropsy develops (see Dropsy), hydragogue purges 
are useful, such as jalap and elaterium, and hot baths, Turkish or 
Russian, are to be given, not only to relieve the dropsy, but to so 
hypertrophy the excretory glands of the skin that they will be able 
through greater activity to relieve the kidneys. (See Heat.) 

Very great benefit can often be obtained by the use of nitro- 
glycerine given in ascending doses beginning with yj-g- grain (0.0006) 
three times a day. This decreases the albuminuria, if it is present,. 



NEURALGIA. 623 

lowers arterial tension, and benefits the heart. Copious draughts of 
pure water should be given, if the urine be scanty, to flush the kidneys 
if possible and aid sweating, although copious urination may in many 
cases be present and troublesome. Another drug of great value in 
many cases of chronic contracted kidney is iodine in the form of 
iodide of sodium. This may be given in 10-grain (0.65) doses three 
times a day with great advantage to old persons with well advanced 
atheromatous changes. The treatment of uraemia, should it be mild 
or severe, is important, and the reader is referred to the article on 
that subject (see Uraemia). The various forms of hot baths should 
also be employed to aid the skin in eliminating poisons and relieving 
the kidney. 

The anaemia in both forms of nephritis is to be combated by the 
use of the tincture of the chloride of iron, or Basham's Mixture (see 
Iron), and oxygen inhalations, although these agents are most needed 
in the parenchymatous type. 



NEURALGIA. 

Like headache, neuralgia gives rise to most of the suffering expe- 
rienced by active persons who are not sick enough for bed and by 
those who are confined to bed by other diseases. It affects members 
of every walk of life, and may be so severe as entirely to incapacitate 
the most powerful of men. 

The causes of neuralgia are very various, but they may be briefly 
stated to depend chiefly upon malnutrition, over-work, nervous excite- 
ment with consequent reaction, and to reflex irritation from diseased 
organs, as in the case of supraorbital neuralgia from eye-strain or 
ovarian irritation or uterine inflammation. Nerves functionally dis- 
eased are always more or less active than normal ; that is, hyper- 
excited or hypo-ex cited, above or below par. In both cases they 
must be brought back to their normal tone by appropriate remedies, 
and these consist in nervous excitants and nervous sedatives. To 
give a nerve already depressed the additional depression of a bromide, 
or a nerve excited the additional excitement of strychnine, would be 
absurd. 

From what has just been said it becomes evident that the physician 
must always determine the condition of the system of his patient and 
the causes of that condition before administering remedies. 

The treatment of this condition of neuralgia from its curative stand- 
point may be divided into the use of tonics, nutritives, and palliatives. 

Where neuralgia is associated with anaemia no hope of permanent 
relief can be looked for unless iron and arsenic are used until the 
anaemia is cured, and it is often necessary to combine with these 
drugs the use of cod-liver oil and bitter tonics. These are the cases, 
too, in which nux vomica and strychnine raise the depressed nerves 
to increased activity, and so bring relief. How they do this is not 
known, but we know enough to recognize one or two important facts. 
Strychnine is certainly a nervous stimulant, and is also a stimulant 



624 DISEASES. 

to the anterior columns of the spinal cord. It probably also acts 
upon the trophic centres in the anterior cornua of the spinal cord, 
and by stimulating these centres increases the nutrition of the trib- 
utary nerve-fibres. 

It is needless to state that the neuralgias of syphilis and scrofulosis 
are to be treated by the specific remedies directed to the cure of these 
affections, while at the same time the various symptoms are carefully 
controlled by appropriate palliatives. 

When nervous exhaustion causes neuralgia, phosphorus is a useful 
remedy, particularly in those cases which are convalescing from acute 
fevers. 

Sometimes malarial poisoning produces a violent form of supra- 
orbital pain known as "brow ague," which is to be relieved, not by 
ordinary remedies, but by large doses of quinine. 

The relief of the states producing neuralgia having been spoken 
of, it yet remains for us to consider the measures to be adopted for 
the cure of an attack. Fortunately, the recent advances of thera- 
peutic study have placed in our hands a large list of drugs not apt to 
produce a habit after prolonged use, comparatively safe though active, 
and not of disagreeable taste or evil general effect. By these terms 
the writer refers to antipyrin, acetanilid, and phenacetin, all of 
which possess wonderful power in the alleviation of pain dependent 
upon true nervous involvement. In order to avoid failure in the use 
of these drugs in the relief of headache, we must always remember 
that their field of service is that of neuralgic pain, not other pains. 
Antipyrin is to be used in the dose of 5 to 20 grains (0.3-1.3) for 
ordinary neuralgia or the pain arising from the crisis of locomotor 
ataxia, acetanilid in the dose of 3 to 8 grains (0.18-0.5) for the same 
purposes, and phenacetin in the same amount as acetanilid. 

Upon these remedies, combined with caffeine and the bromides 
according to circumstances, we now depend, and the following pre- 
scriptions will be found of service : 

ft — Antipyrini 5jj vel ^ij (4.0-8.0). 

Caffeinse citratis gr. xx (1.3). — M. 

Ft. in chart No. x. 
S. — One every thirty minutes till relieved. 

The following may be of use also : 

R .—Antipyrini .gj vel 31J (4.0-8.0). 

Potassii bromidi ^iij (12.0). — M. 

Ft. in chart No. x. 
S. — One every thirty minutes till relieved. 

Or, when the caffeine in the first prescription causes nervousness, 

R — Antipyrini 3J vel ,^ij (4.0-8.0). 

Caffeine? citratis . . gr. x (0.65). 

Potassii bromidi 3iij (12.0).— M. 

Ft. in chart No. x. 
S. — One as above. 

In any one of these prescriptions acetanilid or phenacetin may be 
substituted for the antipyrin. 



NIPPLES, SOEE. 625 

A very effective remedy in some cases of neuralgia of the fifth nerve 
is croton chloral in from 5- to 20-grain (0.3-1.3) doses in pills of 5 
grains (0.3) each. 

In some cases of anoemic neuralgia of the head nitrite-of-amyl 
inhalations have proved useful, probably by reason of the cephalic 
flushing produced by this drug. 

A very large number of local applications have been used with 
success in obstinate neuralgias and other cases not so difficult of cure. 
Cocaine cannot be applied, as it does not penetrate the skin, but relief 
can sometimes be obtained by the local use of the oleate of aconitine 
painted over the spot if it be limited in area. Much of this alkaloid 
cannot be applied, lest poisoning by absorption occur. 

Where the nerve is very superficial it can often be treated by cold 
with great success. This is accomplished by freezing the parts with 
an ether, chloride of methyl, or rhigolene spray, or by the application 
of a small package of finely-chopped ice and salt to the part. Within 
the last few years the treatment of neuralgia by hataphoresis (see Part 
III.) has come into prominence, and consists in the use of some local 
anaesthetic, such as chloroform, which is applied over the part on a 
small piece of lint, and a galvanic current used through the pledget 
which is attached to the positive pole. Under these circumstances the 
anaesthetic passes through the skin and affects the nerve. 

A very useful local injection in localized neuralgia is \ to \ of a 
grain (0.016) of morphine, but the danger of beginning the morphine 
habit is to be remembered when treating chronic cases. Sometimes 
acupuncture (see Part III.) is of service, and the surgeon may be 
called upon to stretch the nerve or to do a neurectomy. 

There still remains to be considered a form of neuralgia generally 
known as migraine. This affection is very severe in its manifesta- 
tions, and is often most obstinate in yielding to treatment. Com- 
monly it is associated with eye-strain or cerebral disease or other sim- 
ilar cause, and these must be removed before a cure is entirely 
effected. The best treatment of most of these attacks is the use of 
20 drops (1.3) of the tincture of cannabis indica every hour if a good 
preparation can be had, or by the use of \ to J grain (0.016-0.30) 
of the solid extract every two hours, accompanied by 10 to 20 drops 
(0.65-1.3) of tincture of gelsemium. (See article on Headache.) 

NIPPLES (SORE). 

Whenever the nipples become sore, so that it is impossible for the 
mother to allow the child to nurse, a solution of cocaine of the 
strength of 4 grains to the ounce (0.2 : 32.0) should be applied to the 
part, and washed off carefully just before the child sucks. Following 
the nursing, a solution of boric acid, of the strength of 20 grains to 
the ounce (1.3 : 32.0) of water or mucilage of acacia, may be used over 
the part, the nipple being thoroughly dried beforehand. Where the 
fissures are deep and slow to heal the tip of a stick of silver nitrate 
may be applied to them with advantage. Some practitioners employ 
tincture of benzoin over the inflamed part, and glycerite of tannin is 

40 



626 DISEASES. 

often of value. Cleanliness, dryness, and care of the breast previous 
to parturition do much toward preventing the condition. 

Sometimes it is necessary to use a breast-pump or nipple-shield 
before a cure can be effected. 



OBESITY. 

Whenever an excess of fat accumulates in the body, various dis- 
comforts, both mental and physical, arise, and in addition the normal 
functions of all the parts are so disturbed or interfered with that the 
continuance of health is often impossible. In many cases the deposition 
of fat about the heart or between its fibres results in serious symptoms ; 
and breathlessness on exertion is produced by the obstruction which is 
offered to the free movements of the diaphragm by masses of omental 
fat, aided by the fact that the great weight and bulk of the body 
requires severe muscular effort. It is worthy of note, also, that a layer 
of fat over the body increases the vascular surface very greatly, and in 
consequence gives the heart the labor of supplying a larger number of 
blood-vessels. 

The causes of obesity are numerous. In many families there is an 
inherited tendency, while in others only certain individuals are affected. 
These persons are fat because their systems naturally tend to the de- 
posit of obese materials, in the same way that the members of one 
family have large bones, while those of another have small bones. 
The etiology of obesity, outside of the causes just named, are very 
numerous, but the chief one is over-indulgence in food. 

Just at this point it is not out of place to state exactly what over- 
indulgence in food means. Every individual is a law unto himself 
in regard to the amount of food which is consumed and ingested. 
One often sees large, powerful, wiry men, who eat little, sit beside 
others, not so powerful or large, who eat excessively, and who appa- 
rently do not suffer from indigestion in consequence. Neither of these 
two groups becomes excessively fat, because one represents a grate 
w r hich burns its fuel so that there is no waste, while the other resem- 
bles a grate in which there is always a residue of unburnt coal, which 
is cast out with the ashes as effete matter. As different engines of 
the same build require varying amounts of coal, so do different men 
assimilate different amounts of food. No stated amount of food can 
be set down as a man's daily portion until his case is carefully 
studied, but it is important to remember that the quantity of food is 
generally in direct ratio to the severity of the toil, and that a man 
who loafs about a club or " takes life easily " often eats more than a 
day-laborer — of far richer foods, too — and wonders why he gets stout. 
In nearly every case of obesity not dependent upon gross disorder 
of the trophic nerves over-indulgence in food is the cause. To some 
this may seem absurd, and the patient will say that he eats just 
enough to keep him from feeling empty between meals ; but this does 
not alter the case in the least. The proper amount of food for a man 
is not what his appetite or gastric viscus calls for, but what his sys- 



OBESITY. 627 

tern needs. To this further reference will be made when considering 
the diet for obesity, found below. 

The very presence of fat aids in the deposition of it, for, by act- 
ing as a non-conducting pad all over the body, it prevents the dissi- 
pation of heat, and so decreases the combustion of those substances 
which, when not used for the manufacture of heat, are deposited as 
fat. Again, we nearly always find that obese persons take alcohol 
with their food, thereby increasing the fat in their bodies ; for, find- 
ing that they cannot digest all the substances which greediness makes 
them swallow, they take alcohol to stimulate their digestive apparatus 
to increased efforts and assimilation. Further than this, alcohol adds 
force to the body, and preserves the tissues by substituting itself for 
food in the oxidizing processes. 

We find, therefore, that three great causes are active in producing 
corpulence in many cases — namely, heredity, over-indulgence in food, 
and lack of exercise, which is one of the means by which over-indul- 
gence is produced; i. e. less exercise, less food needed, but often more 
eaten. 

The treatment of corpulence rests solely upon the conditions named. 
In all instances the diet is the important point for the bestowal of 
care. Reference has already been made to the fact that the needs of 
the system are the criterion by which we judge the amount of food 
necessary to each case, not the sensations in the stomach. The use of 
coca by the natives of South America enables them to withstand 
hunger and privation, not because it gives tissue to the body, but 
because it paralyzes the sensory nerves in the stomach and relieves 
the sensation of hollowness or weakness w T hich we are accustomed to 
overcome in this country, in the absence of food, by tightening our 
belts. Every one who has undergone severe mental or physical labor 
and missed a regular meal will remember that about the usual hour 
for the meal his sensation of emptiness may amount to nausea and 
distress, but the hour once passed he feels as strong as before until 
by prolonged toil he so exhausts his powers that the system forces 
him to eat, not so much from hunger as from exhaustion. To under- 
stand this clearly, w r e must recollect that the s}^stem keeps its shares 
of force in the same way as a careful speculator keeps his shares of 
stock — namely, one part in active use for speculation, the other half 
for reserve in case of need. In health the stomach begins to " feel 
hungry " as soon as the speculative shares of force are nearly used, 
in order to cause the ingestion of more food and to preserve the 
" sinking fund " intact. It becomes evident, therefore, that the mere 
presence of hunger is purely a symptom, not an indication of the 
absolute necessity of food, for, if it were, the consumptive would 
be notorious for his appetite, instead of being noteworthy for his 
anorexia. 

The food of the patient suffering from obesity is to be cut down 
gradually, and the character of it arranged so that, though its bulk 
be great, its nutritive properties are small. Beef and other meats 
are concentrated foods containing much nourishment in a small space, 
while lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and nearly all vegetables, except 



628 DISEASES. 

roots or tubers, contain a large amount of fibre useless to the body. 
By the use of a carefully arranged vegetable diet in obesity we cut 
down the actual amount of food absorbed, and by its bulk keep the 
stomach so busy at sifting the nutritious from the non-nutritious mate- 
rials that hunger is not felt, because another meal-time is reached 
almost before the food of the first is assimilated. We find, therefore, 
that the diet for the reduction of corpulence should consist chiefly 
of bulky vegetables, but not too exclusively of any one article or 
set of articles. Heretofore it has been thought that proteids (meats, 
eggs, etc.) should be used to take the place of all hydrocarbons or 
carbohydrates (fats, starches, and sugars), but this is not physio- 
logically correct, as both forms of food are always needed for health, 
and it has been found that proteids may be converted into fats in the 
body. 

The following bill of fare will be found of service in the treatment 
of obesity : 

Breakfast : One or two cups of coffee or tea, without milk or 
sugar, but sweetened with a fraction of a grain of saccharin. 3 
ounces of toasted or ordinary white bread or 6 ounces of bran bread. 
Enough butter may be used to make the bread palatable — not more 
than 1 ounce. Sliced raw tomatoes with vinegar or cooked tomatoes 
without any sugar or fats. This diet may be varied by the use of 
salt or fresh fish either at breakfast or at dinner. 

Noon meal (dinner) : One soup-plate of bouillon, consomme, Ju- 
lienne, or other thin soup, or Liebig's or Mosquera's beef jelly, fol- 
lowed by one piece of the white meat of any form of fowl or a small bird. 
Sometimes a small piece, the size of one's hand, of rare beef or mut- 
ton, but no fat, may be allowed, and this should be accompanied by 
string-beans, celery, stewed or raw, spinach, kale, cabbage, beans, 
asparagus, leeks, and young onions. Following this, lettuce with 
vinegar and a little olive oil (to make a French dressing), a cup of 
black coffee or one of tea, and a little acid fruit, such as some sour 
grapes, tamarinds, and sour oranges or lemons, may be taken, and 
followed by a cigar or cigarette. 

Supper should consist of one or two soft-boiled eggs, which may 
also be poached, but not fried, a few ounces of bran bread, some 
salad and fruit, and perhaps a glass or two of light, dry (not sweet) 
wine, if the patient is accustomed to its use. 

Before going to bed, to avoid discomfort from a sensation of hun- 
ger during the night, the patient may take a meal of panada or soak 
Graham or bran crackers or biscuits in water and flavor the mass 
with salt and pepper. 

The reduction of diet is generally best accomplished slowly, and 
should be accompanied by measures devoted to the utilization of the 
fat present for the support of the body. Thus the patient should not 
be too heavily clad, either day or night, should resort to exercise, 
daily becoming more severe, and should not drink freely of water, 
unless sweating is established sufficiently freely to prevent the accumu- 
lation of the liquid in the vessels and tissues. 

Very often a cold bath will, by its dissipation of heat, cause 



PERICARDITIS. 629 

destruction of fat, which will be burnt up in the body in the manu- 
facture of heat-units to maintain the temperature ; and if the patient 
is not too anaemic and stands this exposure to cold well, the bath 
should be repeated each day or a Turkish bath used instead. 

The bowels should be kept actiye by laxative fruits or purges, but 
if liquids taken in drink are not eliminated rapidly, saline purges are 
useful, since, if the blood-vessels are engorged, the circulation in the 
capillaries is slow and a deposit of fat is apt to result. 

Where proper exercise is impossible the rest cure, with massage, 
electricity, passive exertion, and an absolute skimmed-milk diet, may 
be resorted to, particularly in those persons known as " fat anreniics," 
who have not enough red corpuscles in their blood to carry sufficient 
oxygen to the tissues to complete oxidation. 



PERICARDITIS. 

Inflammation of the pericardial sac is a frequent occurrence and 
requires prompt treatment. If the case be sthenic and is seen early, 
five to ten leeches should be placed over the prsecordium, and at the 
same time sufficiently large doses of veratrum viride or aconite resorted 
to to depress the circulation, and by the dilatation of the blood-vessels 
elsewhere to draw off the blood from the inflamed area. To prevent 
the outpouring of a plastic exudate capable of undergoing organiza- 
tion and forming adhesions, calomel should be given in J-grain (0.03) 
doses every hour, combined with enough opium to prevent purgation. 
An ice-bag placed over the prcecordium not only relieves the pain, 
quiets the circulation, and reduces the temperature, but also acts favor- 
ably in modifying the severity of the inflammation. 

Where the case passes from the acute stage of inflammation to that 
in which effusion takes place, the treatment changes at once, and 
becomes supportive if the system shows signs of failure. The fric- 
tion-sounds of the first stage are now lost, and the heart-sounds may 
be feeble or muffled in tone by reason of the effusion present. Digi- 
talis, alcohol, or caffeine may be used if the heart shows signs of fail- 
ure, but when digitalis is used its influence should be carefully watched, 
since the employment of this drug produces a very full diastole or 
dilatation of the ventricles, and these are already cramped for space 
in which to dilate by reason of the exudate which has entered the 
pericardial sac. If the effusion is sufficient to endanger life, it should 
be tapped and aspirated away very gradually. Often it is best to use 
a long needle attached to a hypodermic syringe in order to be sure 
that there is fluid. The best place for making the puncture is the 
fourth or fifth intercostal space, very close to the left edge of the 
sternum. In other instances, if the patient is strong, it is only nec- 
essary to administer hydragogue purges, such as jalap (20 grains 
[1.3] of the compound jalap powder), or elaterium -J- grain (0.01), or 
a saline purgative in concentrated form, before breakfast. Often a 
blister over the pnscordium is of service. Should pus be present, 
free drainage must be gradually established. 



630 DISEASES. 



PERITONITIS (ACUTE). 

The views of the best minds in the medical profession concerning 
the treatment of peritonitis have changed radically in the last ten 
years, chiefly through the advances made in abdominal surgery and 
bacteriological research. These opportunities for study have shown 
that peritonitis never arises as a strictly primary condition, but is 
due in every case to the infection of the peritoneum by micro-organ- 
isms, benign or malign, which are originally found in the intestines 
or other portions of the abdominal viscera. Even when peritonitis 
follows directly upon injury, the actual cause of the pathological 
process is the escape of micro-organisms through the devitalized wall 
of the intestine, and the severity of the attacks depends in turn upon 
the vital resistance of the patient, the degree of infection, and the 
rapidity with which a plastic exudate is thrown out to encapsulate 
the inflamed area. 

It is not possible in this short article to discuss the facts now 
known in regard to the etiology and pathology of acute peritonitis. 
Suffice it to state, one of the germs found normally as a benign 
inhabitant of the intestine becomes at once, on entrance into the 
peritoneal cavity, malignant and capable of producing rapidly-fatal 
peritonitis. Nor is actual rupture of the bowel or appendix vermi- 
formis necessary for this infection, since it has been shown that this 
germ, the bacillus coli communis, rapidly migrates through the bowel- 
wall as soon as it becomes inflamed or congested in all its coats. 
Streptococci and staphylococci, finding access to this cavity, also 
produce violent inflammation. It has been found that the perito- 
neum will destroy many infecting germs in the healthy man if its 
vitality is not impaired, but if it is impaired a mild infection starts up 
severe inflammation. 

Having learned, then, that acute peritonitis is always secondary to 
some local cause or to some general infection, the first thing for the 
therapeutist to do, being called in to a case of this disease, is to deter- 
mine what the provoking agent is, in order that his treatment may 
be directed against the cause rather than the effect. This cause is 
now known, in the great majority of cases, to be Appendicitis (which s 
see), the inflammatory process being spread by infection from this 
source. In women it is not uncommonly due to more or less obscure 
pelvic disease, or, again, it may arise from abscess and other severe 
diseases of the liver, spleen, pancreas, or stomach. Finally, it should 
never be forgotten that intestinal obstruction is a frequent cause of 
peritonitis. The physician may rest assured that if he cannot find 
the provoking cause, it is his own fault, and not that the case is purely 
idiopathic. 

Having found the cause, treatment is of course to be at once insti- 
tuted, and is medical or surgical — more commonly the latter than the 
former, since nearly all the provoking causes of this disease are at 
most only palliated by medicinal treatment, while they can sometimes 
be removed by surgical interference. Fortunately for those who can 
only obtain medicinal treatment, nature does much to aid in produ- 



PERITONITIS. 631 

cing a cure in many cases by limiting the disease through its localiza- 
tion by walls of lymph, so that many cases of peritonitis recover with- 
out active medicinal or surgical care. In the pelvis this localization 
of the process is very apt to take place unless the infection follow 
childbirth, when septic diffuse peritonitis may arise, which is nearly 
always fatal. 

If the trouble arise in the appendix vermiformis, this condition 
may be treated in its early stages by the means suggested in the arti- 
cle on Appendicitis, but at the very first sign of the spread of the 
inflammation, or of its becoming locally very severe, or of general sys- 
temic disturbance, the surgeon must be called in. The difficulty is 
that in many cases requiring operation, the operation is performed too 
late through the hesitancy of the patient, his friends, the physician, 
or even of the operator himself. If the local trouble does not seem 
to be spreading and the patient's general condition is favorable, ope- 
ration should be postponed indefinitely or until a state of quiescence 
is reached, when the prospects of recovery from operative interference 
are better. If there is reason to believe that an abscess has ruptured 
into the peritoneal cavity, or if perforation of the bowel is followed 
by severe general symptoms of widespread peritoneal difficulty, ope- 
ration should be resorted to at once. 

In deciding the question, however, as to whether a case of periton- 
itis requires surgical interference, the physician at the present time 
is in an unfortunate position. There can be no doubt that there are 
many records in medicine which prove most conclusively that lives 
have been saved through operative interference which would have 
been undoubtedly lost had the surgeon not come to the rescue. On 
the other hand, there are cases in which a fatal result has followed 
an operation, and in which the physician has bitterly reproached him- 
self that he consented to surgical interference, for as he looks back 
over the case he perceives that the operation has distinctly aided in 
causing the loss of life. At the present time each case must be 
decided upon its individual merits, and the physician or surgeon in 
giving advice to the family in regard to a well-developed case of peri- 
tonitis should always be careful to let them understand distinctly that 
the condition of the patient is most alarming, and the chances of life 
poor whether the treatment be medical or surgical, since in many 
instances neither form of remedial measure can possibly produce good 
results. In other words, the relatives should clearly understand that 
whether medicinal measures or surgical procedures are resorted to, the 
patient has only a fighting chance. 

The following case illustrates the value of surgical interference in 
peritonitis : 

M was taken ill at twelve midnight, with violent pain in the 

belly, and was seen by the writer the following evening at eight 
o'clock. At this time all the physical signs of a widely-diffused 
peritonitis were present. The belly was hard and board-like, the 
pulse was exceedingly rapid, the respirations fifty-six, and there was 
great pain. Careful physical examination of the belly and a study 
of the patient's history failed to reveal any cause near or remote for 



632 DISEASES. 

the attack, he having been in perfect health up to the time at which 
the pain began. After consultation with an eminent surgeon it was 
iecided that his condition was so pressing that death under medicinal 
treatment was assured, and that, while operative interference offered 
but a faint chance of success, it was the only measure which could be 
resorted to. Accordingly, at twelve o'clock that night, just twenty- 
four hours after the pain began, the patient was operated upon, the 
incision being made in the median line for the purpose of exploring 
the belly, with the hope that an exciting cause for the attack might 
be found. On opening the belly it was found that acute intestinal 
obstruction had taken place through the bowel being twisted over an 
old inflammatory band. After this obstruction had been reduced the 
appendix was examined, and found to be in a condition of acute in- 
flammation, and for this reason it was removed. It was noted that 
the peritoneal surfaces of the intestines and of the abdominal wall was 
intensely hyperaemic and red and lacking in their normal appearance. 
The operation lasted an hour and a half, and the patient recovered 
after a desperate struggle for life which lasted for weeks, during 
which time his attendants several times gave up all hope of his re- 
covery. Had no operation been permitted, death would certainly have 
resulted from the intestinal obstruction if not from the appendicitis, and 
had the median incision not been made, but the appendix alone sought 
for by a lateral incision, the obstruction would have been overlooked, 
and the death recorded as one due to general peritonitis following 
appendicitis for which an operation had been performed unsuccessfully. 

On the other hand, the writer saw a case in which the conditions 
before operation were apparently identical with that just named, in 
which appendicitis and obstruction were discovered at the operation, 
and in which death took place as early or earlier than it would have 
occurred had operative interference not been resorted to. These two 
cases are mentioned for the purpose of emphasizing the fact that a 
definite prognosis as to the results of treatment, either surgical or 
medicinal, in peritonitis is not possible. 

Aside from the surgical treatment, which is an absolute essential in 
many cases of peritonitis, we have at hand medicinal methods which 
are of some value early in the attack and where operation is refused 
or considered inadvisable. The first of these is the use of opium, 
given until the pain is partly removed and the respirations decreased 
to twelve or fourteen per minute. The patient should never be 
so narcotized as to have no pain on abdominal palpation or be 
unable to answer questions. On the other hand, it should be 
remembered that cases of peritonitis bear large closes of opium 
without effect. The dose should be pushed till the desired effect 
is obtained, and not be measured in grains. Cases are on record 
in which many hundred grains of opium have been given in a few 
days, with recovery as a result. 

For many years physicians of repute have regarded mercury as the 
drug above all others capable of modifying inflammations of serous 
membranes, particularly if combined with opium. Half- grain doses 
of calomel may be used every hour for twenty-four hours. An ice- 



PERITONITIS, CHRONIC. 633 

bag or a turpentine stupe may be put over the the area originating 
the trouble. If the case is very sthenic, leeches may be used on the 
belly, but this is not advisable in most cases, as the patient may later 
need the blood to preserve his strength. Should vomiting be a press- 
ing symptom, it is best controlled by the use of two grains of ace- 
tanilid every two or three hours with brandy and ice. Medication is 
best carried out by the hypodermic needle or the rectal injection. 
The thirst in many cases of peritonitis is excessive, and ought to be 
relieved by giving small pieces of ice with or without a little white 
of egg poured over it. Even small amounts of water are not to be 
forbidden, since the vomiting is reflex, and the water allows the vom- 
iting to take the place of the more exhausting retching. If collapse 
is threatened, the best remedy is probably the extract of hyoscyamus 
by the rectum in injection or suppository, since this drug, while it 
contracts the vessels and soothes the nervous system, does not tend 
to produce disagreeable symptoms as does belladonna. 

The question of the use of purgatives in cases of peritonitis has 
been much discussed. The writer believes that in cases of perito- 
nitis following operation, where the operator knows the intestine is 
intact, saline purgatives, such as teaspoonful doses of a saturated 
solution of magnesium sulphate every ten or fifteen minutes, may 
be used in many cases with good effects ; but if there is any pos- 
sibility of the peritonitis being caused by perforation or obstruc- 
tion, their use is absolutely contraindicated, since if used the con- 
tents of the gut may be washed into the peritoneal cavity or the 
obstruction be rendered more complete. The saline purgative not 
only empties the bowel, but in addition, by the free watery flow pro- 
duced, depletes the inflamed peritoneum. When there seems to be a 
probability that the pain may be due to the ingestion of bad food, 
and signs of perforation are absent, purgatives may be used to remove 
the offending articles. Should the patient be feeble, purgation is 
contraindicated. 

The tympanitis, which may be a prominent symptom, may be 
relieved in some cases by the use of the rectal tube or of injections 
into the bowel of milk of asafcetida or turpentine emulsion. 

This book is not the place for the consideration of the surgical 
procedures to be followed, but it may be stated that in septic peri- 
tonitis in all cases it is a question of operation with probable death, 
or no operation with certain death. In obscure cases of general peri- 
tonitis, where the cause of the disease cannot be found by ordinary 
methods of diagnosis, the writer believes that exploratory incision 
should be done, and after the cause is removed the belly-cavity w r ell 
washed out with hot normal saline solution, and drainage-tube or 
gauze left in for at least twenty-four hours. 



PERITONITIS (CHRONIC). 

Chronic peritonitis is very apt to be circumscribed and to exist in 
connection with chronic appendicular trouble or in females in connec- 



634 DISEASES. 

tion with diseases of the organs of generation. The most diffuse and 
curable form of the disease is that known as tubercular peritonitis, in 
which cures have been safely reached through abdominal incision with 
or without drainage or the dusting in of iodoform. Of all forms of 
organic disease affecting the abdominal area and of a chronic type, 
none offer such results to the physician and surgeon as does this, and 
operation ought always to be advised and urged upon the patient most 
strenuously. Care should be taken, however, to separate the subacute 
or chronic process, termed tubercular peritonitis, from the malignant 
and acute form called tuberculosis of the peritoneum, which is often 
only a manifestation of a general infection. 



PERNICIOUS MALARIAL FEVER. 

This is one of the most acutely dangerous diseases known to man 
if it be fully developed, and requires the greatest activity and skill 
on the part of the physician, who may be called upon to treat a large 
number of widely varying symptoms, all of a pressing nature, at one 
and the same time. The chief indication is for the use of quinine in 
its most soluble forms, in solution and in large doses, which may 
be given hypodermically or intravenously. (See Cinchona.) 

As a rule, the use of the drug by the mouth is futile because the 
state of the stomach is such that absorption will not take place, at 
least till after the attack has done its damage. The hypodermic or 
intravenous use of the drug is therefore advisable. Given in this 
manner doses ranging from 10 to 15 grains (0.65-1.5) may be used 
with safety. If more than this is given intravenously, the dose must 
be given very slowly, and preferably divided into several smaller 
doses lest cardiac depression ensue. If the attack be of the hema- 
turic or hemoglobinuric type, quinine is to be used with the greatest 
caution, or better not at all. (See Cinchona.) The patient should be 
treated by the use of 60-grain (4.0) doses of hyposulphite of sodium 
every two or three hours till the bowels are moved freely. Copious 
draughts of pure water with, or without lemon-juice added, are to be 
given to flush the kidneys, and if necessary morphine and atropine 
are to be given hypodermically to control the retching and vomiting. 



PLEURITIS, OR PLEURISY. 

The treatment of this disease in its acute form in its early stages 
is identical with that of other inflammatory diseases, or, in other 
words, the use of venesection, or, better still, of tincture of veratrum 
viride or aconite, to bleed the man into his own blood-vessels, is to 
be resorted to if the patient is seen in the very earliest stages and 
has a bounding pulse. If the circulation is not bounding, these drugs 
should not be used. 

When the pain from the pleurisy is excessive and the movements 



PLEURITIS, OR PLEURISY. 635 

of respiration greatly increase the discomfort, strapping the chest- 
wall may be resorted to. This is done for the purpose of immobil- 
izing the chest. The straps should consist of adhesive plaster, two 
and a half inches wide, and should be long enough to reach from 
the middle line of the vertebrae to the sternum or a little beyond its 
middle line. They should be applied tightly during expiration, 
slightly overlapping one another at a right angle to the spine, and 
not in the line of the ribs. (Fig. 11.) 

The old idea that pleurisy was usually due to cold rather than to an 
infecting micro-organism led to the enveloping of the chest in poultices. 



% 



Fig. 11. 



#1 




X 



Showing the overlapping of the adhesive strips in strapping the chest for painful pleurisy. 
The strips extend too far to the right. 

These soil the clothing, speedily get cold, and are very uncomfortable. 
They have been supplanted almost entirely by the cotton jacket, which 
is much better. It consists of one or two thicknesses of carded cotton 
basted inside a thin undershirt, as fur is placed in a fur-lined coat. 
On the outside of the shirt oil-silk should be basted. By using this we 
envelop the chest in a warm poultice, because the heat of the body 
keeps the cotton at the proper temperature, while the oil-silk, by pre- 
venting evaporation of the moisture exhaled from the skin, soon causes 
the cotton to be moist as well as warm. Even the cotton jacket is 
losing its popularity, as the fever of the patient makes a hot jacket 



636 DISEASES. 

almost unbearable and it does very little real good. Further, its re- 
moval is very apt to result in a chill. 

When the pleurisy has fully developed other lines of treatment are 
needed. The cardiac sedatives have been stopped as soon as the quiet- 
ing of the circulation has been accomplished. If the pulse becomes 
weak and the system is depressed, stimulants in the form of alcohol or 
digitalis are needed, and special care must be devoted to the condition 
of the exudation in the pleural space. If the effusion is sufficiently 
large to cause marked dyspnoea on exertion, or reaches to the third 
interspace anteriorly, it should be removed by aspiration. When the 
effusion is not causing dyspnoea, or other evil symptoms by reason of 
pressure, the physician should allow sufficient time for recovery to 
occur ; as, for example, a week or ten days, during which interval the 
system will in many cases remove the fluid by natural processes of 
absorption. If after this time has elapsed the fluid remains, it is wise 
to give salicylic acid in the dose of 1 to 2 drachms (4.0-8.0) a day, or 
saline purges given in the early morning in concentrated form, and 
Anally, if the fluid is not taken up by the vessels after jalap or elaterium 
is used, resort must be had to aspiration of the liquid. In his own 
practice the author rarely uses these drugs, but resorts at once to 
aspiration. They ought never to be employed to such a degree as to 
weaken the patient, and in most cases this is a necessary evil if the 
purgative is active enough to be at all effective in withdrawing liquid 
from the body-cavities. 

There is no danger in aspiration, if it is properly performed. 
The best place to insert the needle is the sixth or seventh interspace 
in the middle axillary line. Care should be taken that the needle is 
aseptic ; that the skin at the point of puncture is well cleansed ; and 
that the exhaust-pump is working well. All the fluid should not be 
withdrawn at one sitting. Often the withdrawal of a portion of it will 
result in the natural absorption of the quantity which is allowed to 
remain in the chest. 

The physical signs at this time, it will be remembered, con- 
sist in flatness on percussion over the lower portions of the chest, 
which area of flatness generally varies with the change in the position 
of the patient from the erect to the recumbent position, unless the effu- 
sion is sacculated. Blowing or bronchial breathing at the apex of the 
lung, when this organ is compressed upward by the fluid beneath it, is 
often heard. If the effusion is on the right side, the apex-beat of the 
heart is apt to be displaced to the left. If it is on the left side, there 
is obliteration of Traube's semilunar space, which is a spot at about 
the level of the sixth and seventh ribs anteriorly below T the nipple, 
where there is usually a tympanitic note on percussion. 

During this stage of effusion blisters have been largely used in aiding 
in the absorption of the liquid which is present, but they are not of great 
service. When used they should be applied in the form known as fly- 
ing blisters. (See Cantharides, Part II.) It is to be remembered that 
blisters are, as a rule, contraindicated in the case of children, because of 
the pain and irritation they produce. If a pleural effusion in the chest 
of a child is not absorbed by natural processes, it is best to aspirate it. 



PLEURODYNIA— PNEUMONIA. 637 

PLEURODYNIA. 

This condition, being one of intercostal neuralgia, should be treated 
according to the directions given under the headings of Neuralgia 
and Counter-irritation. 



PNEUMONIA. 

Pneumonia is a term loosely applied to two very different forms of 
disease — namely, that acute infectious process due to an infection by the 
micrococcus lanceolatus and called croupous pneumonia, and that form 
following as a rule some other disease which has exhausted the patient's 
strength and due in some cases to various forms of infection, namely, 
catarrhal pneumonia. These two distinct diseases have been confused 
by the common term pneumonia, and yet are very different conditions 
as to their pathology and treatment. 

Croupous Pneumonia. 

Croupous pneumonia usually attacks the strong and hearty rather 
than the feeble and exhausted, but both types of cases may be affected. 
The treatment can be divided, when we study it, into that devoted 
to the stage of onset, the stage of consolidation, and the stage of ab- 
sorption of the exudate and convalescence ; and it will be governed 
by the state of the patient's pulse, the sounds of his heart, and his 
general condition as to strength, as well as the degree of respiratory 
embarrassment which is present. There can be no routine treatment 
of croupous pneumonia ; each case must be a law to itself, and there is 
no such thing as the depletant treatment to be advocated on the one 
hand, or the stimulant treatment to be lauded on the other. Further 
than this, it must be remembered that as croupous pneumonia is an acute 
infectious disease the patient may die not from pulmonary consolidation 
or cardiac distention, but from the malignancy of the infection. One 
man with an entire lung consolidated may have slight evidences of 
general infection or toxaemia, another with a small area of lung involved 
may be overwhelmed by toxaemia within a few hours. For this and 
other reasons we can divide all cases of croupous pneumonia into three 
groups — those that are doomed to death by the malignancy of the in- 
fection, those that are but slightly ill by reason of mild infection, and 
those who between these two extremes of severity need careful medical 
aid to accomplish recovery. The first class die do what we will, the 
second class get well almost without help, the third need all the help 
possible to survive. It is to this last class that our treatment must be 
chiefly directed. 

In the very earliest stages of the disease occurring in a healthy, 
sthenic individual who has been seized with a chill followed by fever 
and a bounding, angry pulse, with marked anxiety and nervous excite- 
ment, it is proper to freely bleed from a vein in the arm to the extent 
of a pint (see Part III.), or in its stead to use veratrum viride or aco- 
nite to relax the systemic blood-vessels and " bleed him into his own 
vessels" by making it easier for the blood to pass into the general 



638 DISEASES. 

arterial system than into the lung which is inflamed. These sedative 
drugs also quiet the excited heart and prevent it from pumping so 
much blood into the engorged lung. A hot foot-bath at this time will 
also tend to relieve thoracic congestion. If veratrum viride or aconite 
are used they should be given in minim doses of the tincture every 
half-hour till five or ten doses have been used or until the patient's 
pulse becomes less angry and his skin becomes moist. Veratrum vir- 
ide is the best drug of the two for adults. If violent pain in the 
chest is present it is to be relieved by small doses of morphine or 
Dover's powder. This treatment is devoted to an attempt to limit the 
degree of inflammatory action as far as possible. It may be aided, if 
it is thought wise, by wet cups over the engorged lung. 

The depressant treatment of croupous pneumonia is, however, lim- 
ited in its application to the very beginning of the malady and to those 
persons who have a bounding circulation. It is absolutely contraindi- 
cated after consolidation has taken place or if the patient is feeble. 
Because of the fact that its usefulness is confined to this early stage it 
cannot be employed in many cases, because the physician is not called 
till after this stage has passed by. Its use in a case with a feeble 
pulse or in one who is adynamic or feeble is absolutely contraindi- 
cated. 

In the majority of cases the physician is called after the consolida- 
tion has occurred, and he must now be a watchman all the time and a 
therapeutist only when treatment is actually needed. Every man who 
is suffering from pneumonia does not need active treatment. A cer- 
tain number of cases get well without treatment and do so sooner than 
if meddlesome therapeutics hinders them. The treatment usually neces- 
sary is to combat fever, if it becomes excessive, to support the heart if 
it seems feeble or congested, to keep the kidneys in a state of active 
secretion, and to see that constipation is relieved. 

In the treatment of the fever the physician should remember that it 
is not to be regarded as a dangerous symptom unless it rises to 103° and 
remains at this point for some hours, for in a febrile disease running a 
short course fever is not only not harmful, but there is reason to believe 
that when present to a moderate degree it is actually beneficial. 1 When 
the fever does rise to a point above 103° it should be reduced by spong- 
ing with cold water, active friction being used at the same time. (See 
Part III., on Cold.) There is absolutely no danger of the patient 
" taking more cold," although this is generally doubted by the laity. If 
the fever has a tendency to be excessive and if the heart's action is 
tumultuous an ice-bag may be placed over the heart, and this will be 
particularly useful if, as is often the case, there is a tendency to pericar- 
ditis. If it is desired to apply cold over a greater area of the chest 
than the prsecordium an ice-jacket may be employed, but it possesses 
the disadvantage of being a wet application, do what we will to protect 
the bedding. This ice-jacket is to be made of cracked ice and sawdust 
mixed and sewed up tight in an oil-silk covering which is basted to an 
undershirt to keep its shape. This treatment has been said to greatly 

1 See article on " The E61e of Fever in the Modification of Disease," in the Thera- 
peutic Gazette for February, 1896. 



PNEUMONIA. 639 

reduce the inflammatory process in the lung, but of this there are grave 
doubts. 

The use of antipyretic drugs is not good practice. They tend to 
depress the heart, to relax the blood-vessels, and apparently render the 
patient more susceptible to his infection. Sponging will generally 
control the fever if it is properly employed, or, if it fails, then a cold 
bath may be required if the fever is really very excessive. (See Cold, 
in Part III.) 

For the support of the heart we may employ several circulatory 
stimulants. If the patient is a feeble case with lack of vitality 
and relaxation of his muscles, then alcohol in the form of a good 
whiskey or brandy given in water after food every three or four hours 
in the dose of from half an ounce to an ounce is useful. Sometimes 
more than this must be given, particularly if the patient has been 
accustomed to the use of the drug. In other cases less is needed. For 
the laboring heart with almost empty arteries no drug compares with 
digitalis, and if the skin is moist or the blood-vessels relaxed, so that 
the pulse is gaseous, then belladonna should be combined with it. The 
writer usually gives 5 drops (0.8) of the tincture of digitalis every eight 
hours, with 5 drops (0.3) of tincture of belladonna every four hours. 
(See Digitalis and Belladonna.) If necessary, both of these drugs may 
be given in larger dose, but usually these doses are sufficient. If the 
fever is very high the digitalis will have to be supplanted by the alco- 
holic stimulants or strychnine for a few doses. The question as to 
whether the patient's pulse is of the proper strength is one of import- 
ance : very often the quiet pulse of a patient lying in bed will be taken 
by the inexperienced as an evidence of true cardiac feebleness, when 
if the physician feels his own pulse he will be surprised to find it no 
stronger than that of his patient. A feeble apex beat, a feeble second 
sound at the second right costal cartilage (aortic valve) and an accen- 
tuated second sound at the second left costal cartilage (pulmonary valve) 
will reveal the fact that active stimulation is needed, for the weak apex 
beat and the soft second (aortic) sound, show that the heart is feeble 
and the arterial walls relaxed, and this means a low arterial pressure. 
Further, the accentuated second sound on the right side indicates pul- 
monary congestion and a tendency to failure of the right side of the 
heart from obstruction to the flow of blood in the lungs. 

Should the action of the heart become labored, the jugular veins 
distended and pulsating, and the radial pulse weak, while the face is 
cyanotic, then free venesection (Part III.) is to be practised. It will 
often save an apparently desperate case. Digitalis in the presence of 
this condition is not rapid enough in its effects. Strychnine should be 
given in full dose hypodermically, ^-—V °f a grain (0.003-0.006), 
and with it, if the skin is moist or sweating, yj-g- of a grain of atropine 
(0.0004), and both these drugs should be repeated in an hour if 
needed. At the same time it is well to give J drachm (2.0) of aro- 
matic spirit of ammonia every two hours in cold water or 1 drachm 
(4.0) of Hoffman's anodyne in cold water every hour. Oxygen inhala- 
tions may be used at this time with benefit, particularly if cyanosis is 
marked. (See Oxygen.) 



640 DISEASES. 

Should crisis come on at this time, active supportant treatment, such 
as that just described, will be needed. Many patients die in crisis for 
the want of active stimulation. 

The secretion of the kidneys is best maintained by the use of some 
alkaline diuretic, such as sweet spirit of nitre and citrate of potassium, 
and if necessary a little gin may be given to support the heart and aid 
in maintaining renal activity. 

Having detailed this treatment of the second stage, that for the 
third stage is to be considered. For the thorough understanding of 
this we should remember that this stage consists in the breaking down 
or resolution of the exudations and in their absorption and expulsion 
from the chest. 

At this time the entire diseased area is crowded with secretions 
which have been formed, dead epithelial cells, and all the morbid sub- 
stances which have accumulated. The local surfaces are depressed by 
the reaction following upon the excitement of inflammation, and their 
tone is below par. The object of the physician must be to stimulate 
these areas so that they may throw off the old and take on a new 
functional activity, and for this purpose remedies are to be used which 
will soften deposits and stimulate depressed vesicles and bronchial 
tubes. 

By far the most valuable class of drugs to be here employed are 
those which will increase the secretion from mucous membranes without 
acting as cardiac depressants. Under the article on Bronchitis the 
action of these drugs will be found more thoroughly explained, but it 
will suffice to point out, at this time, the method of their administra- 
tion. 

First and foremost stands the chloride of ammonium, a drug whose 
elimination takes place largely through the lungs, and which acts most 
happily in aiding in the loosening of the cough and secretions. Its 
only disadvantage is its salty taste, which in many cases renders it 
disagreeable to the patient, while its irritant properties may disorder 
the action of the stomach, although if this organ is depressed and 
atonic this drug often improves its condition. This drug may be given 
in compressed pills, or, what is far better, in such a mixture as here 
follows : 

R — Aramonii chloridi 5|j ( 8 - )- 

Extract, glycyrrhizae fi ^ij (8.0). 

Aqu* delt. . • f^iij (96.0).-M. 

S.— Teaspoonful (4.0) in water every four hours during the day. 

If the cough be in excess of the expectoration — that is, if the 
cough often fa?ls to bring up phlegm and is due to tickling or irrita- 
tion—it may be relieved by the addition of a little morphine to this 
mixture, as follows : 

R.— Morphinse sulph gr. j vel gr. ij (0.05-0.1). 

Ammonii chloridi £ij (8.0). 

Extract, glycyrrhizae fi ^iv (16.0). 

Aquse dest. gvj (192.0).— M. 

g —Dessertspoonful (8.0) every four hours. 

If much more morphine than this is used, it will tend to stop secretion. 



PRURITUS. 641 

When the chloride of ammonium fails to act favorably, the car- 
bonate may be called into use for its local and circulatory action, and, 
in addition, the bromide of ammonium may be employed to allay the 
cough if morphine cannot be used. The following prescription is 
valuable : 

R. — Ammonii chloridi 3J (4-0). 

Ammonii bromidi 3J (4-0). 

Ammonii carbonat 3J (4.0). 

Extract, glvcyrrhizse fl ^iij (12.0). 

Aqua? dest." fjvj (192.0).— M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) every four hours. 

(For other remedies for this stage see Bronchitis.) 

Nutritious broths, milk, and, if necessary, predigested foods, should 
be given with the regularity with which medicine would be given from 
the beginning to the end of the attack. 

Catarrhal Pneumonia. 

The main difference in the treatment of Catarrhal Pneumonia in 
distinction from the treatment of croupous pneumonia lies in the fact 
that first, last, and all the time the treatment is to be stimulant in its 
character if any treatment other than rest in bed is resorted to. 
Catarrhal pneumonia usually arises out of an acute bronchitis or is 
superimposed upon some exhausting disease which has sapped the 
vitality. Toward its close expectorants are even more useful than in 
croupous pneumonia, and every care should be taken that the catarrhal 
process does not pass by insidious degrees into a hidden tuberculosis. 
All cases in which recovery is abnormally slow should be suspected of 
tubercular infection. 



PRURITUS. 

Itching of the skin or mucous membranes about the openings of 
the body is a very common state, and while it may be dependent upon 
local causes, such as lice or fleas, it more commonly is due to some 
systemic condition, such as debility, diabetes, gout, or renal disease, 
or other similar causes. The treatment consists, first, in the removal 
of the cause, and, next, in the local treatment of the condition. There 
is generally no redness or eruption, except that due to scratching. 

Internally, arsenic, quinine, bitter tonics, cod-liver oil, alkaline 
diuretics, or mineral waters are useful in debilitated cases, and an 
avoidance of condiments, such as mustard or pepper, is needful if the 
disease affects the mouth of the urethra or vagina. 

The local treatment of pruritus consists in the use of lotions, 
salves, or ointments made up of various constituents, a number of 
which are capable of acting as local anaesthetics. Very often, bathing 
the parts with 1 drachm of bicarbonate of sodium or of borax to a 
pint of cold water gives relief temporarily, or the following formulae 
will be of service : 

41 



(342 DISEASES. 



Or, 



R.—Acidi carbolic! fgj vel f^y (4.0-8.0). 

Aquae dest q. s. ad Oj (500 cc.). — M. 

S. — Apply as a lotion several times a day. 



R. — Liquor carbon, detergen. 1 .... f^ij (8.0). 

Aquas q.s. ad Oj (500 cc.).— M. 

S. — Apply as a lotion. 



Or an ointment made as follows is serviceable : 

R. — Acidi carbolici gtt. v vel xx (0.3-1.3). 

Adipis benzoinatus Jj (32.0). 

Petrolati §j (4.0).— M. 

S. — Apply as an ointment. 

In other cases 10 to 20 minims (0.65-1.3) of chloroform may be 
used in place of the carbolic acid. 

Cocaine may be painted over the parts, but it should rarely be 
used in ointment, as fats prevent its acting effectively. It should 
also be remembered that the anal and vaginal mucous membranes are 
so thick that strong solutions of cocaine are necessary to produce 
anaesthesia, and that the effects of cocaine are only temporary. 
Where the itching is very obstinate the parts may be painted with a 
solution of nitrate of silver of the strength of 20 grains to the ounce 
(1.3 : 32.0) of water, cocaine having been previously applied to 
relieve the pain of the application. (See article on Cold.) Brinton 
has highly recommended powdered teucrium scordium in the dose of 
20 grains (1.3) three times a day. 

Allingham has used with advantage a piece of ivory shaped like a 
rubber nipple and provided w T ith a circular shield. This is slipped into 
the bowel at night and serves to keep the surfaces apart. 



PUERPERAL DISEASES. 

The diseases of the puerperium may be divided into two broad 
classes — infectious and non-infectious. The first class should be 
further subdivided into (1) those infectious diseases in which the 
point of infection has been somewhere along the parturient tract, 
and (2) those in which the infecting poison has entered the body by 
some other channel. Under sub-heading 1 come all those diseased 
conditions grouped together under the very inadequate generic terms 
" puerperal fever," "puerperal septicaemia," "puerperal infection," 
and the like, none of which truly express the condition. If it is 
necessary in medical nomenclature to have a single term which 
shall denote infection of the genitalia after delivery, a word should 
be coined strictly limited in sense to mean the pathological conditions 
which result from the activity of pathogenic microbes along the whole 
genital tract. This classification is necessary for a clear and sys- 
tematic description of the treatment of diseases in the puerperal 
state. 

1 For method of preparing this liquor see article on Eczema. 



PUERPERAL DISEASES. 643 

The Treatment of Infection along the Genital Tract after Labor. — 
By far the most common form of infection along the genital tract 
after labor is the absorption of ptomaines from the infection and 
decomposition of membranes, fragments of placenta, or blood within 
the uterus. This condition will be found in more than 75 per cent, 
of all cases in which infection occurs. Therefore, in any case after 
labor in which there is fever that cannot be explained by some evi- 
dent cause independent of the genitalia, it is safe to assume ptomaine 
poisoning and to act accordingly. The indications are plain: to 
destroy the microbes, and thus at once stop the manufacture of their 
poisonous products, and, if necessary, to remove their habitat. 

The writer's routine application of this principle in practice is as 
follows : If the temperature after delivery remains over 100° F. for 
twenty-four hours without evident cause independent of the genitalia, 
he washes out the uterine cavity with at least 1 quart (1 litre) either 
of bichloride-of-mercury solution, 1 : 2000, or a 2 per cent, solution 
of creolin. The former is more convenient in private practice, be- 
cause the tablets of corrosive sublimate can be easily carried about in 
one's instrument-bag. To ensure the entrance of the antiseptic fluid 
to the fundus and its free exit from the cervical canal an intra-uterine 
catheter is desirable. Of all those upon the market, the best is that 
known as Fritsch's modification of Bozeman's catheter. If, how- 
ever, the cervical canal is patulous, as it usually is after labor, a 
hard-rubber catheter attached to a Davidson's or fountain syringe 
answers the purpose perfectly. 

In the majority of cases this treatment will bring the temperature 
down to normal within twenty-four hours. If fever does not disap- 
pear within this time or perhaps rises even higher, the second indica- 
tion must be met. The infected albuminous substance within the 
uterine cavity must be removed in order to deprive the micro- 
organisms of their feeding-ground. This is best accomplished by the 
use of the curette and the placental forceps, care being taken in the 
employment of the former instrument to guard the uterine wall itself 
from the slightest injury; for not only can the uterine muscle be per- 
forated by a curette in clumsy hands, but slight wounds of the uterine 
substance with this instrument may be enough to inoculate the gen- 
eral system with the germs whose activity has been confined before to 
the uterine cavity. 

The writer's manner of employing this plan of treatment after 
labor is as follows : 

The anterior lip of the cervix is seized with a double tenaculum 
and pulled gently downward ; a cleansing uterine douche is then 
given in order to disinfect the field of operation ; next the curette is 
inserted to the fundus, and the whole interior of the uterus is carefully 
gone over with the instrument, first the fundus and then each of the 
four sides ; then the curetre is turned with the scraping surface upward 
and withdrawn from the cervical canal, a finger in the vagina meet- 
ing its tip as it emerges in order to help extract any substances which 
may be caught by and entangled in it. 

Xext the placental forceps is inserted, and an effort made to grasp 



644 DISEASES. 

any material lying loose within the cavity or still attached to the 
uterine walls. It is usually best to repeat each of these manoeuvres 
several times until nothing more can be brought away except a little 
clear blood. 

Then the uterine cavity is again thoroughly washed out. Occa- 
sionally it is necessary to repeat the irrigation, and even the curet- 
ting, for several successive days. If, as rarely happens, this treat- 
ment should prove unsuccessful and the temperature should remain 
elevated in spite of irrigation and the use of the curette and placental 
forceps, one must assume either that general systemic infection has 
occurred, or at least that an inflammatory action has begun in the 
uterine walls or within the tract of the tubes. One of the ear- 
liest, surest signs of systemic invasion is the appearance of peri- 
tonitis. 

In such a case the only treatment is to support the body-cells in 
the combat which they must wage with the invading micro-organ- 
isms. This is best accomplished by the administration of as large a 
quantity of nutriment as the patient can stand without rebellion of 
the stomach or bowels, and the exhibition of a large quantity of 
alcoholic stimulant. Cases of this sort not infrequently require more 
than a pint of whiskey or brandy in the twenty-four hours. Occa- 
sionally measures will be required to reduce an exaggerated elevation 
of the temperature, but this is best avoided as long as possible, for 
antipyretic treatment is usually depressing and ill suited to the 
patient's adynamic condition. 

The use of antistreptococcic serum, nuclein, and injections of nor- 
mal salt solution are important adjuvants to the treatment which 
should not be neglected in a serious case. With this plan of treat- 
ment about three-fourths of the cases of general septic infection 
after labor will recover. There may be some in which metastasis 
to important organs occurs so early as to render all treatment of no 
avail. There will be others in which the peritoneum is early infected, 
and in which the septic peritonitis develops rapidly and to an exten- 
sive degree. It is in such cases that coeliotomy and evacuation of the 
septic matter, usually pus, within the peritoneum will occasionally save 
life. The physician must guard himself, however, from operating 
too early and unnecessarily. After operation, drainage of the peri- 
toneal cavity is an essential feature of the treatment, even although 
the evidence of suppuration within the cavity is slight. The writer 
has in mind a case in which an operation was performed ten days 
post-partum for septic peritonitis : a very small quantity of purulent 
lymph was found upon one ovary, which was greatly enlarged and 
contained a small quantity of sero-pus. The ovary was removed and 
the abdomen closed without drainage, as there was no other evidence 
of suppuration within it. Thirty-six hours later the patient died, 
and the peritoneal cavity was found filled with pus which had accu- 
mulated in that short space of time. In the early stages of the 
peritoneal infection, if the subject is vigorous, not exhausted by a 
prolonged labor or other depressing causes, the administration of saline 
purgatives in concentrated solution will often effect brilliant results. 



PUERPERAL DISEASES. 645 

The writer's custom is to give a dessertspoonful of a concentrated 
solution of Epsom salts every fifteen minutes until free evacuation of 
the bowels is secured. He has seen the temperature reduced by this 
plan of treatment from 104° F. to normal in the course of twelve 
hours, and with the reduction of temperature all the symptoms of 
peritonitis, which were well marked, entirely disappeared. 

In the treatment of microbic activity along the parturient tract after 
labor it should never be forgotten that the point by which the microbes 
invade the system may be anywhere from the fundus of the uterus to 
the parturient outlet ; therefore the practitioner should never neglect 
to examine carefully all the lower parturient tract, in order to detect, if 
possible, an ulcerated surface covered by diphtheritic membrane, which 
if overlooked might be the entrance-point for a fatal infection. These 
unhealthy surfaces are best detected by the use of a cylindrical speculum 
of clouded glass introduced so that the cervix appears within its inner 
end, and then withdrawn, so that the vaginal mucous membrane as it 
prolapses into the end of the speculum may be examined, and treated 
if necessary throughout its whole extent. If an unhealthy, ulcerated 
wound is thus discovered, the writer's practice is to apply to it a solu- 
tion of nitrate of silver 40 or 60 grains to the ounce (2.65 : 32.0). 
In the vast majority of cases this application will promote an exfolia- 
tion of the unhealthy membrane and the appearance of healthy gran- 
ulation tissue within a few days. 

It may, in some cases, be necessary to employ a stronger applica- 
tion, as the solution of chloride of zinc, but the writer has not been 
driven to its use. The most common point of infection outside the 
parturient tract after labor is some portion of the urinary apparatus, 
almost invariably the bladder. The process of parturition necessarily 
diminishes the vitality of the vesical mucous membrane cells by the 
pressure and stretching to which they are subjected. After labor, 
therefore, they are not in a condition to resist the attacks of micro- 
organisms should these in any way gain access to the vesical cavity. 
Most commonly microbes are introduced into the bladder by a cath- 
eter. This, however, is not necessary, as it has been plainly demon- 
strated that they can wander from the vaginal canal through the 
urethra into the bladder without the intervention of an instrument 
which would directly carry theiu into the vesical cavity and deposit 
them in that situation. Once arrived within the bladder, the microbes 
attack the depressed bladder-cells, and very often gain a lodgment 
in the vesical mucous membrane. This is manifested by the usual 
symptoms of septic cystitis — fever, pus in the urine, pain on pressure 
over the hypogastrium, and pain and difficulty in micturition. The 
duration of these symptoms is, as a rule, not very long. The fever 
subsides and the symptoms of cystitis disappear. After an interval 
of some days, however, there is again a sharp outbreak of fever, with 
pain in the region of the kidneys and the reappearance of pus, or at 
least of numerous microbes, in the urine. This indicates a septic 
infection of the pelves of the kidneys after the micro-organisms have 
migrated along the ureters. During their migration their presence 
has not been manifested by any symptoms. In the majority of cases 



046 DISEASES. 

even the symptoms of pyelitis will disappear after a time, and the 
patient will make a good recovery ; but in a certain proportion there 
is a systemic infection by the direct passage of microbes or their 
products from the kidneys into the blood. There may be an extensive 
suppuration of the kidneys and surrounding tissue, with fatal results, 
or, as the writer has seen in several cases, the symptoms of general 
systemic infection become so grave as for a long time to threaten the 
patient's life. In the worse cases of bladder infection the mucous 
lining sloughs, peritonitis develops, and the patient dies before the 
disease has time to spread to the kidneys. 

The practitioner, bearing in mind the serious consequences of sep- 
tic cystitis after labor, should always be on the watch for it, and 
should adopt an energetic treatment immediately upon its discovery. 
A thorough disinfection of the bladder will remove all present symp- 
toms, and prevent the occurrence of grave and possibly fatal after- 
complications. To accomplish this purpose the writer employs a J 
of 1 per cent, solution of creolin. One injection of a quart of this 
solution through a two-way catheter is usually sufficient. Occasion- 
ally it is necessary to repeat it or to follow it by several injections 
of boric-acid solution. In susceptible individuals creolin causes too 
much pain to be employed. A 1 : 8000 bichloride-of-mercury solu- 
tion may be substituted for it, or in mild cases a solution of boric 
acid alone will be sufficient. 

If, in spite of all precautions, infection of the kidneys should 
ensue, a vigorously stimulating and supportive plan of treatment 
affords the only hope of success. If extensive suppuration occurs in 
the kidneys, all treatment will of course be useless. 

Perhaps the most uncommon point of septic infection after labor 
is the rectum. The writer has, however, seen one fatal case of this 
sort — from the use, no doubt, of a dirty syringe-nozzle in the hands 
of a careless nurse. It would be difficult, or perhaps impossible, to 
diagnosticate such a case until after death, and therefore treatment 
directed toward this form of infection will usually not be adopted. 

Next in frequency to the parturient tract and the urinary system 
as a region of infection after labor come the breasts. Infection of the 
nipples, and a consequent mammary inflammation or suppuration, is 
one of the most troublesome minor complications that the obstetrician 
is called upon to treat. By careful preparation of the nipple during 
the last month of pregnancy, and by extreme care to secure perfect 
cleanliness during the period of lactation, infection of the breasts can 
almost surely be avoided. If it occurs, the first effort should be to 
limit its extent and degree, and to prevent, if possible, suppuration. 
The best means to accomplish this end are derivation of the blood 
from the mammary glands by an active purge, compression of the 
gland-substance, and support of the breasts by a suitable mammary 
binder. 

To these should be added, in the acute stage of inflammation, 
fomentations of very hot water, and, later, the application of cloths 
wrung out in lead-water and laudanum, renewed every three hours. 
Unless the infection has been of a virulent nature and the amount 



PUERPERAL DISEASES. 647 

of infective material large, this plan of treatment will almost surely 
dissipate the inflammation and prevent suppuration. 

The other infectious fevers of the puerperal state include the in- 
fectious diseases which can, under any circumstances, attack the adult 
female, and their treatment differs in no respect during the puer- 
perium from that adopted under ordinary circumstances, unless there 
should be developed some local complications. 

Non-infectious Diseases of the Puerperium. 

Anomalies of Involution. — Superinvolution, an exaggeration of 
that process by which the uterus is reduced to its normal size after 
labor, only manifests itself, as a rule, after the puerperal state is com- 
pleted, and therefore its treatment need not be further considered. 

Subinvolution, an arrested or retarded return of the uterus to its 
normal condition and dimensions after labor, is one of the commonest 
complications with which the obstetrician has to deal in the manage- 
ment of the puerperium. The cause of subinvolution is always a 
local one. General conditions, as acute fevers and so on, have no 
influence whatever upon the process of involution unless they are 
accompanied by some local complication. 

There are two causes which prevent the involution of the uterus 
which must be borne in mind when one is called upon to treat this 
condition. The involution may be prevented, on the one hand, by 
anything which calls an excessive amount of blood to the uterine 
body, as, for instance, small fibroids within its walls or hypertrophied 
deciduous membrane remaining adherent to its inner surface. On 
the other hand, subinvolution may be the result of mechanical obstruc- 
tion to the contraction of the uterine walls and the reduction of the 
cavity of the uterus to the normal size. As an example of this we 
have a retained placenta or a submucous fibroid or adhesions dragging 
the uterus out of place and preventing its contraction, or, most com- 
monly perhaps, an over-distended bladder and rectum. 

In those conditions which result in a hyperemia of the uterus the 
cause of an excessive blood-supply must be sought out and removed 
before one can remedy the subinvolution. 

If small fibroids can be detected, the administration of quinine, 
ergot, and strychnine in pill form has been found most useful. If 
practical, a faradic current may be employed in addition to medica- 
tion. If there is an hypertrophied endometrium retained within the 
uterus, a curette will most quickly and effectually hasten involution. 
In cases of heart disease in which the blood-current is sluggish and 
dammed back into the large veins of the trunk digitalis will be the 
most effective remedy to overcome the subinvolution. There may be 
an active hyperemia associated with inflammatory action, either in 
the uterine wall or upon its peritoneal covering or in its annexa; in 
this case the inflammation must be overcome by disinfection, the use 
of purgatives, and, possibly, the local application of hot water; before 
involution can be secured. When there is mechanical obstruction to 
the return of the womb to its normal dimensions, the hindrance must 



648 DISEASES. 

of course be removed before one can expect a good result from treat- 
ment. In the case of retained adherent placenta every effort must 
be made to remove the placental tissue. In the case of submucous 
fibroids their removal must be attempted if there is any hope of safely 
accomplishing it. 

There is no case of labor which does not leave behind, in the par- 
turient tract, some injury to the maternal structures. Usually these 
are slight in degree, manifesting no symptoms and healing spontane- 
ously. Occasionally the injury done results in fistula communicating 
with the bladder or rectum, in deep granulating wounds in the vagina, 
or in ulcerated sores. 

In the case of fistula a cure can sometimes be effected without 
operative interference by touching up the edges of the fistulous tract 
with nitric acid, in order to excite an outpouring of granulation tissue 
in the hope that it may plug up the opening. In deep tears, which 
have not been primarily united, application of a solution of nitrate 
of silver will hasten the cure and prevent infection of the wounded 
surface. If ulceration occurs, the ulcerated spots are to be carefully 
watched and treated in the same manner. 

Hemorrhages from the birth-canal after labor depend upon a num- 
ber of well-known causes, which must be sought out and corrected 
before the bleeding will cease. Most frequently the cause of a hem- 
orrhage will be found in retained placental fragments in utero, which 
must be removed. Frequently displacements of the uterus will be found 
as a cause, and correction of the displacement will stop the bleeding. 

In interstitial bleeding after labor, resulting in hematoma, care 
must be taken to preserve the parts in as aseptic a condition as pos- 
sible, while an attempt is made to limit the bleeding by the applica- 
tion of direct cold, preferably by means of a Barnes bag dilated wit'h 
ice-water, which must be removed from time to time in order to allow 
the lochia to escape. After rupture or incision of these blood-tumors 
the cavity left behind must be carefully disinfected with the bichlo- 
ride-of-mercury solution or creolin, and, if necessary to control further 
bleeding, well packed with iodoform gauze. 

Of all forms of bleeding, that which occurs directly after labor in 
consequence of inertia uteri, known as post-partum hemorrhage, is 
the most frequent, the most alarming and dangerous in its manifesta- 
tions and consequences. No one should attend a case of obstetrics 
without having in mind a clearly-defined programme to be put in 
immediate execution when called upon to deal with this frequent and 
dangerous complication. There are two indications to be met : First, 
to control the hemorrhage, and, second, to treat the after-condition. 
The first indication is met by the following plan of treatment : 

External stimulation of the uterus by kneading and rubbing 
through abdominal walls, as is practised in Crede's method of 
expressing the placenta. 

Next carry the other hand into the uterus and remove any blood- 
clots, pieces of placenta, or membrane that may be found there, so 
that the internal surface of the uterine walls is irritated by the move- 
ments of the operator's fingers. 



PUERPERAL DISEASES. 649 

Next apply a small piece of ice upon the abdomen externally, and 
carry another piece the size of a hen's egg into the uterine cavity. 
The use of cold must not be persisted in for more than a minute at 
most, for its ultimate action is depressing and relaxing. 

Next soak a clean linen handkerchief in vinegar, carry it up to 
the fundus, and squeeze it out so that the vinegar shall run down 
over the uterine surface. » 

Next, hot water at a temperature of 116° or 120° F. should be 
injected into the uterine cavity. 

If one happens to have the necessary appliances at hand (a small 
Gaiffe battery, which can be carried in an ordinary instrument-bag), 
a strong faradic current can be applied to the uterine muscle. 

Finally, as a last resort, the uterine cavity may be packed with long 
strips of iodoform gauze in the manner suggested by Duhrssen and 
carried out by a number of observers with gratifying success. 

Drugs, as the styptic salts of iron, and especially Monsel's solu- 
tion, have been recommended from time to time as intra-uterine appli- 
cations in the case of post-partum hemorrhage, but they are dangerous, 
for the coagulation produced by them may extend far into the uterine 
vessels, and the clots must be broken up by putrefaction, exposing the 
patient to the danger of septic poisoning. 

This programme is to be carried out in the order given : if the 
milder measures suffice, of course the more radical plans of treatment 
will not be employed. Excessive hemorrhage (post-partum) from 
lacerations along the genital canal can be controlled by well-placed 
sutures. 

Bearing in mind this plan of treatment, it is almost inconceivable 
that an intelligent and skilful practitioner should lose a case of post- 
partum hemorrhage. 

The physician should give ergot in full dose by the mouth and, if 
need be, hypodermically. 

Treatment of the After-condition. — While the physician is busy 
controlling the hemorrhage the nurse should administer a hypodermic 
injection of ether if symptoms of shock or collapse are manifested. 
After the bleeding has ceased it is well to administer an enema of a 
pint of hot water, which maintains the patient's temperature, relieves 
the shock, and by its irritation promotes contraction of the uterine 
muscle. This should be succeeded by small doses of hot, strong 
brandy-and-water, and a little warm milk if the stomach will retain 
it. As soon as reaction is well established a half-pint (250 cc.) of 
hot beef-tea should be administered, and a hypodermic of ^ grain 
(0.008) of morphine given in order to secure quiet and rest and to 
get the stimulant qualities which this drug undoubtedly possesses. 
Occasionally measures must be adopted to retain enough blood within 
the large vessels and in the heart to prevent excessive cerebral anaemia 
or cardiac failure. This is best done by auto-transfusion ; that is, by 
bandaging the extremities from below upward, in order to secure as 
large a quantity of blood as possible within the vessels of the trunk 
and brain. Actual transfusion of a -^-of-l-per-cent. solution of com- 
mon salt into the blood-vessels is required when there are profound 



650 DISEASES. 

exhaustion and depression after hemorrhage. It has been demon- 
strated that it is not necessary to throw this solution directly into 
the blood-vessels, as interstitial injection seems to answer the pur- 
pose equally well. 

The milk secretion during the puerperal state presents abnormal- 
ities which call for treatment. One may have to deal with anomalies 
of quantity or quality. The most frequent anomaly of quantity in 
milk secretion is unfortunately one of defect. Insufficient milk-supply 
depends on a number of causes. Perhaps the most frequent is a 
lack of development of the glandular tissue, and in this form of 
insufficient milk secretion no treatment can be of avail. When the 
lack of milk is due to some intercurrent affection in the puerperal 
state the treatment must be directed toward this complication before 
the milk-supply can be re-established in normal quantity. It may 
be the consequence of hemorrhages or of diarrhoea, or the result of 
an acute febrile attack during lactation, or of inflammation within 
the gland itself. Serious organic disease may also be a cause, and 
insufficient nourishment must be held accountable in some cases. 
Profound emotions exert an extraordinary influence upon lactation 
in altering both the quantity and the quality of the milk. It has 
long been supposed that the return of menstruation has a disastrous 
influence upon milk secretion. This, however, has been definitely 
disproved by careful observations recently conducted in Austria. 
The return of normal menstruation without complications has no 
apparent influence, as a rule, upon the quantity or quality of the 
woman's milk. In all the temporary diseases interfering with milk 
secretion described above it should be borne in mind that on the dis- 
appearance of the abnormal general or local condition milk secretion 
can be successfully re-established, even though it be absent for days 
or weeks. Electricity has been much vaunted of late as a remedy 
for insufficient lactation. It may be applicable in cases of torpidity 
of the mammary gland or in those cases where lactation has been 
suppressed on the birth of a first child, and where the mammary 
gland, therefore, does not respond readily to the stimulus of subse- 
quent births. This remedy will, however, often prove ineffective and 
disappointing. 

Instances of excessive milk secretion are not infrequently met with. 
In the milder and simpler forms they can be managed by regulation 
of the diet and free purgation. Galactorrhea, a constant flow of 
milk from the breasts, is one of the most stubborn forms of excessive 
milk secretion. Two measures can usually be relied on to give relief: 
firm compression of the mammary gland with the application of bella- 
donna ointment, or the administration internally of iodide of potas- 
sium. In some cases of this character milk secretion stops sponta- 
neously with the return of menstruation, and in a certain proportion 
of cases a treatment to secure a discharge of blood from the uterus 
has been successful in stopping the flow of milk. Success has been 
obtained with Simpson's plan of introducing a piece of caustic within 
the uterus in order to bring back the menstrual flow. Warm douches 
have been used successfully for this purpose. Electricity has been 



PUERPERAL DISEASES. 651 

recommended to secure the proper contraction of the sphincter muscles 
of the lactiferous ducts, but as this is usually a result, and not a cause, 
of the galactorrhea, the use of electricity must prove in the vast 
majority of cases ineffective. The long-continued administration of 
ergot has been warmly recommended. The remedy should be tried, 
for its use seems rational. Chloral has been shown to be very effective 
in diminishing the quantity of milk. This drug, therefore, is worthy 
of trial. It has recently been declared that antipyrine, in 2J-grain 
(0.12) doses three times a day, will diminish milk secretion. The 
drug, however, has not been tested often enough to demonstrate its 
power. Quantitative anomalies in the milk secretion must often 
depend upon an ill-regulated diet. A fatty diet will diminish the 
quantity of milk ; a vegetable diet will diminish the casein, and fat 
will increase the sugar ; a diet rich in meat, especially if reinforced 
w r ith alcoholic stimulants, will increase the fat and casein, but will 
diminish the sugar. If the mother's milk is evidently disagreeing 
with the nursing infant, a chemical analysis of it should be made, and 
on the result rules regulating the diet should be adopted. The most 
common mistake in practice is to over-feed a nursing woman, espe- 
cially with a milk diet, with the idea which prevails extensively among 
the laity that the cow's milk poured into the stomach appears again 
in the mammary gland. It is usually sufficient for a nursing woman 
to observe the ordinary diet which agrees with her under all circum- 
stances, with the addition perhaps of a half-pint of milk midway 
between the morning and mid-day and mid-day and evening meals. 
Occasionally a wineglassful of malt at the mid-day and evening meals 
is a useful addition to the diet, and in anaemic patients the addition 
to the malt of 5 grains (0.3) of pyrophosphate of iron will be an 
advantage. 

There is found in every pregnant woman some alteration in the 
constitution of the blood, which consists, roughly speaking, of a dimi- 
nution of the red blood-corpuscles and of the albumin and the iron 
in the blood, with an increase in the white blood-corpuscles and the 
watery element. In some cases this change is much exaggerated, 
until an intense degree of anaemia appears in the puerperal state 
which, in its severity, will simulate pernicious anaemia or some fatal 
form of blood disease. The anaemia of puerperal women, however, 
even in exaggerated cases, usually yields to treatment in a most 
gratifying manner. After the prolonged use of Blaud's pills the 
writer has seen the blood-corpuscles rise from less than three to 
nearly four and a half millions, and the haemoglobin increase from 
40 to 75 per cent, in a few weeks. In some cases arsenic alone suc- 
ceeds where iron fails completely. 

Eclampsia. 

To treat eclampsia intelligently and successfully it is necessary to 
understand its etiology as fully as modern knowledge permits. Al- 
though the subject needs more light from future investigations, enough 
is now known to justify the following statement: 



652 DISEASES. 

1. The cell-activity of mother and foetus produces excrementitious 
substances which will surely prove virulently poisonous to the whole 
organism unless they are voided or made harmless by the excretory 
organs. 1 

2. The organs in the childbearing woman are often inadequate to 
the disposal of effete material from the maternal and foetal bodies. 

3. Consequently, poisons, of a nature not yet demonstrated, are 
stored up in the maternal blood until, by cumulative action, their 
presence is manifested in the eclamptic seizure and other symptoms. 

4. The convulsions are probably the result of an acute cerebral 
anaemia brought a.bout by violent contraction of the arterioles, pos- 
sibly by direct irritation of the brain-substance. As a result of 
intense muscular action the circulation is interfered with, and blood 
is determined to non-muscular regions, as the brain, lungs, kidneys, 
etc., to such a degree that the congestion of these parts become dan- 
gerous, leading to apoplexy in the brain, oedema in the lungs, and 
often a complete abrogation of renal function. 

The indications for treatment in convulsive seizures of this nature 
are plain : 

First, to attack the fons et origo matt, and to eliminate the poisons 
from the blood as quickly and in as large quantities as possible. 
Second, to diminish nervous sensibility and lessen muscular power, 
in order to reduce the convulsions in vehemence, duration, and fre- 
quency. Third, if convulsions occur during labor, to save the infant 
without adding to the risk of the mother. Fourth, to guard the 
woman from injury during the attack. 

The first indication is met by venesection, diaphoresis, and cathar- 
sis. By the first, one eliminates a certain quantity of poison along 
with the blood and relaxes the muscles. If there is sharp post- 
partum hemorrhage, or if the patient is from any cause weak and 
anaemic, bloodletting is not called for. In the ordinary case, how- 
ever, with full pulse, congested head, the veins standing out upon the 
neck and face, venesection is an undoubted advantage. While the 
median basilic of one or both arms is being opened some croton oil 
should be sent for, and 2 drops (0.1) mixed with sweet oil may be 
placed upon the tongue. Directions should at the same time be given 
to wring out three or, better, four old blankets in boiling water; these 
are to be wrapped around the legs, trunk, and arms, and well covered 
over with one or more dry blankets. The sweating thus induced is 
profuse. An ice-bag must be put to the head to prevent over-con- 
gestion of the brain. In this way one eliminates the cause of eclamp- 
tic convulsions as quickly and thoroughly as possible from the blood, 
directly and indirectly through the skin and bowels. The latter may 
be acted upon by \ grain of elaterium rubbed up in butter, or by 
compound jalap powder and calomel, instead of resorting to the croton 
oil. Pilocarpine seemed at one time an ideal remedy to secure diaph- 
oresis in eclamptic cases, but it has lately fallen into well-deserved 
disrepute. It much increases the danger of pulmonary oedema, and 
is too profound a depressant. It is no longer employed by experienced 

1 Harold C. Ernst, American System of Obstetrics, vol. ii. p. 431. 



REMITTENT FEVER. 653 

and educated obstetricians. The second indication is best met by an 
anaesthetic. Usually the convulsion first shows its approach in the 
eyes : these should be closely watched, so that on the first symptom 
of the oncoming attack chloroform may be at once administered and 
pushed as rapidly as possible. Ether is inadmissible in these cases, 
for it is slow of action, congests the brain, and irritates the kidneys. 
Just before the woman is wrapped in blankets 1 drachm (4.0) each of 
chloral and bromide of potassium in starch-water should be injected 
into the rectum. This may be repeated in an hour if necessary. 
Morphine, veratrum viride, and inhalations of nitrite of amyl have 
their enthusiastic advocates in this connection. They may be held 
in reserve in case the plan of treatment described needs reinforce- 
ment. 

If convulsions come on during labor, the child should be rapidly 
extracted as soon as the os is well dilated, but not before, because 
efforts to dilate the os would be very apt to increase the convulsions, 
and would attract the physician's attention from the woman's most 
threatening danger. Moreover, the os dilates naturally with unusual 
rapidity during eclampsia. 

The only injury to be feared during eclamptic attacks is wounds 
of the tongue from the teeth. This can be prevented by inserting 
between the teeth a brush-handle wrapped in a handkerchief or by 
drawing a towel into the mouth like a bit. Well-meaning but igno- 
rant bystanders will sometimes throw themselves upon an eclamptic 
patient to restrain her convulsions by force. This should be forbidden. 



REMITTENT FEVER. 

This is sometimes called bilious fever by reason of the violent 
bilious vomiting and jaundice which often accompany it. It separates 
itself from intermittent fever by the fact that the patient's condition, 
chiefly as regards temperature, does not have normal intervals, but 
has periods of only temporary improvement, or, in other words, the 
disease remits. 

For the proper treatment of this fever, three things must be borne 
in mind : 1. It is more dangerous than intermittent fever ; 2. It is 
dangerous in the hot stage, not in the cold stage ; 3. The patient, 
not having periods for complete or partial recovery, rapidly loses 
strength. The safety of the patient depends upon the use of large 
doses of quinine to cut short the pyrexial stage, the doses used being 
from 20 to 30 grains (1.3-2.0), preceded by a good-sized purgative 
dose of calomel, say 3 to 4 grains (0.15-0.2). If vomiting is too vio- 
lent to permit of the retention of the quinine, it must be used by the 
rectum and hypodermically, and the stomach and intestines be swept 
out by the use of divided doses of Seidlitz powder or citrate or sul- 
phate of magnesium. If purgatives are used, they should precede 
the quinine by twenty minutes, as otherwise the latter drug is swept 
out into the bowels, where it is rendered useless by reason of its pre- 
cipitation by the alkaline juices there present. Many clinicians claim 



654 DISEASES. 

that remittent fever is chiefly benefited by quinine during the remis- 
sion, and cinchonism during the pyrexial stage undoubtedly increases 
the discomfort of the patient. If pyrexia is excessive, relief must be 
sought in the cold pack and antipyrine. 

The best treatment of the vomiting is the use of small doses of 
morphine, or 3- to 5-drop (0.15-0.3) doses of the spirit of chloro- 
form in from 30 drops to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0) of cherry-laurel water. 
Aconite may also be used if the patient is strong enough. (See 
Vomiting.) 

If the belly is tender, a turpentine stupe should be applied. (See 
Turpentine.) 

If intestinal hemorrhages occur, gallic and tannic acids or Mon- 
sel's salt, in the dose of 3 grains (0.15) in hard pills, may be used, 
and cold cloths be placed over the belly. (See Hemorrhage.) 

If hematuria appears, quinine must be avoided unless the neces- 
sity for its employment is absolute because of the frequent recur- 
rence of paroxysms. Quinine in some cases increases the haema- 
turia. (See Collective Investigation by author in Therapeutic G-azette y 
July, 1892.) 

The treatment of convalescence consists in the use of tonics, such 
as quassia, calumba, gentian, Huxham's tincture, arsenic, and purga- 
tives when needed, with attention to the kidneys, the potassium salts 
being employed to keep these organs active. (See Intermittent Fever.) 



RETINITIS. 

Retinitis, or inflammation of the retina, often associated with cho- 
roiditis, is commonly the result of several constitutional diseases : 
Bright's disease, diabetes, syphilis, etc. In some cases no cause can 
be found. The general remedies must be , directed according to the 
supposed cause, and the eyes must be protected from light and all 
close work avoided. Very distinct retinal irritation may be caused 
by eye-strain, which is to be relieved by the prolonged use of atro- 
pine and dark glasses, and later suitable lenses for the correction of 
any existing error in refraction. 



RHEUMATISM (ACUTE ARTICULAR). 

No better example of the fact that therapeutics is in advance of 
pathology can be adduced than the disease known as rheumatism. 
The therapeutist cannot tell how he cures the condition designated 
by this name, simply because the pathologist cannot tell what the 
cause of the disease is, and when this information is forthcoming 
from the one side, an explanation will be immediately given by the 
other. This being the case, we must devote ourselves to the study 
of pure empiricism, and not to logical pharmacology. 

The treatment of acute articular rheumatism is divided into that 
portion devoted to the cure of the disease-process, and that directed 



RHEUMATISM, ACUTE ARTICULAR. 655 

to the relief of the pain and of the local manifestations of the dis- 
ease. 

"When an acute attack of rheumatism comes on, it is nearly always 
accompanied by a high temperature, a bounding pulse, and all the evi- 
dences of the active systemic disturbance accompanying inflammatory 
outbreaks, which, in this particular instance, involve the joints. We 
may therefore use at such times the remedies which we have learned 
are best able to combat inflammation — namely, aconite and veratrum 
viride. So powerful are these drugs in the early stages of acute 
rheumatism that some persons have believed them to be possessed of 
a specific antirheumatic power. This is, however, highly unlikely, 
as they act no better here than in other inflammatory conditions else- 
where. 

The proper manner in which to use the tincture of aconite under 
these circumstances, in a strong, healthy individual, is to administer 
3 drops (0.15) at once in a little water, and follow it by a teaspoonful 
of a mixture containing 5 drops (0.3) of tincture of aconite and 2 
ounces (64.0) of w T ater, every half-hour until perspiration on the skin 
betokens circulatory depression through the action of the drug. If 
this is not used, veratrum viride in the same proportions may be 
given. The advantages of this treatment are numerous; first, it allays 
the fever; second, it quiets nervous excitability; third, it tends to 
prevent permanent changes in the joints which are involved; and, 
last of all, it aids in the production of a sweat. Whenever these 
drugs are employed the patient must be strong and hearty, not debil- 
itated or weak, and it is to be noted that this treatment is not to be 
resorted to carelessly. Finally, care is to be taken that the symp- 
toms of depression from the drug and the disease combined do not 
become too severe. Where great exhaustion is primarily present or 
ensues upon the use of depressant drugs, alcoholic stimulants are 
particularly needed. 

Simultaneously with these internal measures a solution of bicar- 
bonate of sodium, 20 grains to the ounce (1.3 : 32.0), may be applied 
to the joints involved, by means of lint wet with this solution, with 
relief to the sense of heat or burning, or ice-cold compresses may be 
tried. In other cases relief may be obtained by applying hot cloths 
saturated with the so-called Fuller's lotion — namely, carbonate of 
sodium 6 drachms (24.0), laudanum 10 ounces (320.0), glycerin 2 
ounces (64.0), and water 9 ounces (288.0). Sometimes great relief 
is obtained by fixation of the joints by means of splints. 

A most valuable application to the inflamed joints of rheumatism, 
either during the acute stage or afterward when they remain swollen 
and enlarged, is : 

R.— Ichthyol ^iv vel gj (16.0-32.0). 

Lanolini gij (64.0).— M. 

S. — Eub in well and apply about the inflamed part on lint. 

In other cases the acute stages of the inflammation may be com- 
bated with advantage, particularly w r here there is gastric disorder, by 
the local application of salicylic acid made into an ointment with an 



656 DISEASES. 

animal fat, not vaseline or glycerin, as it is not absorbed when so 
mixed. According to Bourget, this treatment is best suited to blondes 
and young persons, as absorption is more rapid in this class of 
patients. The following salve may be prescribed : 

R. — Acid, salicylic 3J (4.0). 

Ol. terebinthin Tt\,xxx (2.0). 

Lanolin £j (32.0).— M. 

High fever is to be controlled by the same measures as the high 
fever of any other disease — by the cold pack, cold bath, or sponging 
with tepid or cold water, and by antipyretics. 

Immediately after the system has been thoroughly impressed by 
cardiac sedatives — or at once and in their place if the case is not 
seen at first or is w^eak — the physician should resort to one of three 
remedies — namely, salicylic acid or its salts, acetanilid, or antipyrin. 
The general opinion of the profession seems to be that these three 
remedies stand in the order here placed in regard to their efficiency, 
but it is also true that one will often succeed when the other fails, and 
it is worthy of note that success or failure generally asserts itself rapidly ; 
that is, the drug used gives relief in from twenty-four to seventy- 
two hours or fails altogether. It is most important to remember 
that salicylic acid only protects the cardiac valves and the entire 
endocardium from the ravages of the disease by shortening the attack, 
and not by any direct influence, and in addition that this acid, by 
reason of the profuse sweats often produced by it and its tendency to 
cause cardiac depression, must be watched lest it act unfavorably on 
the general systemic state. 

Taking up salicylic acid first, we find that its proper use is often 
misunderstood, and that it fails because of this fact. Whenever acute 
articular rheumatism appears the salicylic acid should be pushed in 
the same way that we use quinine on the advent of a malarial parox- 
ysm — namely, in full dose. 

It is useless to give salicylates in 5- or 10-grain (0.3-0.65) doses 
three times a day ; they must be given in 20-grain (1.3) doses, morn- 
ing, noon, and night, or oftener, or not at all. If the sweats are 
too severe or the stomach rebels, they may be stopped, but not 
decreased in amount unless for good reason. Further than this, if 
salicylic acid is used for two or three days in this way, and produces 
evidences of cinchonism, yet fails to alter materially the course or 
severity of the trouble, it should be withdrawn, as it will rarely if 
ever do any good after this time. (See article on Salicylic Acid.) 

A very efficient substitute for salicylic acid is the oil of gaultheria 
(wintergreen), which contains over 90 per cent, of salicylate of methyl. 
The dose should be 10 to 20 drops (0.65-1.3) on a teaspoonful of sugar 
or in capsule or emulsion three times a day, after meals. (See article 
on Gaultheria.) 

Antipyrin and acetanilid may both be considered together, since 
their action is identical in rheumatism. The author believes that 
antipyrin, while often relieving the pain more than the acetanilid, 
nevertheless does not act so favorably in decreasing the duration of 
the disease. The dose of the first should be 5 to 10 grains (0.3-0.65) 



RHEUMATISM, ACUTE ARTICULAR. 657 

three times a day; of the second, 4 to 8 grains (0.2-0.6) at the same 
intervals. 

The studies of Guttmann with acetanilid in a very large number 
of cases of rheumatism, embracing all its forms, both chronic and 
acute, have given most encouraging results, and the author has seen 
the drug act most happily in cases which had refused to yield to 
the iodides and salicylates, although all of these cases were of the 
severe acute form, suffering intense pain from the articular inflamma- 
tion, but devoid of any cardiac complications. It at once becomes 
evident that a drug such as antipyrin or acetanilid may do good in 
a case of rheumatism in three entirely separate and distinct ways, any 
one of which may be active at once or all active together, hand in 
hand, in the improvement of the patient's state. Any substance pos- 
sessing strong antipyretic power must be of value under such circum- 
stances, because of the lowering of the fever which follows its admin- 
istration, with the resulting quieting of an excited system, and in 
putting aside the delirium associated with a condition of hyperpy- 
rexia. Not only does such a drug act favorably in this manner, but 
the analgesic effects of such a substance must exert a powerful influ- 
ence for good. By benumbing the sensibility of the patient to the 
excruciating pain consequent upon movement, and so putting aside 
the nervous wear and tear of sleeplessness and suffering, the patient's 
state must be improved, or at least not grow worse from the exhaus- 
tion of the long hours of agony. Further than this, it would seem 
probable that acetanilid possesses a direct antirheumatic influence, 
allaying the disease-processes even in those forms where, pain being 
largely absent, the improvement must be real and not apparent. 

The intention of the author is not to extol the value of acetanilid 
and antipyrin in rheumatism to the exclusion of other means of re- 
lief, nor to recommend their use before the more thoroughly tried sali- 
cylates and iodides, but to draw to their standard a certain number of 
cases which persistently resist treatment of the ordinary stamp, and 
which put the physician to his wit's end for a change of treatment at 
least promising some chance of relief. Many of the readers of this 
book have doubtless seen such cases, and many of them must have 
learned by sad experience that acute articular rheumatism is in many 
cases bound to run a course of so many weeks or days, do what we 
will. Under these circumstances nothing acts further than a pal- 
liative, and the patient and his friends become impatient for a change. 
The author has found that acetanilid in such cases will often relieve 
the pain, and so permit a refreshing sleep, in doses of from 4 to 8 
grains (0.2-0.6) three times a day, and that these amounts do not 
cause the excessive sweating which the necessarily large doses of 
salicylate are sure to produce — sweats which leave the patient often- 
times almost dyspnoeic from very weakness. Whether this temporary 
relief produces such changes in the system as to permit of a better 
battle against the disease, or whether it actually counteracts the rheu- 
matic poison, we know not; but we do know that after the use of ace- 
tanilid the relief is not only temporary, but often permanent, and 

42 



658 DISEASES. 

that a very distinct step in advance is made toward the close of the 
attack if any influence at all is felt. 

The following prescription, which is of additional value because 
the caffeine supports the heart and increases urinary secretion, is 
recommended : 

R.— Acetanilid gr. xl (2.6). 

Caffein gr. xx (1.3). 

Camphor, monobromat . . . . gr. xx (1.3). — M. 

Ft. in capsul. vel pil. No. xx. 
S. — One every three hours or three times a day. 

Phenacetin is often very useful when used in rheumatism, partic- 
ularly if combined with salol. 

Passing from what may be appropriately called the coal-tar treat- 
ment of rheumatism, because all the drugs so far named for internal 
use have such a source, we come to a list of remedies heretofore 
largely used in rheumatism in place of the newer compounds, but 
which are not so commonly employed to-day. 

These remedies act, as a rule, in the subacute forms of rheumatism 
or in the cases where the first group fail because the disease is obsti- 
nate. Of these the chief is the iodide of potassium, followed by the 
acetate, bicarbonate, and citrate of potassium. If the iodide is used, 
the following prescription is of service : 

R.— Potassii iodidi ...••■ gj (32.0). 

Syr. sarsaparilbe comp. . f.fvj (192.0). — M. 

S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) three times a day, after meals. 

In other cases it is best, because of the disagreeable taste of the 
iodide, to give it in sugar-coated pill or in tablet form, but care should 
be taken that milk or water is taken at the same time to prevent 
gastric irritation. 

Or, if preferred, 20 to 30 grains (1.3-2.0) of the bicarbonate of 
potassium may be taken every four or five hours in water flavored with 
cinnamon for the sake of the taste, or the citrate of potassium, which 
is more agreeable, may be taken in equal amount. Sometimes a little 
colchicum added to the prescription given above may be useful if the 
case is very obstinate, as follows : 

R.— Potassii iodidi ........ g j vel gij (32.0-64.0), 

Vini colchici radicis f^ij vel fjfss (8.0-16.0). 

Syr. sarsaparillffi comp. . q. s. ad f|vj vel fgxij (192.0-384.0). — M. 
S. — Dessertspoonful (8.0) three times a day, after meals. 

Haig has proved that in rheumatism there is retention of uric acid, 
and that the use of alkalies and the salicylates at once causes this sub- 
stance to be changed into a soluble form ready for elimination. 

The other drugs used in acute rheumatism are numerous, but only 
a few of them deserve attention here. There is abundant evidence 
on record that full doses (10 to 30 drops [0.65-2.0]), of the fluid 
extract of cimicifuga if given every five hours will decrease the red- 
ness and pain of the joints and shorten the attack in some cases. 
Again, certain species of rhus, as rhus toxicodendron, are useful if 
fresh preparations are at hand. The dose of rhus toxicodendron is 



RHEUMATISM, CHRONIC. 659 

Y 1 -^ to 1 drop (0.006-0.05) of a tincture made by adding 1 part of the 
fresh leaves of poison-ivy to 2 parts of alcohol, this dose being taken 
three times a day. Where the pain seems particularly severe at night 
this drug is very valuable, according to many careful students of 
therapeutics. 

Nearly every case of acute rheumatism will do better if a strong 
mixture of lemon- or lime-juice and water be taken daily in large 
quantities. 

The local remedies in rheumatism are chiefly counter-irritants and 
sedatives. Thus, small or large blisters applied around an inflamed 
joint after the general systemic excitement is passed may be of great 
value in restoring the suppleness of the joint and in aiding in the 
absorption of the effusion. The remaining local treatment consists in 
thoroughly painting the inflamed parts with tincture of iodine if blis- 
ters are not used, and in the application of veratrine ointment or 
iodine ointment around the joint. (See Veratrina.) 

Salol, which is dissolved and absorbed solely in the intestine 
through the action of the juices there present, has been used in the 
place of salicylic acid with success ; but it is worthy of note that, as 
it contains 40 per cent, of carbolic acid in addition to the salicylic 
acid, its use in very large amounts is dangerous. (See Salol and 
Salophen.) 



RHEUMATISM (CHRONIC). 

Chronic rheumatism is one of the most difficult and obstinate dis- 
eases with which we have to deal. In some cases the acute form just 
considered merges slowly into the chronic form, or, in other instances, 
the disease gradually comes on, increasing, it may be, by exacerba- 
tions or by gradual progression. The treatment of chronic rheuma- 
tism is somewhat different from that of the more acute forms, and 
approaches that of gout in some of its therapeutical indications. In 
other words, the salicylates are not so useful in these cases as are the 
iodides and colchicum, so that in the majority of instances the pre- 
scription of iodide, sarsaparilla, and colchicum given in the article on 
Acute Rheumatism is indicated. When anaemia or weakness is pres- 
ent, cod-liver oil is often of great service, and it is worthy of note that 
this useful nutritive remedy was first brought into therapeutics by 
the fishwives of Holland, who found it useful in the attacks of rheu- 
matism to which their husbands were subjected through exposure. 

When the oil is thoroughly rubbed into chronically-inflamed joints 
it is almost as useful as when taken internally. 

The same forms of severe counter-irritation are not so useful in 
chronic rheumatism as in acute rheumatism, but a very valuable 
therapeutic measure in these cases is the use of the Russian or Turk- 
ish bath or an improvised sweat by means of a lamp and a blanket. 
(See Heat, and Cold.) Liniments are always called for, for two 
reasons : First, they relieve pain and do good to the parts, if not 
from their medicinal properties at least by the rubbing which accom- 
panies their application ; second, because they give the patient some- 



660 DISEASES. 

thing to do or to have done, and therefore impress him with the 
object-lesson that his attendants are attendant and alive to his suffer- 
ing and need of sympathy and care. 

Among the lower classes the belief in liniments is very widespread, 
and their use will often instil into the minds of the friends a far 
greater confidence than the most logical of treatments with the lini- 
ment left out of the list of remedial measures. 

The following liniments will be found very useful under these 
circumstances : 

R.— Tr. aconiti fgij (8.0). 

Tr. opii f|j (32.0). 

Olei terebinthinse f|j vel fgij (32.0-64.0). 

Liniraenti saponis . . . . q. s. ad f^viij (256.0). — M. 
S. — Poison. Use as a liniment three times a day. 



Or 



R. — Aquae ammonia? fort f^iv (16.0). 

Olei cajuputi .... . . . . f^j (4.0). 

Tr. belladonnse f|j vel f|ij (32.0-64.0). 

Linimenti camphorse . q. s. ad f^viij (256.0). — M. 

S. — Poison. Use as a liniment. 



Or, 

J 



R .— Tr. opii 

Tr. aconit. J- aa f£iv (16.0). 

Aquse ammon. fort. 

Linimenti chloroformi f^vj (192.0). — M. 

S. — Poison. Use as a liniment to chronically-inflamed muscles or joints. 



In other instances the greatest relief is obtained by employing 
the following ointment of veratrine: 

R. — Veratrinse . . . gr. xxx (1.6). 

Hydrargyri iodidi flav %] (4.0). 

Petrolati '^ij (64.0).— M. 

S. — Use as an ointment over the joints. 

This ointment ought not to be widely distributed, and the pulse and 
respiration should be watched, as the veratrine may be absorbed and 
depression of a severe character set in. 

For the reduction of enlargements of the joints due to the dis- 
ease, and accompanied in some cases by pain, the following ointment 
is serviceable : 

R.— Unguent, iodi |j (32.0). 

Adipis • • • • • 3iv vel jj (16.0-32.0).— M. 

S. — Apply locally. 

Or, still better, 

R.— Ichthyol #v to ^j (16.0-32.0). 

Adipis 3j (32.0).— M. 

S. — Eub into the joints thoroughly. 

Ichthyol is certainly the most efficient remedy that we have for 
the enlarged and painful joints. 

The employment of red flannel over inflamed joints is no better 
than the use of white flannel, and it is never beneficially "medi- 



RICKETS. 661 

cated," as claimed in the stores. The only advantage of red flannel 
is that, as it is dyed, the wool is often better for not being thoroughly 
bleached, and is in larger amount. The disadvantages of red flannel 
are that if the patient sweats it stains the clothes, and the possibility 
of its producing irritation of the skin or even systemic effects of 
an evil character. 



RICKETS. 

Rickets may be defined as a state of the body of an infant or child 
in which there is a deficiency of the normal salts of the bones and 
tissues, with corresponding enlargement of the organic portion of the 
bone, or, in other words, the cartilaginous parts. Generally the term 
is applied solely to designate bony troubles, but every practising 
physician sees cases where the manifestations of rickets are empha- 
sized in gastro-intestinal disorders rather than in bony deformities. 
The chief cause of rickets in children, aside from the presence of any 
disease, such as scrofulosis, is inanition ; that is, non-nutrition of a 
specialized form, or, in other words, bone-salts starvation. This may 
occur after or before birth, and it is quite common to see children, 
born of mothers ill-fed or whose assimilation of salts is defective, with 
soft bones or a distinct tendency to rickety development. 

The treatment of rickets is therefore largely dietetic and devoted 
to the improvement of the food and digestion. No part of the body 
fails in force more than the digestive apparatus in the presence of this 
disease, probably because the alkalinity of the blood is altered, and 
partly because the stomach cannot secrete properly -formed juices from 
imperfectly-nourished glands. 

The medicines to be used in rickets are general tonics, digestive 
tonics and stimulants, and bone tonics and stimulants, such as salts 
of lime and phosphorus. The general tonics are quinine, cod-liver 
oil, nux vomica, and iron, while the digestive tonics are the simple 
bitters, physostigma, and mineral acids. The bone tonics and stim- 
ulants are lime salts, phosphorus, and phosphate of zinc. 

Tonic treatment is best carried out in young children by the admin- 
istration of quinine in the form of quinine chocolates or by the use 
of strychnine in the dose of -^q- to ywq °f a grain (0.0003-0.0006) 
in sugar-coated pink granules. Arsenite of copper in the dose of 
-j-J-q of a grain (0.0006) in tablet triturate three times a day is also 
useful. 

A very useful preparation is the following : 

R.— Olei morrhuse fgvj (24.0). 

Lkjuo^^ aa f^iij (96.0).-M. 

S. — J to 1 teaspoonfal (2.0-4.0) two or three times a day. Shake thoroughly. 

Nux vomica is so bitter as to be difficult of administration to young 
children, and when given only ^ to \ of a drop (0.008-0.016) of the 
tincture should be used, three times a day. 

Where a distinct scrofulous tendency exists and anaemia is present 
small doses of the syrup of the iodide of iron are of service, and -^ 



662 DISEASES. 

to 1 drop (0.006-0.05) may be given three or four times a day to a 
child of six months or a year, thus : 

R. — Syrupi ferri iodidi gtt. iij vel xxiv (0.15- J .5). 

Aquae dest q. s. ad f^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every four or five hours during the day. 



Or, 



R. — Syrupi ferri iodidi gtt. v vel xx (0.3-1.3). 

Syrupi q. s. ad f^iij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) three times a day, after meals. 



Here, again, arsenite of copper is a particularly valuable remedy. 

The salts of lime and sodium are of direct benefit to the bones, 
forming by their presence in health a large proportion of the osseous 
system, and therefore they may be considered as foods rather than 
drugs. Very often their administration to nursing mothers or preg- 
nant women saves the maternal teeth from caries and preserves the 
general health of the mother and child. The following prescription 
may be used : 

R. — Syrupi ealcis lactophosphatis . . .... f§iv (128.0). 

S. — J to 1 teaspoonful (2.0-4.0) three times a day, after meals. 

The reasons for the use of phosphorus are clear, from what has 
been said of that drug when speaking of it elsewhere in this book, as 
it acts as a direct and powerful stimulant of bone-growth. 

Phosphorus is best given to children in the form of very small 
sugar-coated pills (-g-J-^ gr. [0.0003]), such as are put up in the form 
known as "pink granules " by manufacturing chemists. 

Phosphate of lime and phosphate of sodium are valuable remedies 
in rhachitis. They are never to be used in large doses, because they 
will not be assimilated and will only disorder the stomach. The 
proper dose of each is 1 to 2 grains (0.05-0.1), placed in the milk, 
where their presence will not be noted. 

The ventilation of the rooms where a child prone to rickets is 
kept should be excellent, not too hot or cold and free from draughts. 
A cool sponge-bath is useful at night if the patient is strong enough, 
or a good rubbing with salt and whiskey, 1 drachm (4.0) of salt to a 
pint of whiskey, is of still greater service. 

Special attention should be paid to the development of the mus- 
cles by massage and passive movements, as these parts are always 
weak. Walking must not be allowed too early, as it may cause 
bony deformities. 

SCARLET FEVER. 

This disease, the most fatal of all the exanthematous diseases of 
childhood, requires the greatest care in its treatment. Complica- 
tions constantly arise requiring skill on the part of the attendant, 
and it is upon his success in treating these outbreaks, as well as 
in the general direction of the case, that the life of the patient 
chiefly depends. It has been claimed by certain practitioners that 
one or two remedies, which they have used, act as abortifacients of 
the attack, decreasing its severity, its duration, and the probability of 



SCARLET FEVER. 663 

complications. Thus, one European physician has used salicylates 
with wonderful results, if his claims are true, for he found them to 
prevent all complications and even to remove them when present. 
He gives, throughout the entire attack and for some days after defer- 
vescence has ensued, the following : 

R. — Sodii salicylat gr. xlviij (3.0). 

Aquse destillat ... f^ij (8.0). 

Syr. aurantii q. s. ad f|iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every hour during the day and every two or three hours at 
night, in a little water. 

In this country some practitioners have employed chloral through- 
out the entire attack, with asserted good results, in the following 
manner ; but in the opinion of the author this method is not the best 
for most cases, unless the nervous manifestations are very marked, 
when the chloral treatment is of great value. 

The plan is as follows : " As soon as the patient is suspected or 
known to be developing scarlatina, a laxative dose of calomel, pro- 
portionate to the age and general condition, is administered. Shortly 
thereafter chloral is given in moderate doses, at intervals of two or 
three hours or longer, throughout the attack. The dose varies with 
the age of the child ; the frequency of its administration depends 
largely upon its effect. To infants of two or three years a dose of 
from 1 to 2 grains (0.05-0.1) may be given, the dosage being grad- 
ually increased with older children, that for adolescents reaching 5 
grains (0.3). The tranquillizing and sleep-producing effects of the 
drug are, in most instances, promptly realized, the patient falling into 
a condition of quietude, instead of the restlessness and jactitation 
which are so distressing in the well-developed forms of the disease. 

" The repetition of the dose should not be more frequent than is 
necessary to maintain this condition of quietude — a condition from 
which the patient may be easily aroused, and into which he quickly 
relapses when left undisturbed. It is neither necessary nor desirable 
to push the drug to the establishment of a deeper sleep. Profound 
narcotism is, of course, to be avoided. The patient may thus be 
kept in a condition of light repose throughout the whole duration of 
the fever. By this means not only is there obtained relief from the 
restlessness and distress of the active period of disease, but much 
wear and tear of the nervous system and some exhaustion from mus- 
cular effort are prevented. Delirium is controlled ; the itching and 
burning of the skin, due to the eruption, are allayed ; in a word, the 
greater number of the distressing symptoms of the disease are favor- 
ably influenced by the cautious and prolonged administration of chloral 
hydrate in efficient doses." 

As a rule, the drug is easy of administration and well borne by 
the stomach. Its acrid after-taste is best masked by its administra- 
tion in Aubergier's syrup of lactucarium, diluted, thus : 



R.— Chloralis gr. xxx (2.0). 

Syrup, lactucarii (Aubergier) | < _ f ^ s yel «. (16 _ 32>(y 

S. — A teaspoonful (4.0) in iced water every two, three, or four hours 



664 DISEASES. 

u The administration of nourishment immediately after the medi- 
cine is desirable. The sleep-inducing properties of the drug manifest 
themselves rapidly, but are not prolonged ; therefore its repetition at 
intervals of two or three hours is called for." 

From the very beginning of an attack to its end unless diabetes 
comes on, the child should be supplied with plenty of pure water, 
and, if possible, this water should be obtained from a spring contain- 
ing a low percentage of solids, as Poland water, which is widely sold 
throughout this country. If this is impossible, then Vichy water may 
be employed, or it may be used by obtaining the granulated Vichy 
salts sold by most large drug firms, and adding this in small amounts 
to pure filtered or distilled water. This makes an effervescing draught 
which may be taken while bubbling or not as the child desires. The 
object of this treatment is to flush out the kidneys, and to so dilute 
the effete matters generated in the body by the fever and the germs 
of the disease that they lose, to a great extent at least, their poison- 
ous and irritating powers. 

In other cases a prescription containing sweet spirit of nitre and 
citrate of potassium proves useful, as follows : 

R.— Spt. aether, nitros f?j (32.0). 

Potassii citratis gij (8.0). 

Aquee q. s. ad fgvj (192.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every two hours if the urine is high-colored. 

The convulsions which sometimes usher in an attack are to be 
treated by 5-grain (0.3) doses of chloral and 10 to 20 grains (0.65-1.3) 
of bromide of sodium for a child of five to eight years. The convul- 
sions of the advanced stages are often ursemic, and must be treated 
accordingly. 

The further treatment of the disease rests upon the symptoms 
alone. We cannot cure the patient by the use of remedies, but we 
can do much toward making the pathway to health smooth and free 
from pitfalls and obstructions. 

Probably the most common complications calling for treatment, 
when the kidneys have been treated in the way just spoken of, are 
high temperature or fever, and sore throat or angina. The fever is 
to be controlled in these cases in precisely the same way that it is in 
all other conditions in which it is present. It is best to attempt to 
keep it down below 101°, or at least below 102° F., by tepid spong- 
ing, which also allays the itching of the skin, or, if the fever still 
rises, by the use of colder water, or even the cold pack if the parents 
will allow it. Generally the popular fear that the application of cold 
to the surface will drive the eruption " inward" is so strong as to 
make the cold pack objectionable in the eyes of the friends; but if 
the temperature reaches 105° F., the physician must assert the fallacy 
of this belief and insist on its use. (See Cold, Part III.) If sup- 
pression of the rash does occur, we must use the wet pack. (See Heat, 
Part III.) Antipyrin and acetanilid, to be sure, may both be used, 
but it is worthy of note that each of these may produce collapse or 
other complication if large doses are necessitated by an obstinately 



SCARLET FEVER. 665 

high temperature. If these complications ensue, alcohol will be indi- 
cated. Quinine has been highly recommended as an antipyretic in 
scarlet fever, but it is of little value in the majority of cases, simply 
disordering the stomach and irritating the kidneys if used in doses 
large enough to be effective. Where the head seems to be particu- 
larly hot and the fever is high, an ice-bag or a head-coil of rubber 
tubing is to be employed, and through the latter water may be circu- 
lated at whatever temperature is thought best. (See Cold, Part III.) 

The treatment of the sore throat of scarlet fever is an important 
part of the care of the child in many cases. Small pellets of ice 
may be held in the mouth and an ice-bag applied to the outside of 
the throat. This is done by finely breaking up some ice and placing 
it in a thin india-rubber bag about the neck, the surface of the bag 
being covered by a cloth to prevent too rapid melting of the ice and 
the wetting of the clothes by the condensation of moisture on the 
surface of the bag. This treatment should be used during the entire 
attack if needed, and the contents of the bag renewed as often as 
the water becomes at all warm from the heat of the body. By this 
means the redness of the fauces and the swelling of the glands of 
the neck are prevented or relieved. Chlorate of potassium may be 
used in a spray or on a swab, but never internally, owing to its irri- 
tant effects upon the kidneys and stomach and its general influence on 
the blood. 

In some cases where the eruption fades or is never very prominent 
it is of the greatest importance that it be made active. Under these 
circumstances the child may be placed in the warm wet pack, and, if 
the head is very hot, cold applied to the vertex and throat while the 
body is enveloped in the blanket. (See Heat.) This often brings out 
in an hour or two a bright scarlet rash, and the child falls, asleep and 
•wakes up free from delirium and high fever. 

The itching and burning of the skin in many cases of scarlet fever 
are annoying symptoms, and they may become really dangerous. The 
author has recently carried out a series of experiments showing that 
fever of high degree can be brought on solely through nervous irri- 
tation, thus explaining a fact long well known to clinicians — namely, 
that the relief of this dermal irritation in scarlet fever may be fol- 
lowed by a fall of temperature. To relieve this symptom it will often 
be found advisable to cover the entire skin with a thin layer of vase- 
line or cosmoline or benzoated lard, or, in other cases, as an antisep- 
tic and local anaesthetic, carbolized oil may be applied (2 drops of 
carbolic acid to each 2 ounces [0.1 : 64.0] of olive oil). In other 
cases almond oil should be used. 

If nephritis comes on and is a pressing condition, the greatest care 
is necessary, and the object of the physician must be to make the skin, 
disabled as it is, carry out a sufficiently. active eliminative function to 
relieve the kidneys of any strain, to remove dropsy, and to aid in the 
removal of effete matter by producing catharsis. Sweating may also 
be produced by the employment of heat obtained by the use of bottles 
of hot water or hot bricks placed about the patient, who is first 
wrapped in blankets, so arranged that sweating will come on, and 



666 DISEASES. 

so that the bottles cannot burn the skin. The thermometer must be 
placed in the mouth to foretell any danger from heat-stroke if the 
sweat should fail to appear. In such cases the hot pack is of great 
value. (See Heat.) 

The after-treatment of scarlet fever during convalescence consists 
in the use of Basham's mixture or the tincture of the chloride of iron, 
and in the employment of simple bitters, strychnine, or quinine. 
Fresh air, sea-air or mountain-air is useful, while cold or exposure 
to cold air or draughts is to be carefully guarded against. 



SCIATICA. 

Sciatica is an exceedingly obstinate affection, in the majority of 
cases resisting the best treatment for weeks. It seems to be due to 
rheumatic taint in the majority of instances, and may sometimes be 
eured by the remedies used and described under the heading of Acute 
or Chronic Rheumatism. In other instances it is due to injury or 
jarring of the nerve, as by heavy persons stepping off from a high 
step to the hard ground. Thus the most obstinate case ever seen by 
the writer was one in which a stout man weighing about two hundred 
and fifty pounds acted as "coupler" on a switching engine, and, 
though wonderfully agile for his weight, provoked the disease in the 
leg on which he always first struck the ground when jumping from 
the platform of the moving locomotive. 

The treatment for all cases is both internal and external. The 
internal treatment may be the same as that already described under 
Acute or Chronic Rheumatism, or in other instances consists in the 
use of large doses of bitartrate or citrate of potassium, 40 grains 
(3-0) three times a day, in plenty of water to aid in the maintenance 
of free kidney action. At the same time the amount of coffee and 
tea should be cut down as much as possible, and lemonade, strongly 
acid, be taken freely during the day. If the pain is very excessive, 
morphine should be given, or antipyrin or acetanilid may be used. 

The local treatment of sciatica is quite various. One of the favor- 
ite methods is to inject deeply into the flesh, just over or about the 
exit of the nerve from the pelvis, 10 to 20 minims (0.65-1.3) of chlo- 
roform, or instead of the chloroform ^ to J grain (0.01-0.016) of mor- 
phine, in 30 minims (2.0) of water which has first been distilled and 
sterilized, may be used with equally good results and less danger of 
sloughing. Other physicians prefer acupuncture, the needle being 
driven down until the sheath of the nerve is punctured. Still another 
useful method is to take a strong glass rod with a round, smooth end, 
and, after anointing the skin over the course of the nerve with a little 
ichthyol ointment or lard, to pass the end of the rod back and forth 
over the tender area, using as much pressure as can be borne. By 
this means massage or pressure on the nerve is accomplished. In 
other cases the daily use of an ether or rhigolene spray over the part 
is effective, or kataphoresis may be resorted to. In still others, from 
three to five large wet or dry cups, preferably the wet, may be placed 



SCLERITIS— SCROFULOSIS. 667 

along the course of the sciatic nerve -with great advantage. In many 
cases absolute rest of the limb, obtained by placing it in splints, has to 
be adhered to before cure can be possible. Hot-Avater bags should be 
placed continually about the exit of the sciatic nerve from the pelvis. 
The liniments recommended in chronic rheumatism may be tried, 
and cod-liver oil is of service in obstinate cases. Sometimes nerve- 
stretching must be performed before a cure is effected. 



SCLERITIS. 

Scleritis, or inflammation of the sclera, consists in a bluish-red, 
somewhat elevated patch, with implication. of the overlying episcleral 
tissue (episcleritis). In the earlier stages pain and photophobia, if 
present, require atropine and boric acid and compresses of hot water; 
later, the infiltration may be subdued with yellow-oxide-of-mercury 
ointment, associated with massage. If the disease spread and impli- 
cate the cornea and iris, the treatment useful in ordinary iritis is in- 
dicated. In stubborn episcleritis, without iritis, which does not yield 
to these measures, eserine, usually accompanied by pilocarpine sweats, 
should be tried, and even the actual cautery has been recommended. 
The disease in many instances is associated with rheumatism, syphilis, 
scrofula, anaemia, and menstrual disorders : these must always receive 
the needed constitutional treatment, especially if iritis or keratitis 
ensue. Scleritis is a disease hard to eradicate and subject to frequent 
relapses. 

SCROFULOSIS. 

Scrofulosis is to be treated by hygienic measures rather than 
drugs — fresh air, residence by the seaside, proper out-door exercise, 
massage, and dietetics, all of which take precedence of medicines. 

If these necessary adjuncts to a cure are obtainable, the prognosis 
is fair, to say the least, and the following drugs may be used, all of 
them being devoted to the improvement of the general health, and 
not to any direct influence over the scrofulous tendency in itself. It 
is hardly necessary to state that cod-liver oil (or its supposed active 
principles combined under the name of morrhuol) is perhaps the best 
remed} T of all. The oil should be given in emulsion, being first pan- 
creatized and so prepared as to be somewhat palatable by the addition 
of flavoring substances if the child is old enough to appreciate such 
flavors. In young children, while distaste to the oil is often shown at 
first, a liking for it rapidly develops, so that the writer has seen chil- 
dren cry for it when the oil was discontinued. It is nearly always 
best to combine the lactophosphates or the hypophosphites with the 
oil when it is given in these cases. Whenever anaemia is present, 
syrup of the iodide of iron is useful in from 1- to 10-drop (0.05-0.65) 
doses, according to the age of the child, as follows : 

R.— Syrupi ferri iodidi f^ss vel fgij (2.0-8.0). 

Aquae dest q. s. ad fgiij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) in water three times a day, after meals, to a child of one year. 



668 DISEASES. 

In these same cases -^ grain (0.001) of arsenous acid or yj-g- 
grain (0.0006) of corrosive sublimate may be given to a child of three 
or four years, in the form of tablet triturates, or the following pre- 
scriptions may be used : 

R. — Liquor potassii arsenitis ^xvj (1.0). 

Aquse destillat. . f^ij (64.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) three times a day, after food. 



Or, 



R. — Hydrarg. chlor. corros. . . gr. ^ vel gr. | (0.006-0.012). 

Aqua? destillat fgij (64.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every five hours, after food. 



The use of the iodides is generally contraindicated in those cases 
where softening and breaking down of the glands are going on rap- 
idly. In their place we may employ the phosphates of lime or sodium 
in from 1- to 2-grain (0.05-0.1) doses several times a day, and if sup- 
puration is active the sulphurate of calcium, given by placing 1 grain 
(0.05) of it in half a tumblerful of water and giving a teaspoonful 
hourly. This mixture should be made fresh every day to prevent its 
becoming oxidized. 

Where enlargement of the cervical glands takes place, iodine 
ointment, diluted, one-half of lard, should be well rubbed into the 
part twice daily, but it should be stopped at once if any signs of 
softening or fluctuation appear or if the skin becomes reddened. In 
cases in w T hich these enlargements are persistent, ichthyol ointment is 
to be rubbed in, using the following formula : 

K— Ichthyol . 3ij vel iij (8.0-12.0). 

Adipis I] (32.0).— M. 

S. — Apply locally. 

If this is not followed by a cure, the glands should be excised or 

scraped and the cavity packed with iodoform, as in the majority of 

cases these enlargements will be found to be distinctly tuberculous. 
(See Adenitis.) 

SCURVY. 

Scorbutus is caused so frequently by dietetic lawlessness, and its 
cure is so completely dependent upon the use of proper foods, that 
almost no drugs are to be employed in its treatment. The avoidance 
of all salt meats, or, more important still, the avoidance of those foods, 
be they what they may, which have caused the disease in a given case, 
is to be practised. 

The only remedies particularly indicated are lemon-juice or lime- 
juice or citric acid, the latter being far less valuable in all cases than 
the juice of the fresh fruit. Where lemon-juice causes indigestion 
this effect may be avoided by boiling the lemonade and allowing it to 
cool. The boiling precipitates certain poisonous and irritating albu- 
minoids, and the supernatant liquid when taken away is devoid of 
any evil influence, and may be cooled and sweetened to suit the taste 
of the individual concerned. Arsenic and iron are of service in most 
cases, and rest and quiet are to be insisted upon. 



SHOCK. 669 

By far the more common form of scurvy is seen in bottle-fed babies. 
The child may or may not have rachitic manifestations. Generally it 
loses animation, becomes listless and peevish, evidently suffers pain 
in its body and limbs when it is lifted from the bed, and looks feeble 
and wan. The gums become spongy and swollen and have an ecchy- 
motic appearance, and light blows produce bruises out of proportion to 
the severity of the injury. The treatment of infantile scurvy is a 
complete rearrangement of the child's diet-list, and varying its food. 
No one baby food should be used to the exclusion of another, and 
sterilized milk is to be supplanted, if possible, by fresh new milk. 



SHOCK. 

The medical treatment of shock is very important, and the life of 
the patient depends upon the care exercised by the attendant ; but before 
describing the treatment it is in place to consider the causes of the con- 
dition and the state of the injured person, so that we may understand 
the methods indicated. Every physiologist recognizes the fact that 
the body, particularly in its most vital parts, is controlled by inhibi- 
tory and accelerator nerves or nerve-cells, which govern the functions 
of all organs. Normally these two forces, of inhibition and acceleration 
act in such a way as to be perfectly balanced, but abnormally they may 
either of them become excessive and overcome the other. Further 
than this, we must remember that all conditions of great functional 
-activity are ultimately followed by a reaction which amounts to 
depression or exhaustion. 

Shock consists in an over-stimulation of the inhibitory apparatus 
which governs the heart and respiration, ultimately followed by ex- 
haustion of inhibition, so that the pulse and breathing become rapid 
and shallow instead of slow. Various degrees of shock can be readily 
recognized, and the severity of the condition always depends upon 
the constitution of the individual. Every one has heard a nervous 
woman say, "You frightened me so that my heart stood still," and 
again, a moment later, " Just feel how fast my heart is beating :" and 
we all of us know how any severe and sudden shock causes these 
changes to appear in the pulse to some degree. The same mechanism 
is the cause of shock in railway or other injuries, only it is much 
more severe, owing to the actual injury received and its accompany- 
ing terrors. Many of the readers of this book probably know that 
a violent blow upon the belly-wall just over the solar plexus will 
cause death even in so large an animal as the ox, and every boy has 
had the "breath knocked out of him " by a blow in this region. 

This period of inhibitory excitement speedily gives place to inhib- 
itory exhaustion, and we have a rapid pulse from inhibitory palsy, 
while through the palsy of the vasomotor system the blood-vessels are 
relaxed and the normal resistance to the heart is taken away. The 
heat beats wdldly and fast for the same reason that a locomotive's 
wheels fly round when the track is slippery — or, in other w r ords, nor- 
mal resistance is lost. 



670 DISEASES. 

The capillaries in this second stage of shock are dilated, and the 
skin is relaxed, moist, and cold from excessive dissipation of heat. 
This is the more prolonged stage of the two, but they both need 
active treatment. 

The patient will rarely be seen in the first stage of shock, simply 
because by the time the physician reaches him the second stage will 
have come on. In either event the principal things to be done are 
the administration of fa to fa grain (0.001-0.0012) of sulphate of 
atropine hypodermically, and the application of external heat to main- 
tain the bodily temperature, the fall of which is a factor of great 
importance, but generally overlooked in attending to an operation or 
other measures of relief. The use of atropine is peculiarly a triumph 
of experimental therapeutics and rests upon logical deduction. It 
will be remembered that atropine in full dose acts as a depressant to 
the vagus nerve, and, as this nerve is over-active in the first stage, the 
drug acts as a sedative to it. This is, however, a comparatively un- 
important fact, for it is another action of atropine which makes it 
valuable. If the vagus be very much stimulated, a safe dose of atro- 
pine cannot quiet it, but in the second stage, which we most com- 
monly have to treat, a safe dose does not act so much upon the vagus 
as upon the vasomotor system, and by preventing the dilatation of the 
blood-vessels of the body thereby provides blood-paths of normal tone 
and tenseness, which do not hold all the blood in stagnant pools where 
it is not needed, but carry it to the brain and vital parts. Digitalis is 
a useful adjuvant to atropine in the second stage of shock because of 
its powerful vasomotor and cardiac influence. 20 drops (1.3) of the 
tincture of digitalis should be given hypodermically, and repeated in 
an hour if the pulse does not show the influence of the drug at the 
end of that time. 

The application of heat in the form of hot-water cans, hot bricks 
or bottles, must not be forgotten, care being taken that the patient is 
not burned. (See article on Heat, Part III.) 

In many cases of surgical shock hypodermoclysis of hot saline 
solutions is of the greatest value, particularly if much blood has been 
lost. (See Hypodermoclysis, Part III.) 



SMALLPOX. 

The treatment of smallpox is not specific, simply because it is one 
of those diseases which run a given course and which we cannot 
abort. We can only treat the various symptoms which present them- 
selves, and by the modification of these manifestations prevent com- 
plications and sequelae to some extent. The fever is to be treated as 
is any fever of this class. Often it can be allayed by a mixture con- 
taining tincture of aconite, spirit of nitre, and spirit of Mindererus 
(liquor ammonii acetatis), while the headache or backache may be con- 
trolled by small doses of antipyrin or acetanilid. Mustard plasters are 
not to be used for the backache, as the dermal irritation will increase 
the eruption. Insomnia and restlessness, if excessive, are to be quieted 



STINGS AND BITES 671 

by the bromides or chloral, care being taken that the doses of the 
latter are not large enough to depress the heart. It must be remem- 
bered that the time of onset of the secondary fever, the eighth day, 
is one of grave import to the patient. Before its arrival the treat- 
ment of the case must be so managed that strength is saved for this 
strain, and tincture of the chloride of iron, in 5- to 10- (0.3-0.65) or 
even 20-drop (1.3) doses, may be resorted to to give strength to the 
patient and to affect specifically the pyaemic fever. The pulse should 
be watched, and if it flags brandy and whiskey should be freely but 
wisely used. At the same time nourishment in the shape of eggnog, 
milk punch, or beef tea should be pushed as freely as the digestion 
will allow. 

The peripheral irritation and itching of the eruption are a cause of 
the fever in part, and produce much unrest and nervous irritability. 
The condition of the skin is, therefore, to be looked after, and the pit- 
ting prevented, if possible, by every means in our power, particular 
care being taken to prevent its development on the face. One of the 
means which has been recommended to prevent pitting is the use of 
flexible collodion, and another application is glycerite of starch or 
simple cerate applied in a heavy coating. Some physicians recommend 
inserting the tip of a nitrate-of-silver stick into each vesicle as it rup- 
tures, to prevent pitting. All of these measures are futile in most cases, 
and the use of collodion is probably harmful in some instances. The 
best application to use is made up of 4 parts of salicylic acid to 100 
parts of vaseline or cold cream. Sometimes, anointing the entire 
body with sweet oil slightly carbolized (1 : 100) is useful to check 
irritation. 

If the mouth is sore, a mouth-wash of chlorate of potassium and 
water may be used, flavored with a little tincture of myrrh. 

Disinfection, good ventilation, and the avoidance of much light 
are necessary. 

STINGS AND BITES. 

The stings of nearly all small insects depend for their activity 
upon formic acid, and are to be relieved by the use of dilute alkaline 
liquids, or, better still, by the application of ammonia, or, instead, 
an application of ordinary or flexible collodion may be made, which 
is improved in its action by the addition of 1 part of mercury bichlo- 
ride to 1000 of the collodion, or, if preferred, salicylic acid may be 
added in the proportion of 5 grains to the ounce (0.3 : 32.0). Some- 
times a solution of carbolic acid, 1 : 100 or 1 : 50, when sponged over 
the parts exposed, not only relieves the itching of mosquito-bites, but 
keeps away the mosquitoes. In other instances the stings are relieved 
and cooled by the use of dilute or pure vinegar. 

In snake-bite the best treatment is that introduced by Weir 
Mitchell and Reichert — namely, the local application of perman- 
ganate of potassium to the part, which should be thoroughly filled 
with the drug, and full doses given hypodermically about the wound, 
the salt being diluted three-fourths with water and followed by full 



672 DISEASES. 

doses of alcohol by the mouth. The secret of successful treatment 
consists, however, in the use of a ligature or a cleansing of the wound 
as soon after its reception as possible, thereby preventing the absorp- 
tion of the poison. 

STOMATITIS. 

This annoying affection is most commonly seen in children, and 
is characterized by the appearance on the tip and sides of the tongue, 
lips, and lining membrane of the mouth of small spots which some- 
times have a reddened zone around them, and which result in minute 
or large ulcers. 

The best treatment, if the kidneys are not acutely inflamed, is the 
use of the following prescription, which largely depends for its value 
upon the potassium salt used : 

Be. — Potassii chlorat £j (4.0). 

Tinct. myrrh gtt xx (1.3). 

Elixir calisayse f^iij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful in water every four hours. 

As the chlorate of potassium is eliminated with the saliva, it not 
only does good when taken into the mouth, but is active all the time 
that it is being eliminated. If the stomach is disordered, the same 
preparation may be used as a mouth-wash. Often constipation will 
exist, and it should be removed by salines or by rhubarb in the form 
of the aromatic syrup. Another remedy which is very efficient in 
stomatitis is borax, used as a mouth-wash, in the strength of 10 to 15 
grains to 1 ounce (0.65-1.0 : 32.0) of water and honey, as follows: 

R . — Sodii boratis gr. xxx (2.0). 

Mel. purificati f^iij (12.0). 

Aquse q. s. ad f^iij (96.0).— M. 

S. — To be used on a swab or as a mouth- wash overy four hours. 

This also may be used internally in adults. 

In many cases peroxide of hydrogen in the proportion of 1 ounce 
(32.0) of a 15-volume solution to 8 ounces (256.0) of water proves a 
valuable mouth-wash. 

If the liver is at fault and is torpid, nitromuriatic acid is useful, 
and when the spots do not readily yield to treatment they may be 
touched with the tip of a stick of silver nitrate, which treatment, 
while it is momentarily painful, is very efficacious. 

Nearly always with this disease in childhood there is considerable 
fever, vomiting, and wakefulness at night, with fretfulness and crying 
during the day, and total refusal of food, not because hunger is absent, 
but because the food hurts the mouth and is rejected with a cry of 
pain as soon as it touches the lips. The food should be very soft 
milk toast for older children, or milk with lime-water in it in large 
amount for infants fed by the bottle. If a child at the breast be 
attacked, the mother's nipple should be carefully washed with boric- 
acid solution after each nursing. A warm foot-bath at night is often 



STYES— SUNSTROKE. 673 

necessary to produce rest, and 10 drops (0.65) of sweet spirit of nitre 
thoroughly diluted may be given with advantage to a child of one or 
two years. If the irritability of the nervous system is excessive, 
bromide of sodium or potassium in the dose of from 1 to 10 grains 
(0.05-0.65), according to age, three times a day, is of service, and 
may be added to the mixtures already named, or, better still, given 
alone, well diluted with syrup and water. 

After the attack tonics and a carefully selected diet are generally 
necessary. 

STYES. 

Styes consist in a localized inflammation of one of the glands in 
the margin of the lid or the surrounding connective tissue. Before 
suppuration is established abortive treatment may be practised by an 
inunction with a salve of the reel or yellow oxide of mercury (2 grains 
to 1 ounce [0.1: 32.0]), by painting the surface with an ethereal 
solution of collodion, or, according to Abadie, by the application of a 
saturated solution of boric acid. Pain may be alleviated with hot 
compresses (water 110° F.), frequently changed, and as soon as pus 
appears incision is necessary. Associated conjunctivitis requires a 
boric-acid solution for its relief. It should be remembered that styes 
indicate ill health, that tonics are indicated, and that they most fre- 
quently appear in the subjects of refractive error. When they tend 
to come in crops the internal use of sulphurate of calcium has been 
recommended. 

SUNSTROKE. 

Sunstroke — or, more correctly speaking, heat-stroke — is an affec- 
tion produced by exposure of the body to any form of high tempera- 
ture, whether the source of heat be the sun, a furnace, or the radiation 
of heat from the earth. For this reason the condition may occur as 
readily at midnight as at mid-day. 

Heat-stroke is to be divided into two classes, in one of which 
excessive exposure to heat upsets the balance of the thermal mechanism 
of the body, so that fever comes on (thermic fever) ; in the other the 
temperature is lowered and forms the condition known as heat- 
exhaustion. 

The condition of thermic fever is very frequently seen, while heat- 
exhaustion is rare. 

The danger of thermic fever is that the excessive heat may cause 
coagulation of the myosin in the heart-muscle and of the protoplasm 
in the brain, and cause death, or that the same result may be reached 
by paralysis of respiration. 

The danger of heat-exhaustion is that death may ensue from col- 
lapse due to a general failure of vital power and the chilling of the 
body. In heat-exhaustion, too, the vascular system is greatly relaxed 
and depressed, and the circulation is at its lowest ebb. 

The treatment of these two states is, of course, radically different. 

43 



674 DISEASES. 

When a patient has thermic fever and is brought under the care of 
the physician, the first thing to be done is to loosen the clothino- — if 
possible, remove it — and if the pulse be bounding, the face cyanotic, 
and the heart laboring, to freely bleed him. At the same time cold 
should be applied to the body, and particularly to the abdomen, back, 
and chest. Better still, the man should be stripped, laid upon a bed, 
which must be covered with a rubber blanket, and ice-water be applied 
to the body by means of a sponge, or a piece of ice may be laid on the 
belly, while another piece is rubbed over the rest of the body. While 
this is being done the surface of the patient's body must be thoroughly 
and briskly rubbed in order to bring the hot blood to the cooled sur- 
face. 

Care should be taken that the temperature, when it once begins 
to fall, does not drop suddenly below the normal and cause collapse. 
If the clinical thermometer in the mouth or rectum shows that the 
temperature has fallen to 100.5° F. or 101° F., the cold application 
should be stopped, and the patient allowed to lie on the bed covered 
only with a thin sheet. The bodily temperature must be constantly 
watched, as it will probably bound up again in a few minutes, and 
require the application of more cold, used with the same care. This 
second rise is due either to the disorder of the nervous mechanism of 
heat-production and dissipation, or to the fact that, while the surface 
of the body is cooled by the ice, the innermost viscera are still in high 
fever and rapidly heat the surface as soon as the ice is taken away. 
Antipyretics have been found to be almost useless in the hyperpyrexia 
of sunstroke, and are not to be relied upon. 

After the fever has been reduced permanently the danger is not all 
passed, and. it is the greatest mistake to discharge a patient as cured 
at this time. After two or three days it is very common for a menin- 
gitis to develop, accompanied, it may be, by little or no fever, but 
characterized by violent darting headache, which is made worse on 
lying down or on sudden movement. The treatment of this state 
must be bold, and venesection is the only safe method of obtaining 
relief, although vascular sedatives, such as veratrum viride, may be 
employed. The bleeding should be copious enough to impress the 
circulatory system to some degree, and may be done by opening any 
of the prominent veins in the arm. (See Venesection.) Sometimes a 
violent attack of epistaxis saves the man's life, when it would have 
been lost through the ignorance of his attendant. If life is preserved 
without vascular depletion, secondary changes in the brain may ensue 
and produce hemianopsia, optic atrophy, imbecility, or insanity. 
Quinine, salicylic acid, and similar substances are all contraindicated 
under these circumstances, because of the congestion of the meninges 
to which they predispose by their physiological effcts. 

The treatment of heat-exhaustion consists in the use of heat instead, 
of cold, in order to restore the bodily temperature. Just here, how- 
ever, must be uttered a word of warning — namely, that the mere fact 
that the skin is cold does not prove the case to be one of heat-exhaus- 
tion, since a rectal thermometer may show the central or real tem- 
perature of the body to be in a condition of hyperpyrexia. Of course 



SYPHILIS. 675 

such a case should not receive hot, but cold, rectal injections if the 
symptoms require it. 

The bodily heat in heat-exhaustion is to be raised by placing the 
patient in a bath at 105° to 110° F., or by the use of hot bricks or 
Dottles, care being taken that they do not burn the patient. The 
bodily temperature should also be watched, lest the other extreme of 
heat be reached. 

Cases of heat-exhaustion are not so apt to have meningitis as are 
cases of sunstroke, but they are generally slow to convalesce, and 
require tonics and careful watching for a long time. Indeed, in many 
instances the system seems to receive a shock from which it takes 
several weeks or months or recover. 

SYPHILIS. 

In so far as the choice of drugs is concerned, the treatment of 
syphilis is exceedingly simple : iodine, iodide of potassium, and mer- 
cury practically represent the only remedial agents which are well 
proved to possess the power of distinctly counteracting the effects of 
the disease. 

In regard to the method of administration and the period of the 
disease in which any or all of these drugs can be given to the best 
advantage there is a wide diversity of opinion. Following the teach- 
ing of Fournier, in this country the practice generally obtains of 
administering mercury on the appearance of the first symptoms of 
the secondary stage of syphilis ; this drug is continued for from 
twelve to eighteen months, and is then followed by a course of iodide 
of potassium continued for from six to twelve months. If after the 
suspension of this treatment for six months no manifestations of dis- 
ease appear, the patient is regarded as cured. Should the disease 
again break out, the iodides are administered in increasing doses, sup- 
plemented by the addition of mercury if necessary. 

Against this treatment, however, there have been many and vigor- 
ous protests. Every syphilographer knows that the disease is fre- 
quently self-limited. Zeissl states that a large number of cases prog- 
ress to spontaneous cure, and that the secondary eruption in such 
cases disappears in from two to eight months, after which time the 
patient is perfectly well, recidivity being far less common than when 
mercury has been employed in the early stages of the disease. The 
treatment by iodides, he thinks, should be commended chiefly after 
the expectant plan : their effect is not so rapid as is that of mercury ; 
they are suitable, however, to all stages of the disease. When the 
symptoms become so urgent that it is no longer safe to depend upon 
iodides, mercurial inunctions should be employed, the dosage of the 
drug being regulated by its effect upon the symptoms, in all cases the 
minimum quantity necessary to accomplish the result being admin- 
istered. 

We have, then, three methods of treatment proposed, each advo- 
cated by a formidable array of authorities : 

1. The expectant treatment. 



676 DISEASES. 

2. The treatment by iodides, followed, if necessary, by mercury. 

3. The continued treatment, beginning with mercury and ending 
with iodides or the combination of the two drugs. 

By the expectant treatment is implied abstinence from all medica- 
tion intended to directly counteract the syphilitic virus : if possible 
the patient should lead an active, out-of-door life, the diet should be 
most carefully regulated, and the treatment should be purely symp- 
tomatic, tonics being administered when required, the sore throat 
being combated by astringent gargles, particularly those containing 
chlorate of potassium or malic acid, together with direct local appli- 
cations, while the eruption on the exposed parts of the body is con- 
trolled by the application of heat. Even in the mildest cases there 
is nothing to be said in favor of this treatment. Where the primary 
lesion is large and persistent ; where the period of secondary incuba- 
tion is less than seven weeks ; where the papular eruption is uni- 
versal, is confluent, and is accompanied by the simultaneous appear- 
ance of mucous patches ; where the lymphatic enlargement is very 
marked and persistent ; and where the disease attacks a depraved con- 
stitution, — the expectant plan offers little hope of accomplishing a 
cure. Here the second and third methods of treatment are absolutely 
indicated. 

By the second plan of treatment the iodides are administered, not 
immediately on the appearance of the secondary eruption, but after 
this has run a course of several weeks and is steadily increasing in 
severity. The iodide of potassium is chosen by preference, beginning 
with the administration of 5 grains (0.3) three times a day, and in- 
creasing steadily 5 grains (0.3) a day until either the constitutional 
effects of the drug are manifested or the symptoms are favorably 
influenced. Should iodism appear, the dose is cut down one-half 
and continued for one or two weeks, after which, if the syphilitic 
lesions are not favorably modified, inunctions of mercury are employed, 
a drachm (4.0) of mercurial ointment being rubbed in every other day. 
The iodide should be continued for from six to twelve months after 
the disappearance of all symptoms, relapses being combated by tem- 
porarily increasing the dose and by a course of mercurial inunctions. 
If after the suspension of the treatment the patient remains free 
from all manifestations of syphilis for two years, he can be fairly 
considered as cured. 

By the third method of treatment — and this is the method most 
commonly accepted in practice — the patient is placed upon mercury 
the moment the early secondary symptoms denote that the primary 
sore was surely syphilitic. Many surgeons begin this treatment from 
the time that the inguinal glands on both sides become characteristic 
in shape and size. Others wait until there is general lymphatic 
involvement, while others believe that the mercury should not be 
administered until roseola appears. 

In regard to the particular preparations of mercury to be em- 
ployed, the protiodide, blue mass, bichloride, and mercury with chalk 
represent the forms usually employed when the drug is administered 
by the stomach. Of these the protiodide is to be preferred, and the 



SYPHILIS. 677 

effort of the surgeon is directed first toward determining what is termed 
the '-tonic" dose. With this end in view, J grain (0.016) of the 
protiodide of mercury is given, in pill form, three times a day, and 
every second day this quantity is increased by one pill, the patient 
being meanwhile carefully watched. The drug usually manifests its 
physiological effects by griping pains accompanied by two or more 
watery passages from the bowels, or by foetid breath and slight ten- 
derness of the gums. The quantity taken to produce this effect 
represents the extreme limit to which it is safe to push the drug. If 
this dose is continued or increased, the characteristic symptoms of 
mercuric saturation appear. When the surgeon has determined the 
limit to which the drug can be safely pushed, this dose is cut down 
one-half, and in the absence of further complications the patient is 
directed to continue with this dose for eighteen months. If during 
this time local symptoms appear which show that the disease is not 
thoroughly under control, the mercury must again be pushed to the 
full dose, being reduced to the tonic dose as soon as the disappearance 
of specific lesions permits of this. Where comparatively small doses 
of the protiodide produce pain and purging, opium may be added ; in 
this case the breath and the mouth will show when the full effect of 
the medicine is obtained. Manifestations of the disease occurring 
during mercuric treatment must receive local treatment. The surface 
eruption is combated by mercuric ointments and washes and by the 
application of heat. (See Heat.) Mucous patches in the mouth are 
quickly healed by applications of solid nitrate of silver or sulphate 
of copper, 20 per cent, chromic-acid solution, or the acid nitrate of 
mercury. When these patches occur about the genitals, washing with 
1 : 2000 bichloride solution and dusting with calomel and bismuth 
will be found satisfactory. Alopecia is combated by shampooing and 
by the application of strong stimulating lotions containing croton oil 
or tincture of cantharides. 

The intense cephalalgia is combated by -^--grain (0.010) doses of 
calomel, repeated overy two hours. The periostitis yields most read- 
ily to gentle, long-continued mercuric inunction, supplemented by the 
application of pressure bandages. 

When the integrity of any vital organ is threatened there should 
be no hesitation in pushing the mercury treatment, and in supple- 
menting it, if favorable results do not follow promptly, by large doses 
of iodide of potassium. 

After the first eighteen months iodide of potassium is generally 
indicated. This is commonly given together with the mercury, con- 
stituting the mixed treatment. The following formula, or one similar 
to it, may be employed : 

R.— Potassii iodidi ^ij vel ^iv (8.0-16.0). 

Hydrarg. chlor. corros. . . . . . gr. ss (0.03). 

Syrup, aurant. cort 13J (32.0). 

Aquse q.s. adf^ij (64.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) three times a day. 

When this prescription is put up a precipitate is formed and then 
dissolved. 



678 DISEASES. 

This mixture, or iodide of potassium without the mercury, admin- 
istered in 5- to 10-grain (0.3-0.65) doses three times a day, is given 
for from six to twelve months longer. When the iodide is given alone 
it is most conveniently administered in the form of a saturated solu- 
tion. Of this a drop contains a grain of the salt. Milk seems to 
have the power of completely disguising the disagreeable taste of the 
drug. Thereafter, specific treatment is stopped, unless symptoms 
arise, in which case it should be renewed and should be continued for 
many months. 

The protiodide is usually preferred, because the symptoms of its 
constitutional effect are manifest at first by looseness of the bowels, 
and because in practice it has been found one of the most satisfactory 
of all preparations. Where this form of mercury is not well borne 
the physician should at once employ some other salt ; the bichloride, 
in y^-grain (0.005) doses three times a day, is efficacious. Blue mass 
will often act favorably when other preparations cannot be tolerated. 
Its combination with iron is desirable, and the following formula rep- 
resents one of the most valuable of the antisyphilitic pills : 

R. — Mass. hydrargyri gr. xxx (2.0). 

Pulv. ferri chloridi gr. xv (1.0). — M. 

Ft. in pil. No. xii. 
S. — One three times a day. 

Where mercury cannot be administered by the mouth it may be 
given by means of vapor-baths, by inunctions, and by hypodermic 
injections. The vapor-baths are useful when it is desired to promptly 
cure eruptions on the surface of the body or when it is most import- 
ant to bring the disease quickly under the influence of mercury. 
They are readily administered, the only apparatus required being an 
alcohol lamp and a plate in which the mercuric preparation can be 
volatilized. The patient is seated in a chair entirely naked; several 
blankets are wrapped around his neck, and beneath the tent thus 
formed a large vessel of steaming water is placed. When the skin 
is thoroughly softened \ drachm (2.0) of calomel is sublimed bji 
means of the lamp. These baths may be repeated every night until 
the mercuric fcetor of the breath is observed or until the specific 
symptoms disappear. (See articles on Mercury and on Heat.) 

Inunction represents the most efficient way of administering the 
mercuric treatment. When the stomach is intolerant of drugs, or 
when, administered by the mouth in full doses, they do not favorably 
modify the symptoms, inunctions are indicated. The patient is 
instructed to take a warm bath, and the mercury is then well rubbed 
in over the inner surface of the forearm and arm and along the side 
of the chest for fifteen minutes. Either the oleate of mercury, 10 
per cent., or the ordinary mercury ointment is commonly employed ; 
the former is more cleanly, but less efficient. The rubbings should 
be done by the patient, should be made over a large surface of the 
body, and should be performed thoroughly; 1 drachm (4.0) of blue 
ointment is rubbed in daily. A shirt kept for this purpose is then 
put on next to the skin, and the ordinary clothing is worn over this. 



SYPHILIS. 679 

The next night the opposite arm and side of the body are utilized as 
the seat of inunction ; the following night the right groin and the 
inner surface of the right thigh and leg ; next, the same regions of 
the opposite side of the body ; finally, the anterior surface of the 
chest and abdomen. In this way irritation of the skin is avoided. 
Where it is impossible to employ the inunctions in this way, another 
means of causing absorption of mercury through the skin, suggested 
by Sturgis, will be found satisfactory : After a thorough soaking of 
the patient's feet in hot water, from J to 1 drachm (2.0-4.0) of a 20 
per cent, oleate of mercury is rubbed vigorously into the sole of one 
foot ; the next night the sole of the other foot is treated in the same 
way. The patient is directed to wear, night and day, a pair of wool- 
len socks: these are not changed for one ^veek. Mercury may be 
taken by the mouth at the same time inunctions are employed when 
it is desired to influence the system quickly. In the late periods of 
the disease very striking effects are often obtained by supplementing 
the iodide treatment by a course of twelve to eighteen inunctions. 

The hypodermic administration of mercury is in this country lim- 
ited to those few cases which do not seem to respond to the drug 
when given by the mouth or by inunction. Although many prepara- 
tions of mercury have been lauded as most efficacious when used hypo- 
dermically, the best formula seems to be that recommended by Hebra. 
This consists of a solution of 1 per cent, of bichloride of mercury in 
a 6 per cent, sodium-chloride solution; the resulting mixture is per- 
fectly clear and is readily prepared. If it becomes turbid it should 
be thrown away. Most rigid antiseptic precautions must be observed, 
as abscess-formation is not uncommon. One injection is given daily, 
from \ to J grain (0.01-0.02) of the sublimate being administered. 
The nates are selected as the seat of the injection, the solution being 
driven well into the muscles of each side every other day. Twenty 
injections are usually sufficient to cause the disappearance of all symp- 
toms. The employment of the insoluble preparations of mercury, 
particularly of calomel, gives much pain, frequently causes abscess, 
and is at times attended by a continuous absorption which may pro- 
duce severe and even fatal ptyalism. 

The ulcerations often found as tertiary manifestations of syphilis 
are treated according to general surgical principles. The local 
application of mercuric preparations is of less service than during 
the existence of the secondary lesions. Iodoform is peculiarly ser- 
viceable. 

The tonic and general treatment of syphilitic cases must not be 
forgotten ; fresh air, exercise, bathing, careful diet, regular living, all 
must be enjoined. Moreover, in certain cases where there is marked 
anaemia or physical weakness cod-liver oil, stimulants in moderation, 
compound syrup of the hypophosphites, and other tonic and nutritive 
courses of treatment must be carefully administered. 

Although the treatment of an ordinary case of syphilis is simple 
and satisfactory in its results, it must be remembered that there are 
malignant forms of the disease, attacking by preference feeble and 
cachectic individuals, running a rapid and virulent course, unchecked, 



680 DISEASES. 

nay aggravated, by specific treatment, and responding feebly, if at all, 
to the most careful hygienic and tonic regimen. In such cases a 
strong extract of sarsaparilla is sometimes of service. 



TETANUS. 

The treatment of tetanus is quite independent of its causation, 
so far at least as drugs are concerned, and is virtually identical with 
that of Strychnine Poisoning, to which the reader is referred. It is 
stated that Fowler's solution acts almost as a specific in some cases. 
(See Nux Vomica.) The value of the antitoxin for tetanus has not 
been sufficiently studied as yet to justify its general employment. 



TONSILLITIS. 

Inflammation of the tonsils occurs in three forms : superficial 
tonsillitis, in which the mucous membrane covering the tonsils becomes 
inflamed through extension of a pharyngitis ; follicular tonsillitis, in 
which the follicles are chiefly involved and pour out an excessive 
secretion ; and, finally, true tonsillitis, in which the gland itself 
suffers from severe, widespread inflammation phlegmonous in type. 
In all these forms the treatment to be instituted at the beginning is 
practically identical. The bowels should be opened by a saline pur- 
gative, which in some cases should be preceded by small doses of 
calomel, the diet should be liquid and nutritious, and a fever and 
diuretic mixture should be given freely as follows : 

R. — Tine, aconiti Tr^xij vel xxiv (1.0-1.6). 

Spt. setheris nitros. fjfj (32.0). 

Liq. potassii citratis . . . q. s. ad f^iij (96.0). — M. 
S. — Dessertspoonful every three hours. 

Locally, a solution of nitrate of silver, 60 grains to the ounce 
(4.0 : 32.0), should be applied with a camel's-hair brush or with a 
cotton applicator. Externally, an ice-bag should be applied about 
the throat, and as soon as the purgative has acted and the fever is 
reduced by the mixture just given, full doses of the tincture of the 
chloride of iron should be administered (20 drops [1.3] every three 
or four hours), in plenty of water, which preferably should be Vichy 
or one of the good lithia waters. 

In inflammatory involvement of the" entire tonsil active scarifica- 
tion in the early stages may be of service in limiting the severity of 
the attack. In some instances hot fomentations about the neck and 
hot gargles seem to be more beneficial than the use of ice. Often a 
mild antiseptic gargle of carbolic acid (1 : 100 of water) will relieve 
the pain and the foetor of the breath. 

Finally, it should be remembered that rheumatic persons suffer 
severely at times from tonsillitis, and the best remedies for this form 
of tonsillitis are the salicylates or guaiac. 



TUBERCULOSIS. 68 



TUBERCULOSIS. 



Under this head will be considered pulmonary tuberculosis as a 
type of all forms of this morbid process. Its treatment may be 
placed in two lines — the first devoted to the cure of the disposition 
or inclination toward the disease or the abortion of its early stages ; 
the second directed to the improvement of the patient's condition, so 
that his progress through the disease may be made as comfortable as 
possible. Before doing this, however, it is proper to state that pro- 
phylaxis, or true prevention, is the object really to be sought after, 
although it is certainly true that many cases of early tuberculosis are 
curable. Recent studies have shown most conclusively that tubercu- 
losis is capable of being transmitted from man to man if air laden 
with the bacilli is breathed, and if the lungs are in a fit state of 
depressed vitality, from any cause, to afford a favorable* field for the 
growth of the germ and the development of its poison. 

Cases of pulmonary consumption follow, rudely speaking, four 
well-defined lines. A very early stage sometimes comes to the care 
of the physician, and it is that in which the following history is given 
or a similar story is elicited. A patient, previously strong and well 
or of poor health, as the case may be, begins to lose vivacity. Life 
becomes a burden and exercise is distasteful. A slight daily chill, in 
morning or evening, and fever develop, and the physician who is care- 
less treats the case as one of mild malarial poisoning. Careful exam- 
ination, however, will show an area in the lung, generally near the 
apex on one or both sides, where slight prolongation of expiration 
with a harsh inspiratory sound is heard, and where percussion will 
give impaired resonance or dulness. In other words, the first stage 
of phthisis is present, and the physician must resort at once to those 
active measures for the patient's relief which will be considered in a 
moment. 

In another form a chill, a sweat, a loss of flesh and vigor, with, 
more prominent than all, a hard cough, sudden in its onset and rap- 
idly becoming excessive with profuse expectoration, are the dominant 
symptoms. The wasting is extraordinary, the sweats are constant, 
and death may come in a few weeks. This is the form known as 
"galloping consumption." 

The third variety is ushered in by a gradual loss of vigor or a sen- 
sation of being a little unwell, or is brought before the patient's mind 
by a sudden acute hemorrhage, or several hemorrhages rapidly suc- 
ceeding one another. This variety passes along its course more or less 
rapidly. Sometimes death soon ensues from a fatal hemorrhage ; in 
other cases the disease keeps on for months and the case dies from 
exhaustion. 

Last of all, the fourth class is made up of persons who gradually 
pass from bad to worse: First, they "catch a cold," which hangs on 
longer than it ought, and, as soon as they are well, this is followed by 
another one, which is found more difficult to cure, until finally there 
is always a cough. Soon wasting comes on, strength is lost, and a 
long period of months or years ensues during which the progress 



682 DISEASES. 

of the case is now slow, now fast, the condition now better, now 
worse, until death ensues from wasting, pneumonia, or some other com- 
plication. 

These forms and stages have been roughly outlined, so that a dis- 
cussion of their treatment might be taken up with a clear idea of 
what is to be done. 

When a patient exhibits those physical signs which have been 
given as evidences of the early beginnings of phthisis, the physician 
should institute certain hygienic and medicinal measures. If the 
individual be earning a livelihood by following some confining occu- 
pation, this occupation must be given up and one undertaken which 
is carried on in the open air and yet not accompanied by too great 
exposure. Even if exposure is incurred, it is better than the occu- 
pation previously followed : thus, if the patient be a bookkeeper, a 
printer, or a bookbinder, or a clerk kept much at a desk in an ill- 
ventilated room, a few wettings in the rain will do little or no harm 
if the patient is properly protected by the wearing of flannel shirts, 
which, when wet, are changed as soon as labor ceases, as under these 
circumstances the danger of catching cold is at a minimum. (See Part 
III., article on Climate.) 

The medicinal measures to be carried out in all cases of phthisis, 
except that known as the galloping form, are not numerous if we 
confine ourselves to the modes possessing any real value. For many 
years cod-liver oil has been sadly abused in the management of these 
cases, and has been given at all stages, owing to ignorance of its 
proper use as a general rule. The writer believes that the following 
rules are never to be departed from : 

1. Never use cod-liver oil where the disease has passed the primary 
stages of thickening of the lung and roughening of the respiratory 
sounds, unless fibroid changes are going on and the changes are very 
slow indeed. 

2. The use of cod-liver oil when rapid degenerative changes are 
occurring in the lung is distinctly harmful, as it is not of any service, 
disorders the digestion, and destroys the appetite. 

When the oil is used it should be given as directed in the article 
on Cod-liver Oil. 

A remedy of some value as a curative and of great value as a 
palliative is creosote, first introduced by Bouchard some thirteen 
years ago, but only recently widely employed. Many cures have 
been claimed from its use in the early stages of phthisis, and it has 
been highly lauded by a number of European clinicians. In the 
author's experience it is merely a palliative to the cough and general 
discomfort, particularly when the disease is fully established, and the 
opinion expressed by Strumpell expresses so well the thought which 
the author was about to write when he read Strumpell's article that 
his words are here given : " Taking it all in all, we find that creosote, 
even in large doses, has no injurious effect on tuberculosis. At times 
we notice an apparently favorable symptomatic effect. We failed, 
however, to observe any real influence exerted by creosote on the 
progress of the disease." 



TUBERCULOSIS. 683 

On the other hand, the relief of some distressing symptoms pro- 
duced by creosote is never to be underrated. (See Creosote.) 

When creosote is used internally it may be given in the following 
formula : 

R. — Creosoti (beech wood) gtt, xxxij vel f^j (4.0). 

Tr. gentian fzj (4.0). 

Alcoholis f§j (32.0). 

Vin. albas . . # q. s. ad fjfiy (128.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0), in water or wine, three times a day. 

Better still, order in ascending doses (1 minim extra each dose) in 
milk or wine. 

Often a 1-drop (0.05) dose three times a day may be increased to 
5 drops (0.3) in the same period with advantage, and if given in 
ascending doses the author has frequently had patients take as much 
as 90 minims (6.0) a day. Sometimes 1 or 2 drops (0.1) in capsules 
are as useful as the formula just named. (For methods of administra- 
tion see Creosote ; also, see Guaiacol and Creosote Carbonate.) 

Creosote may also be inhaled in the spray from a steam atomizer 
or by means of an inspirator fitted over the nose and mouth and 
made of perforated zinc with a sponge at the edge to hold the drug. 
A very good method is to wet the sponge with creosote, alcohol, 
and water, equal parts, or to use the creosote alone if coughing is not 
too severe. Another useful mixture consists of equal parts of tere- 
bene, iodide of ethyl, and chloroform. This last mixture is most 
useful when the secretion is tough and tenacious, and should not be 
used in the presence of acute irritation due to inflammation. Such 
inhalers are very cheap, not easily broken, and readily worn. 

If the cough in phthisis is excessive, a little spirit of chloroform 
placed on the sponge of the inhaler will often relieve it, or a mixture 
of morphine and wild-cherry bark may be given as follows : 

R. — Morphine snl ph. gr. j vel ij (0.05-0.1). 

Syr. pruni Virginianse f§ iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every three hours. 

Or the following : 

R. — Spt. chloroformi f^ss (15.0). 

Morphina? sulph gr. j vel ij (0.05-0.1). 

Syr. pruni Yirginianse f ^iij (96.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every four hours. 

In still other cases 2 to 10 minims (0.1-0.65) of a good fluid 
extract of cannabis indica, or J to \ grain (0.008-0.016) of the solid 
extract, will act with surprising benefit and stop the cough. 

Very often during the course of phthisis localized spots of pleu- 
ritic inflammation arise. Without the occurrence of any exposure 
the patient will remark, " Doctor, I think I have taken a little more 
cold, and I have a stitch here in the chest." The best treatment is 
to apply a small blister or to paint the spot with iodine. 

(For the treatment of Haemoptysis see Hemorrhage.) 

Laryngeal phthisis, one of the most serious complications of this 
disease, is best prevented by ordering the patient to inhale the steam 



684 DISEASES. 

arising from boiling water which contains corrosive sublimate in the 
proportion of 1 : 10,000. If a proper watch is kept for evidences of 
a general mercurial effect, and this measure stopped at once when 
tenderness of the gums appears, no danger exists. Before the inhala- 
tion takes place a spray of cocaine (4 per cent, solution) should be 
thoroughly used. 

The treatment of laryngeal phthisis itself is various. The best 
method is that in which lactic acid is used. By the aid of a laryn- 
geal mirror and a cotton applicator a 10 per cent, solution of lactic 
acid is applied to the spots which are involved. As this is generally 
quite painful, cocaine solution should first be used. Gradually the 
strength of the lactic-acid solution should be increased to 60 per cent, 
if the weaker solutions do not check the disease. Very valuable 
results have been obtained by this method. 

The second method in point of value is that of iodoform insuffla- 
tions. A powder of iodoform alone is too light for satisfactory pro- 
pulsion into the larynx, and powdered talc should be added to it in 
small amount, as may also y 1 -^ grain (0.004) of morphine to each 
drachm (4.0) of iodoform. The odor is generally disagreeable to 
the patient, but if a cocaine spray be first employed and the operator 
is skilful, very little coughing is produced. As iodoform is a local 
anaesthetic, it relieves the pain in the larynx, acts as an antiseptic 
and alterative, and is peculiarly obnoxious to the bacillus tuber- 
culosis. 

When the night-sweats are very profuse, hypodermic injections of 
atropine in the dose of ^4--^ to yj-g- grain (0.0004-0.0006) are useful in 
some cases, and the efficiency of this treatment may be increased by 
the use of an alum sponge-bath at bedtime. A solution of alum, 10 
to 20 grains to the ounce (0.65-1.3 : 32.0), may be sponged over the 
body, or sulphuric acid may be added to water in the proportion of 1 
drachm to the pint (4.0 : 500 cc), and used in the same way as the 
alum solution. 

Camphoric acid in 20- to 30-grain (1.3-2,0) doses is the best rem- 
edy and is invaluable in treating night-sweats. 

Sulphuric acid is often given internally with advantage in these 
cases of sweating. Small doses of pilocarpine amounting to -^ grain 
(0.003), given from one to two hours before the sweat is expected, are 
sometimes potent for good. The means by which this result is brought 
about are not far to seek. The drug in any dose causes great stim- 
ulation of the peripheral ends of the nerves supplying the sweat- 
glands. In many instances we find excessive secretion dependent 
upon depression of function, as in a serous diarrhoea or a local sweat- 
ing of the feet. These states pass away just as soon as the parts 
regain their normal tone through proper treatment. The night-sweats 
of phthisis are sometimes improved by pilocarpine, because this drug 
in all doses stimulates the sweat-glands. In large doses this stimula- 
tion amounts to free diaphoresis; but in the minute doses, such as -j-^ 
to ^g- of a grain (0.0016-0.003), the stimulation just balances the de- 
pression and a normal tone is acquired. While it is true that pilocar- 
pine and atropine are physiological antagonists, it will be found prac- 



TYPHOID FEVER. 685 

tically beneficial to prescribe small doses of both in such cases as refuse 
to respond to either one alone, as by their antagonism they prevent 
over-action on other parts of the body, and both act in harmony in 
so influencing the sweat-glands as to be of service to the patient. 

TYPHOID FEVER. 

Any attempt to review the treatment of the disease known as 
typhoid fever would be absolutely impossible, owing to the very 
numerous theories and practices put forward by various clinicians. 
What is said under the general heading of Fever and under the con- 
sideration of cold, Part III., and also under Antipyrin and Acetan- 
ilid, gives sufficient information as to the treatment of febrile move- 
ments, and the care of the patient beyond this point in nearly all 
cases depends upon the severity of the attack. 

Before going further, however, the writer desires to insist very 
strongly upon one fact — namely, that a case of typhoid fever is not 
curable in any degree. No remedy yet found, except it act through 
the prevention of complications, can shorten its course. We can only 
guide the patient safely to health when the storm of disease comes on, 
and we cannot stop the storm. 

Not only should the facts of the last paragraph be carefully borne 
in mind, but the physician must remember that he is treating an 
exhausting disease — not a disease which runs a violent course for a 
few days and strands the patient sick and weak, but convalescent, 
upon the shores of health, but one in which, after sapping the 
strength for weeks, some sudden intercurrent malady or accident 
may ensue which will speedily kill him if every grain of strength 
is not preserved for the struggle. The physician should always put 
every case in which there is a suspicion of typhoid fever to bed at 
once, and keep the patient there till the disease has passed or fails to 
appear. Every muscular movement unnecessarily made is a waste of 
force, and, in consequence, everything should be done for the patient, 
and not by him. A bed-pan should always be employed, the patient 
not being allowed to sit erect upon a commode. Remembering, too, 
that a typhoid fever patient is subjected to prolonged wasting fever 
and toxaemia for many days, his nutrition should be maintained by 
the use of a concentrated nourishing diet easy of digestion. In addi- 
tion to milk he should also receive one or two very slightly boiled eggs 
each day, arrowroot and perhaps thin corn starch, provided they agree 
with his digestive powers. If diarrhoea is not present, broths may 
i>e given, but it must be recalled that Brieger has shown that typhoid 
"bacilli do not readily reproduce themselves and their poisons in pep- 
tone and well-digested milk, but do so very actively in meat-broths or 
jelly which has not been acted upon by the digestive juices. Milk 
diet is therefore evidently better than a broth diet in typhoid fever, 
-and we once more are able to explain an empirical fact by a scientific 
discovery. Another reason for using liquid instead of solid foods, 
beyond the difficulty of digesting the latter, is the fact that solids 
may irritate or perforate the ulcers in the small intestines. 



686 DISEASES. 

Alcohol may be used in all stages as a stimulant, as a giver of 
force to the system, and as an aid to digestion. A very large part of 
the profession believe that the mere presence of an abnormally high 
temperature contraindicates the use of alcohol. Mere high tempera- 
ture does not do so, however, and it seems probable that many deaths 
have resulted from putting into practice such a belief. High tem- 
perature of a sthenic type, with a full, tense, bounding pulse and 
all the signs of a disease attacking one in the full vigor of life, 
of course precludes its use ; but m the high temperature of advanced 
typhoid, with the marked asthenia often present in that stage, alco- 
hol should be given whenever the heart-sounds are feeble. Under 
these circumstances the tissues which the man can afford to lose are 
gone, and much of the vital portion of his system is greatly encroached 
upon: the alcohol yields force to the body, and is burnt up in great 
part, keeping the flagging heart pumping the tides of blood through 
the lungs and systemic circulation, when otherwise the very cardiac 
depression would produce hypostatic congestion, if not more wide- 
spread circulatory disorder. 

A no less useful and valuable result obtained by the use of alcohol 
in the early stages of exhaustive fevers is the part that it plays in aid- 
ing digestion. The writer has elsewhere defined the difference be- 
tween the influence of alcohol in the artificial digestion of the test- 
tube and that occurring in the stomach. No one doubts that alcohol 
added to a small amount of gastric juice in the test-tube retards or 
prevents its action; but evidence is abundant to prove that the inges- 
tion of this drug produces by its stimulating and irritant action a very 
decided increase in the quantity of gastric juice secreted over and 
above the amount normally present. Aside from experimental evi- 
dence, every-day experience has taught the gourmand that alcohol, 
in a fairly concentrated form, enables him to digest an amount of 
food which under ordinary circumstances would remain unchanged in 
his stomach. 

The importance of aiding the flagging powers of the stomach is 
not generally recognized ; but if one remembers the fact that at one 
time during the course of a severe attack of typhoid an occasion must 
come when a struggle between the few remaining grains of strength 
and the disease results in death or in recovery, its importance becomes 
evident. By the ingestion and digestion of more food early in the 
attack a larger amount of vital force remains for use at a crisis, and 
the chances of a recovery, to say the least, are increased. Alcohol 
may therefore be used all through the ordinary exhausting fevers — 
for the purpose in the first stage of aiding digestion, and in the later 
stages of supporting the system ; but the physician ought not to use it 
as a routine measure in every case without a rational idea of why he 
does so, nor without a clear idea as to what indication is met by its use. 

In those cases in which a temporary loss of heart-power is due to 
hemorrhage or to some sudden severe depression alcohol is one of the 
remedies to be employed — in a hot and concentrated form. 

That alcohol may be misused and cause great harm is of course 
known to every practitioner of medicine. So long as it reduces the 



TYPHOID FEVER. 687 

temperature and lowers the rate of the pulse, causes a moist skin and 
tongue, and quiets nervous twitchings, it does good, and only up to 
this point is it to be employed. If its administration is pushed after 
this, the tendency to adynamia becomes, under the over-use of the 
drug, one of dynamia ; the pulse is no longer soft, but comes in angry, 
bounding beats ; the nervous symptoms change from low, weak, mut- 
tering delirium, with subsultus tendinum, to wild, incoherent callings 
and strong tossings to and fro ; and by and by, when the influence of 
the alcohol begins to decrease, and even before this time, the system has 
put forth the strength of days in a few hours, and the man, having no 
reserve strength, is dead. 

The treatment which has been used by the author in his wards at 
the Jefferson Medical College Hospital has given him results which 
the application of other methods has failed to give, and is as follows: 

As soon as the patient enters the house he is washed or bathed and 
placed in bed, and required to remain there. He is assured that the 
more quietly he lies the more mild and safe will be the course of his 
attack, and is made to use a bed-pan and urinal, and never allowed to 
get up. He receives several small doses of calomel, followed, if the 
bowels are not moved, by a mild saline purge, such as a Seidlitz powder. 
He is also given 5 drops (0.8) of dilute hydrochloric acid in a wineglass 
(32.0) of water every four hours, or, if the bowels are not active, nitro- 
muriatic acid is substituted therefor, care being taken to employ 1, 2, 
or 3 drops of the strong, freshly mixed acid according to the degree 
of coating of the tongue. The diet is largely a milk diet — namely, a 
quart to a quart and a half (1 to 1^ litres) a day, with a little salt to 
flavor it, as already described in the article on Indigestion. In some 
cases koumyss acts very much better than milk. Sometimes, if vom- 
iting is threatened, lime-water is added, or the milk is peptonized, or 
beef-tea is temporarily employed. In other instances the milk agrees 
with the patient if it is partly diluted with plain soda water or Apol- 
linaris water. Eggs, arrowroot, corn starch, and curds and whey are 
also allowed, as already indicated. 

For the dry and sordes-covered tongue a mouth-wash of glycerin 
and water, half and half, to which may be added a little lemon-juice, 
is used, and it is important to keep the mouth constantly cleansed, as 
by this means swallowing is not interfered with through cracking of 
the lips, tongue, and buccal mucous membrane, pulmonary infection is 
avoided, and facial erysipelas and parotitis are prevented. 

If constipation is very obstinate and continues over two days, an 
injection is employed, and if this, after being used twice, fails to act, 
a dose of calomel, ^ grain (0.001) every fifteen minutes till a grain 
has been taken, is prescribed, and, if no movement occurs in twelve 
hours, is followed by -J an ounce of sulphate of magnesium, or a tea- 
spoonful of liquorice powder is given. In other cases small doses of 
cascara sagrada are equally useful. Violent purgatives should never 
be used for obvious reasons. Kectal injections may be given some 
hours after the purgative is taken, to aid its action. 

When diarrhoea becomes troublesome — that is, over three or four 
passages a day — the following will be of service : 



688 DISEASES. 

R. — Acid, sulph. aromat f^ij (8.0). 

Extract, hematoxylin 1 f^iij (12.0). 

Syr. zingiberis f| iij (96.0).— M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) in water every hour until relieved. 

Should the stools be excessively foetid and tympanites be marked 
guaiacol carbonate may be given as an intestinal antiseptic, or, so soon 
as any evidence of tympanites or much meteorism comes on, turpentine 
may be given, as follows : 

R .— 01. terebinthinse f^ij (8.0). 

Syr. acacise q. s. adfjiij (96.0). — M. 

Ft. in emulsio. 
S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) three times a day. 

At the same time it is well to employ a turpentine stupe over the 
abdomen. (See Turpentine.) Where the tympanites is excessive it 
may be relieved by an injection made up as follows : 

R.— 01: terebinthinse f^j to ij (4.0-8.0). 

01. olive fjiv (128.0). 

Emul. asafcetidse Oj (500 cc). — M. 

S. — Use as an injection. Shake well before using. 

In the later stages of typhoid fever, as convalescence is approached, 
turpentine is often useful, as it causes rapid healing of the intestinal 
ulcers and stops diarrhoea. 

Much has been said about the value of purgatives and so-called 
intestinal antiseptics in typhoid fever, and extravagant claims made 
for them. Suffice it to state that while they may be indicated in 
certain cases they are not to be used as a routine plan of treatment, 
because the skill of the true physician is to give each patient what he 
needs — not to give all the same treatment. Typhoid fever cannot be 
aborted ; it can only be modified in the sense that we place our patients 
in the best possible physical state to withstand its ravages. 

A point of importance in the treatment of typhoid fever is to see 
that the patient receives enough water in twenty-four hours. Owing 
to his apathy he often does not complain of thirst and the kidneys are 
not flushed of impurities by fluid. Some perfectly pure water, such as 
Londonderry Lithia, or Poland water, should be freely given to help 
eliminate toxic materials through the kidneys. 

The complications of typhoid fever of the most serious import are 
hemorrhage from the bowel, pneumonia and pleurisy, and perforation 
of the bowel. 

The hemorrhage from the bowel may be treated as indicated under 
that heading (Hemorrhage), and the pneumonia or pleurisy should 
be treated as are these diseases when free from complications ; but it 
is to be remembered that the patient is an asthenic adynamic case, 
who must not be bled or depressed, but stimulated. When perforation 
of the intestine occurs, large doses of morphine should be given to 
relieve pain, prevent collapse, and allay irritation. Warm applica- 
tions should be used over the belly and down the limbs, and stim- 
ulants given if needed. Probably in the future surgery will add 
another triumph to its art by devising some fairly safe plan of ope- 
xative interference in this accident, which, if left alone, is very often 



URjEMIA. 689 

fatal. Personally, the author -would advise immediate operation unless 
the patient is very feeble. 

As stated at the beginning of this article, cold bathing is very 
important and should always be employed in one of its forms if the 
fever is high, except in the presence of hemorrhage or perforation. 

For a number of days after the patient begs hard for solid food it 
should not be allowed, for he will ask for it long before he should 
have it; but if the temperature remains normal after five days, very 
soft-boiled rice may be given in broth. The soft part of stewed oysters 
may be used and the patient gradually brought back to an ordinary 
simple diet. 

UREMIA. 

The treatment of this dangerous manifestation of renal disease is 
often futile, but always to be resorted to with the recollection that 
wonderful recoveries sometimes occur under judicious management. 
It matters little whether the onset of the symptoms has been gradual 
or instantaneous : in either event the prime endeavor must be to rid 
the system of the poison which is threatening life. This can only 
be accomplished by aiding its elimination through the bowels, skin, 
and kidneys. The second indication is to support the vital organs 
until the emunctories have had time to act. Often this second indi- 
cation will be more pressing than the first, and the physician will 
have to give stimulants at once; The third indication is to arrest any 
•convulsive seizures. 

The methods to be resorted to for the elimination of the urgemic 
poison are external and internal, externally the hot pack being 
resorted to to increase the activity of the skin. (See Heat in Part III.) 
Internally we give elaterium or elaterin in the dose of \ grain (0.01) 
or y 1 ^ grain (0.004), respectively, for the induction of watery purg- 
ing, which at once aids elimination through the bowel and relieves 
dropsy if present. The elaterin should be dissolved in a few drops 
of alcohol or in whiskey. The medication directed to increased action 
of the skin should consist of small doses, hypodermically — say -|- grain 
(0.01) — of hydrochlorate of pilocarpine, but this is contraindicated 
unless the heart is believed to be strong and acting properly. It 
should be used m conjunction with the hot-pack or hot-air bath. If 
dropsy is present, the drug will have to be given by the mouth, as it 
will not be absorbed from the boggy subcutaneous tissues. Pilo- 
carpine will also tend to increase the activity of the kidneys, and in 
addition to this influence on the renal structure we may use caffeine 
in the dose of 2 grains (0.1) every four hours, for three doses, to 
stimulate the renal epithelium still remaining healthy to greater 
effort, or if the arterial tension is high we may give nitro-glycenn 
to lower it and increase urinary flow. Should pulmonary oedema 
threaten, atropine may be used in full dose with advantage. 

For the support of the heart and respiratory function we employ 
strychnine hypodermically or by the mouth in the dose of ■£$ to y 1 ^ 
grain (0.003-0.006), and follow it by the more powerful stimulant 
digitalis in the form of the tincture in the dose of 20 drops (1.3). 

44 



690 DISEASES. 

The convulsions, if present or threatened, are to be combated by 
the use of an enema of 20 grains of chloral (1.3) and 60 grains (4.0) 
of bromide of sodium in 3 ounces (96.0) of starch-water, and the hot 
pack will also be of value, not only to produce sweating, but for its 
sedative influence on the venous system. Should the convulsive tend- 
encies be marked, chloroform inhalations may be employed until the 
chloral or bromide can be absorbed. According to Peabody and 
Kinnicutt, urethan is extraordinarily efficacious in ursemic convulsions, 
and they advise that the dose be very large, as much as 6 to 7 drachms 
(24.0-28.0) in twenty-four hours. It is said to lack the irritating 
properties of chloral, and to be lacking in dangerous effects on the 
heart. The drug may be given hypodermically or by the rectum, dis- 
solved in water. 

Two other remedial measures should be resorted to in cases of 
uraemia for the relief of all the symptoms — namely, full venesection if 
the pulse is bounding, and hypodermoclysis. (See Part III.) Vene- 
section is contraindicated in the feeble. As much as 1 to 2 pints (^ to 
1 litre) may be withdrawn in a sthenic case from a vein in the arm. 
After the bloodletting or during its progress hypodermoclysis may 
be performed or a saline solution transfused into the vein. (See Trans- 
fusion.) Often deep insensibility is speedily removed by venesection, 
which should be regarded as the sheet-anchor of treatment in those 
cases with a high blood-pressure. 

The author regards hypodermoclysis and intravenous transfusion 
of salt-solution as most useful methods of treatment in this state. 



VITREOUS DISEASES. 

Vitreous opacities may be either dust-like, flaky, or dense and 
membranous. They impair vision in proportion to their number and 
density, and are to be detected with the ophthalmoscope. Patients 
detect them as floating dark spots in their field of vision, because the 
opacities cast a shadow upon the retina. If vitreous disease is 
syphilitic, the usual remedies are indicated. Hypodermic injections 
of pilocarpine act favorably, and in the earlier stages of the inflam- 
mations of the retina, choroid, iris, and ciliary body, upon which the 
opacities depend, leeches should be applied to the temple. Gal- 
vanism has been recommended. 

VOMITING. 

Vomiting is of course a symptom, not a disease, and arises from a 
large number of causes, some of which are very unimportant, others 
very serious. The most common cause is probably lack of proper 
digestion, with all that this implies ; that is, gastro-intestinal irrita- 
tion and perversion of normal function. Additional causes are cer- 
ebral hemorrhage, tubercular meningitis, cerebritis, uraemia, or dis- 
eases of the middle lobe of the cerebellum, all of which conditions 
cause irritation of the vomiting centre. 1 

1 See Practical Diagnosis, by the author. Lea Brothers & Co., Philadelphia. 



VOMITING. 691 

All these states may be considered as lesions of a centric charac- 
ter which directly or indirectly cause the vomiting centre to send out 
impulses. On the other hand, it is worthy of note that under certain 
circumstances vomiting may be reflex and dependent upon irritation 
of the nerves of the stomach or elsewhere which convey impulses to 
the muscles whose activity results in vomiting. These conditions are 
well represented by the vomiting which comes on in incarcerated 
hernia, or in pregnancy, or in that occurring during the passage of 
renal or hepatic calculi, or in indigestion. 

It is important to bear in mind that peripheral vomiting due 
to disorder of the gastric walls ma}^ be dependent upon two con- 
ditions. The mucous membrane and its nerves may be over- 
excitable or they may be depressed. For this reason we shall find 
that two modes of treatment are necessary when this subject is 
considered below. 

The mechanism of vomiting consists in the closure of the pyloric 
sphincter, the contraction of the gastric muscles from the pylorus to 
the cardia, and at the same time, and more important than these 
movements, the contraction of the supplementary respiratory and 
abdominal muscles, which so compress the stomach as to drive out its 
contents through the open oesophagus. The violence of the muscular 
contractions in the abdominal walls is greatest when the stomach is 
partly empty, and gives rise to the pain and exhaustion accompanying 
the condition known as retching. The practical point to be learned 
from this is that vomiting is always easier when the stomach is full ; 
so if an emetic is given on an empty stomach, as the popular expres- 
sion runs, a large amount of liquid should precede or accompany it if 
possible. Dogs vomit easily because of the development of the gas- 
tric muscles, but they render the effort easier by filling the stomach 
with air, and so completely fill the viscus that its walls can contract 
on a resisting mass. 

Having described the mode and causes of vomiting, it still remains 
for us to consider its treatment. 

It is needless to remark that the vomiting of cerebral disease is 
very intractable, and that very active agents must be used to stop it. 
Probably the vomiting following etherization is centric, and should 
be treated, as should all forms of obstinate emesis, by the injection 
into the rectum of 40 grains (2.65) of sodium or potassium bromide 
and 20 drops of laudanum in 4 to 8 ounces (128.0-256.0) of water. 
If this does not stop the vomiting, a second injection may be given 
one hour after the first. A very valuable remedy in this state is 
acetanilid given in 1 grain (0.05) doses every half hour in a drachm 
of brandy with cracked ice (see Acetanilid), and it is well to remember 
that inhalation of the fumes of vinegar from a cloth wetted with it will 
often be of service. 

When vomiting seems to be due to hyperexcitability of the gastric 
mucous membrane, so that very small amounts of food when swallowed 
are at once rejected, local anaesthetics and depressants are needed, the 
chief of these being cocaine and aconite. Both of these drugs, how- 
ever, have disadvantages, because in effective dose their general phys- 



692 DISEASES. 

iological action may be very severe and almost poison the patient. 
When given to act as antiemetics, these drugs do so by acting as local 
anesthetics, or, in other words, by paralyzing the peripheral sensory 
nerves- Cocaine should be given in the dose of 2 to 3 drops (0.1- 
0.15) of a 4 per cent, watery solution every fifteen minutes until 10 
drops (0.65) are taken. The aconite should be used in the form of 
the tincture, the patient being placed flat on the back, so as to with- 
stand the ensuing cardiac depression with the least inconvenience, 
and 2 to 5 drops (0.1-0.3) of the tincture given in a little water every 
thirty minutes until the rapidly weakening pulse forbids its further 
use. This drug may be resorted to in all forms of vomiting due to 
irritability of the stomach, but it is contraindicated in cases of debil- 
ity or weakness. Aconite is generally to be preferred to cocaine. 

Sometimes a prescription of the following character is of service, 
the bismuth acting as a coating to the walls of the stomach, protect- 
ing and soothing them : 

R. — Bismuthi subnitrat *. giij (12.0). 

Tr. aconiti TT\, xx vel xxx (1.3-2.0).— M. 

Ft. chart. No. x. 
S. — One powder every half-hour. 

In other cases of the same type the following is useful, and is to 
be preferred if, owing to active fermentation, the vomiting is ex- 
cessive (the creosote or carbolic acid being a local anaesthetic and 
antiseptic) : 

R. — Acid, carbolic, vel creosoti (beechwood) . gtt. x vel xx (0.65-1.3). 

Bismuthi subnitratis giij (12.0).— M. 

Ft. in chart. No. x. 
S. — One powder every hour. 

In other cases 1 drop of tincture of iodine and 1 drop of carbolic 
acid in a couple of drachms of water will act very well. 

Sometimes pure chloroform in 1- or 2-drop (0.05-0.1) doses, in a 
little water, does good ; and dilute hydrocyanic acid, in the dose of 2 
to 6 drops (0.1-0.4) is also of value in like instances, given in a 
tablespoonful (16.0) of water. 

In other instances small repeated doses of nitroglycerin do good 
unless the vomiting complicates peritonitis or pregnancy. Particu- 
larly is nitroglycerin useful in the nausea which often follows the 
use of opium, although this symptom is best prevented by its use. 
The dose used should be about g-^-g- grain (0.0002). 

The treatment of a case of vomiting dependent rather upon de- 
pression and debility of the stomach than upon irritation is directed 
to the administration of gastric and, it may be, systemic stimulants. 
The chief of the gastric stimulants is ipecac in small doses, and it 
it is this employment of a drug generally resorted to for the produc- 
tion of emesis by physicians Avhich has caused homoeopaths to claim 
that the regular school obey the law of similia similibus curantur and 
infinitesimal doses. The claim only holds good on its face, for we do 
not use an infinitesimal dose, and obey no law, but use common sense. 
Ipecac is an irritant, even to the skin, and it is partly by its irritant 



WHOOPING COUGH. 693 

effects that it causes vomiting by exciting the stomach to a point over 
and above its normal condition. In the vomiting depending upon 
gastric debility and depression small doses of ipecac do good, because 
they irritate the stomach sufficiently to restore its normal tone with- 
out going to the other extreme of hyperexcitation. Under these cir- 
cumstances a drop dose of the wine of ipecac, or J of a grain (0.016) 
of the powdered ipecac, every hour, is of the greatest value, often 
succeeding after all other remedies have failed. 

In other instances tincture of nux vomica, given in J- to 1-drop 
(0.025-0.05) doses, is useful as follows : 

R. — Tinct. nucis vomica? gtt. iv vel viij (0.25-0.5). 

Aqu?e cinnamomi f^j (32.0). — M. 

S. — Teaspoonful (4.0) every half-hour or hour. 

In the nausea and vomiting following an alcoholic debauch J to 1 
drop (0.025-0.05) of Fowler's solution every two hours, or before 
food, often gives relief, and it may be used in some cases in place of 
the nux vomica and ipecac. Another useful measure for the cure of 
alcoholic nausea is the use of full doses of hydrochloric acid, 5, 10, 
or 15 drops (0.3-0.65-1.0) of the dilute acid in half a tumblerful of 
water, repeated every two hours. 

In all cases of persistent vomiting counter-irritation should be 
applied over the stomach in the form of a mustard plaster, or, if 
preferred, an ice-bag may be applied to the nape of the neck, the 
lumbar spine, or the epigastrium. Sometimes the application of the 
positive pole of the rapidly interrupted induced or faradic current ap- 
plied between the sterno-clavicular muscles while the negative is placed 
on the epigastrium will give relief. 

The food given in cases of vomiting should be especially prepared. 
It is always best to use peptonized milk, made by using the pepton- 
izing materials sold by all the large drug firms of reliability. (See 
article on Diet, Part III.) Lime-water should always be put in the 
milk if it is not peptonized ; the amount usually employed is per- 
fect! v useless, because of its smallness : at least 2 to 3 tablespoonfuls 
(32.0-48.0) should be placed in each glass of milk. 

Another point of importance is the quantity of liquid taken. As 
fast as the patient vomits he is often fed with glasses full of liquid 
by well-meaning friends. Instead of this, he should have only 1 or 
2 teaspoonfuls (4.0-8.0) of milk every hour, half-hour, or fifteen min- 
utes, for it is better for him to retain a drachm than to take a quart 
and vomit it. 

Where vomiting is absolutely persistent enemata previously partly 
or entirely digested must be resorted to. 



WHOOPING COUGH. 

The remedies recommended for this disease are almost as numer- 
ous as the members of the medical profession, and every one of them 
is worthless so far as a cure is concerned. Probably the very best 



694 DISEASES. 

drug of all in the majority of cases is antipyrin. Given in the dose of 
\ to 3 grains (0.025-0.15) every five hours according to the age of 
the child, it will nearly always decrease the number of paroxysms, but 
not the severity of each individual attack. 

Where the child will submit to it there is little doubt that a solution 
of quinine applied to the pharynx by means of a very fine spray will 
be of service in many cases, and it is very useful, when so used, as a 
prophylactic in other children of the family who it is feared will be 
attacked by the same disease. The strength of the solution to be 
employed should be about 1 grain (0.05) to the ounce of water. 

There is no doubt that carburetted hydrogen as inhaled in the air at 
gasworks is useful as a curative measure in some cases of whooping cough. 

A very useful remedy in some cases is belladonna in the form of 
the tincture, in the dose of 2 drops (0.01) twice a day to a child of 
one or two years. Where great vascular engorgement ensues upon a 
severe coughing spell vascular sedatives are of service ; that is, in 
those cases in which hemorrhages from the nose, ears, and mouth 
take place veratrum viride or aconite may be used, unless the disease 
has already so exhausted the child that stimulants are needed, and 
cardiac sedatives are contraindicated by the degree of adynamia 
present. The reason for this lies in the following facts : The vascu- 
lar tension consequent upon the obstruction of respiration causes a 
rise of blood-pressure from asphyxia, and the hemorrhages or the 
conjunctival ecchymoses are due to rupture of the small blood-vessels 
under the increased strain. By lowering vascular tension we prevent 
so great a spasm of the blood-vessels and avoid vascular rupture or 
distention. 

Where paroxysms come on so rapidly as really to interfere seri- 
ously with respiration, the child should take a whiff of chloroform 
poured over the parent's hand, and so relax the spasm, while in other 
instances nitrite of amyl is equally serviceable. Only 2 to 3 drops 
of the nitrite of amyl should be used at a time, and this fact must 
be impressed upon the parents. 

Benzine has been found useful in certain cases of whooping 
cough. It should be lightly sprinkled about the room or on the 
bed-clothing. In France it has been used internally in the dose 
of 10 to 15 drops (0.6-1.0) for this affection. This is scarcely to 
be recommended. 

Bromoform renders good service in some cases. (See article on 
Bromoform for prescription.) 

The vomiting following the cough may be overcome by using such 
minute amounts of milk as to enable nutrition to go on without at 
any time overloading the stomach, as, for example, a teaspoonful (4.0) 
after each paroxysm of cough. 

Often it will be found possible to modify the severity and frequency 
of the attacks by keeping the patient under a bronchitis tent or by 
keeping the air of the room moistened by steam. (See Bronchitis.) 



WORMS. 695 



WORMS. 



Intestinal parasites may be said to be represented by the Ascaris 
lumbricoides, or round-ivorm ; the Taenia solium, Tsenia media 
canellata, and the Bothriocephalus latus, or tape-ivorms ; and, finally, 
by the Oxyuris vermicularis, sometimes called seat-, pin-, or thread- 
worm. 

The round-worm and tape-worm are to be attacked by way of the 
patient's mouth, the seat-worm by way of the anal opening; but 
'before mentioning the drugs to be employed it is necessary to insist 
mpon one or two important points, disregard of which will result in 
failure in treatment. 

Whenever a round- or tape-worm is to be attacked, the patient 
must be starved for at least twelve to twenty-four hours, in order that 
no food in the intestinal tract may protect the worm from the action 
of the drug. During this time a little milk may be taken, and after 
a night of fasting, before breakfast, the anthelmintic must be swal- 
lowed. Further than this, nearly all of these drags must be followed 
by purges in order to dislodge the intruder while he is paralyzed and 
has lost his hold ; and in many instances it is well to have a basin of 
salt and water ready, so that when a passage occurs a rectal injection 
may be given to wash out any segments of the worm which remain 
behind in the rectum. 

In the treatment of thread-worms it is necessary to fill the bowel 
thoroughly with soap and water to dislodge the faecal matter and 
expose the worms in the folds of the mucous membrane. 

The drugs which are used against the round-worm are: Spigelia in 
the form of the fluid extract, dose 1 drachm (4.0) to a child of two 
or three years, or 2 drachms (8.0) to an adult, or, better still, the fluid 
extract of spigelia and senna, dose 2 to 3 drachms (8.0-12.0), given 
in divided doses, to a child ; oil of chenopodium, dose 5 to 20 drops 
(0.3-1.3) on sugar; santonin, dose J to \ grain (0.016-0.025) to a 
child, in the form of troche, made by using the crystals, or as much 
as 2 to 4 grains (0.1-0.2) to an adult. (See Santonin.) 

Brayera, or kooso, is given for the removal of the tape-worm in 
the form of an infusion, which is made by adding J ounce (16.0) of 
the powdered leaves to 1 pint (500 cc.) of water and mucilage of 
acacia, one-half of each. This may be taken at one dose, or the 
fluid extract may be given in the dose of J ounce (16.0) to an adult. 
Koosin may be given in 40-grain (2.65) doses in capsule to adults, 
but it should not be used against worms in pregnant women, as it 
may cause abortion. 

Unless the spigelia is used with senna, it should always be followed 
after from two to four hours by a full dose of castor oil or a saline 
purgative to sweep out the worm, and the same rule applies to all the 
drugs mentioned above. 

The most efficient remedy against the tape-worm is pelletierin, 
the active principle of pomegranate, dose 3 to 5 grains (0.18-0.26) in 
capsules; or pepo, or pumpkin-seeds (2 ounces [64.0]), may be 
resorted to when deprived of their outer coating and rubbed into a 



696 DISEASES. 

paste with sugar. Almost, if not quite, as valuable a remedy is male 
fern, or Filix mas, or, as it is officially called, Aspidium. Used in 
the form of the oleoresin (Oleoresina Aspidii), in the dose of "J to 1 
drachm (2.0-4.0) to an adult, it should be followed in three or four 
hours by a calomel purge, aided by a saline. Either the calomel or 
the increased amount of bile which is present is apparently peculiarly 
abhorrent to the tape-worm, and its free excretion should follow the 
use of all the drugs just named. Aspidium should not be followed 
by castor or other oils, as they increase the absorbability of the drug, 
and so tend to develop poisonous symptoms. 

By far the most useful remedy for seat-worms is quassia used by 
injection. 1 to 2 ounces (32.0-64.0) of powdered quassia or quassia 
chips may be made into a decoction with a pint (500 cc.) of water, 
and half of this injected into the rectum after it has been well 
cleansed with soap and water. The quassia injection should be 
retained in the bowel for some minutes, and in children this may be 
accomplished by pressing upon the anal opening the ball of the. 
thumb covered by a pad formed from a small folded towel. If this 
treatment fails to bring away all the worms in three or four trials, 
either there are none present or the bowel is not thoroughly invaded 
by the injection. In some cases the worms infest the colon, and large 
injections sent high up into the bowel are necessary. 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



dr. = drachm ; fl. dr 



fluidrachm ; fl. oz. = 
min. — minim 



fluidounce ; gr. = grain 
oz.= ounce. 



gm. = gramme 



Remedy. 



Acetanilid 

Acetophenone 

Acetphenetidin 

Acetum lobelise 

opii 

sanguinariae 

scilla? 

Acid, acetic; diluted . . . 

arsendus 

solution of (Ph. U. S.) 

benzoic 

boric 

carbolic 

chrysophanic 

cicric 

fluoric, dilute 

gallic . 

hydriodic, dilute . . . 

hydrobromic, dilute . . 

hydrochloric 

dilute 

hydrocyanic, dilute . . 

lactic 

nitric 

dilute 

nitrohydrochloric . . - 

phosphoric, dilute . . . 

picric 

polygalic 

salicylic 

sulphuric 

aromatic 

dilute ...'.»... 

sulphurous 

tannic 

tartaric 

valerianic 

Aconite, abstract of . . . 

leaves, extract of . . . 
fluid extract of . . . 
tincture of 

root, extract of ... . 
fluid extract of . . . 

tincture of 

Aconitine 

Adonidin 

^Ether. See Ether. 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 
Weights and Measures. 



1-8 gr. . 

5-20 min. 

2-5 gr. 
15-30 min. 

5-10 min. 
15-30 min. 
10-30 min. 

1-2 fl. dr. 

60 2J g 1 - 

2-8 min. 
5-15 gr. 
5-10 gr. 

ih 1 g r ; 

|~5 min. 

5-20 gr. 
10-20 min. 

3-15 gr. 

1 fl. dr. 

i-2fl.dr. 

2-5 min. 
10-20 min. 

2-5 min. 

1-3 dr. 

2-5 min. 
10-25 min. 

2-5 min. 

5-25 min. 

1-5 gr. 

1-1 gr. 

5-15 gr. 

2-5 min. 

5-20 min. 

5-20 min. 

§-1 fl. dr. 

2-10 gr. 
10-30 gr. 

3-4 min. 

Hgr- 

ir\ gr ; 

1-5 min. 
10-15 min. 

i-i gr ; 
\-\ min. 
1-3 min. 

¥00~3"0 o g r - 

1 _1 
Tr - 



gr. 



0.0H 
0.3 

0.12 
1.0 
0.3 
1.0 
0.6 
4.0 
0.001 

0.12 
0.3 
0.3 

0.03 
.0.008 
0.3 
0.6 
0.2 
2 
2.0 

0.12 
0.6 

0.12 
4.0 

0.12 
0.6 

0.12 
0.3 

0.06 

0.015 

0.3 

0.1 
0.3 
0.3 
2 

0.12 

0.6 

0.2 

0.015 

0.015 

0.06 

0.6 

0.01 

0.03 

0.06 

0.00015 

0.005 



Metric 
System. 

-0.5 gm. 

-1.25 gm. 

-0.3 gm. 
-2.0 gm. 
-0.6 gm. 
-2.0 gm. 
1—1.8 gm. 
1-8.0 gm. 
-0.003 gm. 
i— 0.5 gm. 
i-1.0 gm. 

-0.6 gm. 

■0.06 gm. 

0.3 gm. 

-1.25 gm. 
-1.2 gm. 
1-1.0 gm. 
.0 gm. 
1-8.0 gm. 

-0.3 gm. 
-1.2 gm. 

-0.3 gm. 

-12.6gm. 
:-0.3 gm. 
-1.5 gm. 

-0.3 gm. 
-1.5 gm. 
-0.3 gm. 
-0.06 gm. 

-1 gm. 

-0.3 gm. 

-1.2 gm. 
-1.2 gm. 
!-4 gm. 
-0.6 gm. 

-2 gm. 

-0.25 gm. 

■0.03 gm. 

■0.03 gm. 

■0.3 gm. 

■1.0 gm. 
-0.016 gm. 
-0.06 gm. 
.-0.18 gm. 
.-0.0002 gm. 
-0.01 gm. 



697 



698 



DOSES OF MEDICINES 



Eemedy. 



Agaricin 

Aloes 

extract of 

and myrrh, tincture of 

tincture of 

watery extract 

wine of 

Aloin 

Alumen 

(as emetic) 

Aluminium hydrate 

Ammonia, aromatic spirit 

solution of acetate of 

spirit of . 

water of 

Ammoniacum 

mixture 

Ammonium benzoate 

bromide 

carbonate 

chloride 

iodide 

phosphate 

picrate 

sulphate 

valerianate 

Amygdala amara, water of 

Amyl nitrite 

by inhalation 

Amylene hydrate 

Amylum iodatum 

Angelica- root, fluid extract ...... 

Angustura-bark 

Anise, oil of • 

spirit of . . 

Anthemis 

extract 

fluid extract 

Antimonial powder 

Antimony oxide 

oxysulphuret 

and potassium tartrate, as diaphoretic 
as emetic 

sulphide 

sulphurated 

sulphuret 

wine of 

Antipyrine 

Antitoxine (for diphtheria) 

Apiol 

Apocynin ... 

Apocynum cannabinum 

fluid extract of 

Apomorphine hydrochl orate 

Aralia hispida, fluid extract of ... . 

nudicaulis, fluid extract of 

racemosa, fluid extract of 

spinosa, fluid extract of 

Arbutin 

Areca, fluid extract of 

Argentum and compounds. See Silver. 
Arnica-flowers, extract of 



Apothecaries' 


Metric 


Weights and Measures. 


System. 


T2~i gr- 


0.005-0.015 gm. 


2-6 gr. 


0.1-0.35 gm. 


2-6 gr. 


0.1-0.35 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.03-0.12 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


30 gr.-l dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


30 min.-l fl. dr. 


2-4 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4-8 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.6-1.0 gm. 


2-6 gr. 


0.1-0.35 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2 gm. 


^-1 oz. 


16-32 gm. 


10-20 gr. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2 gm. 


3-10 gr. 


0.18-0.6 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


3-5 gr. 


0.18-0.3 gm. 


10-20 gr. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


Hg r ' 


0.016-0.03 gm. 


3-10 gr. 


0.18-0.6 gm. 


2-8 gr. 


0.12-0.48 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


2-3 min. 


0.12-0.18 gm. 


3-5 min. 


0.18-0.3 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


5-30 gr. 


0.3-2.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


1-5 min. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


i-1 dr. 


2-4 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


2-3 gr. 


0.12-0.18 gm. 


4-2 gr. 


0.03-0.12 gm. 


JL-l or 
16 2 a 1. 


0.004-0.03 gm. 


1-1 gr- 


0.03-0.06 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.03-0.12 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


i-2gr. 


0.03-0.12 gm. 


10 min.-l fl. dr. 


0.6-4 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


5-10 cc. 




2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


4-2 gr. 


0.03-0.12 gm. 


10-20 gr. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


tWo gr- 


0.004-0.006 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


1-10 gr. 


0.06-0.6 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



G99 



Remedy. 



Arnica-flowers, fluid extract of 

root, extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Aromatic powder 

Arsenate of sodium, solution of 

Arsenic. See Acid, arsenous. 

bromide 

iodide 

and mercury iodide, solution of (Dono- 
van's solution) 

Arsenite of potassium, solution of (Fowler's 

solution) 

Asafoetida 

mixture of 

tincture 

Asclepias incarnata, fluid extract of . . . 

Syriaca, fluid extract of . , 

tuberosa 

Aspidium, fluid extract of 

oleo-resin of 

Aspidosperma, abstract of 

fluid extract of 

Atropine sulphate 

Aurantii cortex, fluid extract of 

Azedarach, fluid extract of 

Balsam of Gurjun 

of Tolu 

Baptisia, extract of 

fluid extract of . 

Baptisine 

Belladonna, abstract of . . . . 

alcoholic extract of 

leaves, fluid extract of 

tincture of 

root, extract of 

fluid extract of 

Benzanilide 

Benzoin, compound tincture of 

tincture of 

Benzol 

Berberina 

sulphate 

Berberis aquifolium, fluid extract of . . . 

vulgaris, fluid extract of 

Bismuth and ammonium, citrate of ... . 

citrate 

salicylate 

subcarbonate 

subnitrate 

tannate 

valerianate 

Boldo, fluid extract of 

oil of 

tincture of 

Brayera 

fluid extract of . . . . 

infusion of 

Bromal 

Bromoform 

Brucina 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 
Weights and Measures. 



5-15 gr. 

2-5 gr. 

5-15 gr. 
10-20 gr. 
10-30 gr. 

3-5 min. 



1-4 min. 
tVI g r - 

5-10 min. 

2-5 min. 

5-20 gr. 

i-1 fl. oz. 

30 min.-l fl. dr. 

15-30 min. 

15-30 min. 

15-30 min. 

1-2 fl. dr. 
30 min.-l fl. dr. 

5-20 gr. 
15-30 min. 

T2 40 g 1 • 

15 min.-2 fl. dr. 
15-60 min. 
20-30 min. 
10-30 min. 

2-10 gr. 
10-30 min. 

2-5 gr. 

4-1* g^ 

x~\ gr : 
3-6 min. 
10-20 min. 

l_i or 

8 J8 1 ; 

1-2 min. 

1-5 gr. 
30 min.-l fl. dr. 

|-1 fl. dr. 

5-10 min. 

3-10 gr. 

3-10 gr. 
15-30 min. 
15-30 min. 

1-10 gr. 

3-15 gr. 

5-15 gr. 

5-20 gr. 

5-20 gr. 

5-30 gr. 

1-3 gr. 

5-15 min. 
5 min. 
8 min. 

2-3 dr. 

1-1 fl. oz. 

4-8 oz. 

2-3 gr. 

5-10 min. 
TfV-T6 £ r - 



Metric 
System. 



0.3-1.0 gm. 
0.12-0.3 gm. 

0.3-1.0 gm. 

0.6-1.2 mg. 

0.6-2.0 gm. 
0.18-0.3 gm. 

0.06-0.024 gm. 
0.004-0.008 gm. 

0.3-0.6 gm. 

0.12-0.3 gm. 

0.3-1.2 gm. 

15-30 gm. 

2-4 gm. 

1.0-2.0 gm. 

1.0-2.0 gm. 

1.0-2.0 gm. 

4.0-8.0 gm. 

2.0-4.0 gm. 

0.3-1.2 gm. 

1.0-2.0 gm. 
0.0005-0.0015 gm. 

1.0-8.0 gm. 

1.0-4.0 gm. 

1.2-2.0 gm. 

0.6-2.0 gm. 
0.12-0.6 gm. 

0.6-2.0 gm. 

0.12-0.3 gm. 

0.03-0.1 gm. 

0.016-0.03 gm. 

0.18-0.36 gm. 

0.6-1.2 gm. 

0.008-0.016 gm. 

0.06-0.12 gm. 

0.06-0.3 gm. 

2.0-4.0 gm. 

2 0-4.0 gm. 

0.3-0.6 gm. 
0.18-0.6 gm. 
0.18-0.6 gm. 

1.0-2.0 gm. 

1.0-2.0 gm. 
0.06-0.6 gm. 
0.18-1.0 gm. 

0.3-1.0 gm. 

0.3-1.2 gm. 

0.3-1.2 gm. 

0.3-2.0 gm. 
0.06-0.18 gm. 

0.3-1.0 gm. 
0.3 gm. 
0.5 gm. 

8.0-12.0 gm. 
15.0-30.0 gm. 
118.0-236.0 gm. 
0.12-0.2 gm. 

0.3-0.6 gm. 
0.002-0.004 gm. 



700 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



Remedy. 



Bryonia, fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Buchu, fluid extract of 

Buckthorn, fluid extract of 

Cactus grandiflora, fluid extract of . . 
Caffeine 

citrate of 

Cajeput, oil of ... . 

Calamus, fluid extract of 

Calcium benzoate 

bromide 

carbonate 

chloride 

hypophosphite 

iodide 

lactophosphate, syrup of 

phosphate 

sulphide 

Calendula, fluid extract of 

tincture of . 

Calomel. See Mercury, mild chloride of. 
Calumba, extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Calx chlorata 

sulphurata 

Camphor 

bromide 

monobromated 

spirit of. 

water 

Camphoric acid 

Cannabin tannate 

Cannabis Americana, fluid extract of . 

Indica, abstract of 

extract of 

fluid extract of . .' 

tincture of' 

Cantharides 

tincture of 

Capsicum 

fluid extract of 

oleoresin of 

tincture of 

Caraway, oil of 

Carbon bisulphide 

Cardamom, compound tincture of . . 

fluid extract of . . . 

tincture of 

Caryophyllus, oil of 

Cascara sagrada 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

Cascarilla 

fluid extract of 

Cassia fistula, pulp of 

Castanea vesca, fluid extract of . . . . 
Castor 

tincture of 

Cataria, fluid extract of 

Catechu 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 


Metric 


Weights and Measures. 


System. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


i-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


5-10 min. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


5-20 min. 


0.3-1.2 gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


10 gr. 


0.6 gm. 


10-20 gr. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


15-30 gr. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


15-30 gr. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


ir\ gr. 


0.012-0.03 gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


3-10 gr. 


0.18-0.6 gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


1-4 fl. dr. 


4.0-16.0 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


i-lgr. 


0.016-0.06 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


5-30 min. 


0.3-2.0 gm. 


i-2 fl. oz. 


16.0-64.0 gm. 


15-30 gr. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


3-15 min. 


0.18-1.0 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


4-1 gr. 


0.015-0.06 gm. 


3-6 min. 


0.18-0.36 gm. 


5-20 min. 


0.3-1.2 gm. 


£-1 gr- 


0.03-0.06 gm. 


2-5 min. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


i-2 gr. 


0.03-0.12 gm. 


\-\ min. 


0.03-0.06 gm. 


^-1 min. 


0.015-0.06 gm. 


5-20 min. 


0.3-1.2 gm. 


1-5 min. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


i-1 min. 


0.03-0.06 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


15-45 min. 


1.0-3.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


1-5 min. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


2-8 gr. 


0.12-0.5 gm. 


2-8 gr. 


0.12-0.5 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


20-30 gr. 


1.2-2.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


1-2 dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


\-\ fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


2-4 fl. dr. 


8.0-16.0 gm. 


15 min.-l fl. dr. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



'01 



Remedy. 



Catechu, compound tincture of ... . 

fluid extract of 

Caulophyllin 

Caulophyllum, infusion of 

Cava-cava . . . . 

Cerium nitrate 

oxalate 

Chalk, compound powder of 

mixture 

prepared . 

Chamomile, oil of 

Charcoal, animal, purified 

Chelidonium majus 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

Chenopodium, oil of 

Cherry- laurel water 

Chimaphila, fluid extract of 

Chinoidin 

Chionanthus, fluid extract of ... . 
Chiretta, fluid extract of 

tincture of . 

Chloral hydrate . 

Chloralamide 

Chlorine-water . . . 

Chloroform, mixture of 

purified 

spirit of 

Chrysarobin 

Cimicifuga, fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Cinchona-bark 

aromatic fluid extract of 

compound tincture of 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Cinchonia sulphate 

Cinchonidia or Cinchonidine sulphate 

Cinchonine sulphate . 

Cinnamon 

oil of 

spirit of 

tincture of 

Cloves. See Caryophyllus. 

Coca, fluid extract of 

leaves of 

Cocaine 

Cocculus, fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Codeine or Codeia 

Colchicine 

Colchicum, acetic extract of . . . . . 

root 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

wine of . . . 

seed 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

wine of 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 


Metric 


Weights and Measures. 


System. 


i-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


i-igr. 


0.015-0.03 gm. 


1-2 oz. 


16.0-64.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. oz. 


32-64 gm. 


15-30 gr. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


i-1 dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


4-8 min. 


0.24-0.5 gm. 


5-30 min. 


0.3-2.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


i-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


5-20 gr. 


0.3-1.2 gm. 


15-30 gr. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


1-4 fl. dr. 


4.0-15.0 gm. 


1-4 fl. dr. 


4.0-15.0 gm. 


5-10 min. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


10 min.-l fl. dr. 


0.6-4.0 gm. 


5-20 gr. 


0.3-1.2 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


i-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


10 gr.-l dr. 


0.6-4.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 mg. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


8.0-15.0 gm. 


10-20 gr. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


5-20 gr. 


0.3-1.2 gm. 


1-5 min. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


5-20 min. 


0.3-1.2 gm. 


i-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


20 min.-l fl. dr. 


1.2-4.0 gm. 


i-l dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


i-1 gr- 


0.03-0.06 gm. 


1-3 min. 


0.06-0.2 gm. 


2-10 min. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


• 1-2 gr. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


1 - 1 err 

TOO 50" 8 r - 


0.0012-0.0006 gm. 


H gr. 


0.015-0.03 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


1 1 err 

¥ 2 g r - 


0.015-0.03 gm. 


2-5 min. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


10-20 min. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


2-8 min. 


• 0.12-0.5 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


20-40 min. 


1.2-2.4 gm. 



702 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



Remedy. 



Colocynth 

compound extract of 

extract of 

Colocynthidine 

Colocynthin 

Condurango, fluid extract of . . . 
Coniine 

hydrochlorate ........ 

Coniuni, abstract of 

fluid extract of 

fruit, alcoholic extract of . . . 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

leaves, extract of 

fluid extract of 

Convallamarin 

Convallaria, extract of 

fluid extract of 

Copaiba 

oil of 

oleo-resin of 

Copper, acetate 

ammoniated 

sulphate, astringent, tonic . . . 

emetic . 

Coptis, fluid extract of 

Corrosive sublimate. See Mercury. 
Corydalis, fluid extract of ... . 
Coto 

fluid extract of 

tincture of ■ . 

Cotoi'n 

Cotton-root bark. See Gossypium. 
Creasote 

water 

Creolin 

Croton-chloral hydrate 

Croton oil 

Cubebs 

fluid extract of 

oil of 

oleoresin of 

tincture of , • 

Curare 

Curarin 

Cypripedium 

fluid extract of 

Damiana, fluid extract of ... . 

tincture 

Daturine 

Delphinium, fluid extract of . . . 

Digitaline 

Digitalis, abstract of 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

infusion of 

powder of leaves of 

tincture of 

Dioscorea, fluid extract of ... . 

Dita, fluid extract of 

Dogwood, bark of root 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 


Metric 


"Weights and Measures. 


System. 


2-8 gr. 


0.12-0.5 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


tW gr- 


0.005-0.01 gm. 


i-lgr. 


0.015-0.06 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


itrh g r - 


0.001-0.002 gm. 


ttWs gr. 


0.001-0.002 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


5 min. 


0.3 gm. 


1-1 gr- 


0.03-0.06 gm. 


1-2 min. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


10-20 min. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


1-3 min. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


^2gr. 


0.03-0.12 gm. 


2-10 min. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


20 min.-l fl. dr. 


1.2-4.0 gm. 


10-20 min. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


Hgr. 


0.015-0.03 gm. 


i-1 gr- 


0.01-0.06 gm. 


Hrgr- 


0.015-0.03 gm. 


5gr. 


0.3 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


2-10 min. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


T2-1 gr. 


0.005-0.008 gm. 


1-3 min. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


1-4 fl. dr. 


4.0-15.0 gm. 


igr- 


0.03 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


\-\ min. 


0.03-0.06 gm. 


10 gr.-l dr. 


0.6-4.0 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


10-20 min. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


5-20 gr. 


0.3-1.2 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


1 1 Q. r 

"33 ¥ gr- 


0.002-0.008 gm. 


eW? gr- 


0.001-0.002 gm. 


15 gr. 


1.0 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


30 min.-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


1-3 fl. dr. 


4.0-12.0 gm. 


■ihnk gr- 


0.0006-0.0012 gm. 


1-3 min. 


0.06-0.2 gm. 


to-to gr- 


0.001-0.002 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


i-4 gr- 


0.01-0.03 gm. 


1-6 min. 


0.06-0.35 gm. 


2-4 fl. dr. 


8.00-16.00 gm. 


4-1 gr- 


0.03-0.06 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


1-4 min. 


0.06-0.25 gm. 


20-60 gr. 


1.2-4.0 gm. 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



703 



Kemedy. 



Dogwood, fluid extract of 

Donovan's solution. See Arsenic. 

Dover's powder 

Dracontium 

fluid extract of 

Drosera, fluid extract of 

Duboisine 

Dulcamara, extract of. 

fluid extract of 

Elaterin , . 

Elaterium 

Einetin, diaphoretic 

emetic 

Ergot 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

wine of . . 

Ergotin, Bonjean's (purified extract of ergot) 

Erigeron, oil of 

Eriodictyon, extract of 

fluid extract of 

Erythrophloain 

Erythroxylon. See Coca. 

Eserine 

Ether, acetic 

compound spirit of (Hoffman's anodyne) 

nitrous, spirit of (sweet spirit of nitre) . 

sulphuric 

Ethyl bromide 

Eucalyptol 

Eucalyptus, fluid extract of 

oil of 

Euonymin s 

Euonymus, extract of 

fluid extract of 

Eupatorium, fluid extract of 

Euphorbia pilulifera, fluid extract of . . . 

Fel bovis purificatum 

Ferrum. See Iron. 

Frangula, fluid extract of 

Galls, aromatic syrup of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Gamboge 

Gaultheria, oil of . 

Gelsemium, abstract of 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Gentian, compound infusion of 

extract of 

fluid extract of . . . . 

tincture of 

Geranium, fluid extract of 

Ginger, fluid extract of 

oleo-resin of. ....... 

tincture of 

Glycyrrhiza. See Licorice. 

Goa powder 

Gold bromide 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 
Weights and Measures. 



30-60 min. 

5-10 gr. 
10-20 gr. 
|-1 fl. dr. 
5-10 min. 

T770 g r - 
5-10 gr. 



i-1 fl. dr. 


sWo g r - 


tW g^ 


_1 l_ o-r 

120 3 o 1. 


He g r - 


15-60 gr. 


2-10 gr. 


15 min.-l fl. dr. 


i-2 fl. dr. 


1-3 fl. dr. 


2-8 gr. 


5-15 min. 


2-5 gr. 


15-30 min. 



6 2 g r ' 

10-20 min. 
30 min. 

^-1 fl. dr. 
15-40 min. 
15-60 min. 
10-15 min. 
15-30 min. 

5-10 min. 

2-5 gr. 

1-3 gr. 

i-1 fl. dr. 

^-1 fl. dr. 

5-30 min. 

3-6 gr. 



1-2 fl. dr. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


i-2 fl. dr. 


i-4 gr. 


2-10 min. 


1-2 gr. 


i-1 gr- 


2-5 min. 


5-10 min. 


1-4 fl. dr. 


2-3 gr. 


i-1 fl. dr. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


20-30 min. 


10-30 min. 


1-3 gr. 


15-30 min. 


5-20 gr. 


1_1 or 

8 2 gr- 



Metric 
System. 



2.0-4.0 gm. 



0.3- 
0.6 

2.0- 
0.3 

0.3- 

2.0- 

0.001- 

0.006- 

0.0005 

0.008- 

1.0 

0.12 

1.0 

2.0- 

4.0- 

0.12 

0.3 

0.12 

1.0 

0.004 



-0.6 gm. 
-1.2 gm. 
-4.0 gm. 
-0.6 gm. 
0.0006 gm. 
-0.6 gm. 
-4.0 gm. 
-0.003 gm. 
-0.015 gm. 
-0.002 gm. 
-0.015 gm. 
-4.0 gm. 
-0.06 gm. 
-4.0 gm. 
-8.0 gm. 
-12.0 gm. 
-0.5 gm. 
-1.0 gm. 
-0.3 gm. 
-2.0 gm. 
-0.008 gm. 



0.001-0 

0.6-1 

2 

2.0-4 

1.0-2 

1.0-4 

0.6-1 

1.0-2 

0.3-0 

0.12-0 

0.06-0 

2.0-4 

2.0-4, 

0.3-2 

0.18-0 



.003 gm. 
.2 gm. 
;.0 gm. 
.0 gm. 
.5 gm. 
.0 gm. 
.0 gm. 
,0 gm. 
.6 gm. 
.3 gm. 
.18 gm. 
.0 gm. 
,0 gm. 
.0 gm. 
.36 gm. 



4.0-8.0 gm. 

4.0-8.0 gm. 

4.0-8.0 gm. 

2.0-8.0 gm. 
0.03-0.25 gm.. 
0.12-0.6 gm. 
0.06-0.12 gm. 
0.03-0.06 gm. 
0.12-0.3 gm. 

0.3-0.6 gm. 

4.0-8.0 gm. 
0.12-0.2 gm. 

2.0-4.0 gm. 

4.0-8.0 gm. 

1.2-2.0 gm. 

0.6-2.0 gm. 
0.06-0.18 gm. 

1.0-2.0 gm. 

0.3-1.2 gm. 
0.008-0.03 gm. 



704 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



Remedy. 



Gold and sodium chloride 

Gossypium-root, fluid extract of bark of . 
Granati radicis cortex, fluid extract . . . 

Grindelia, fluid extract of 

Guaiac, ammoniated tincture of ... . 

resin of . . . . 

tincture of 

Guaiacol 

Guarana 

fluid extract of 

Gurjun. See Balsam. 

Hsematoxyion 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

Hamamelis, fluid extract of 

Hedeoma, oil of 

Helleborein 

Helleborus niger, extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Hepatica, fluid extract of 

Hops, extract' of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of « . . . . 

Hydrangea, fluid extract of 

Hydrastine 

Hydrastis, extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Hyoscine hydrobromate 

Hyoscyamine sulphate ........ 

Hyoscyamus, abstract of 

alcoholic extract of 

extract of . . . 

fluid extract of flowers 

of seeds 

tincture of flowers 

of seeds 

Hypnal 

Hypnone 

Hypophosphites, syrup of ...... . 

with iron, syrup of .... • 

Iehthyol 

Ignatia, abstract of 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of . . 

Iodine, compound solution of 

tincture of 

Iodoform 

Iodol 

Ipecacuanha, emetic 

expectorant 

abstract of 

fluid extract of, emetic 

syrup of 

wine of, emetic 

expectorant 

Iridin or Irisin 

Iris, extract of 

fluid extract of 



Apothecaries' 


Metric 


Weights and Measures. 


System. 


1 _ 1 o-r 

4 2 S r * 


0.001-0.003 gm. 


i-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


|-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


10-20 gr. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


4-3 gr. 


0.03-0.18 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


10-20 gr. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


10-20 gr. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


30 min.-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


2-5 min. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


tV? g r - 


0.006-0.016 gm. 


i-2 gr. 


0.03-0.12 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


10-15 min. 


0.6-1.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


3-15 gr. 


0.2-1.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


i~ig r - 


0.015-0.03 gm. 


i3-10 gr. 


0.2-0.6 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


1 1 rrv 
TOO - 60 g r ' 


0.0006-0.001 gm. 


yiWo gr- 


0.0005-0.001 gm. 


2-3 gr. 


0.12-0.2 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


2-3 gr. . 


0.12-0.2 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


5 min. 


0.3 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


i-1 gr- 


0.03-0.06 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


1 fl. dr. 


4.0 gm. 


1 fl. dr. 


4.0 gm. 


2-4 gr. 


0.1-0.25 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.2 gm. 


i~l gr- 


0.015-0.06 gm. 


1-6 min. 


0.06-0.35 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


5 min. 


0.3 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.2 gm. 


i-2 gr- 


0.03 0.12 gm. 


15-30 gr. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


i-1 gr. 


0.01-0.06 gm. 


5-30 gr. 


0.3-2.0 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


i-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


3-6 fl. dr. 


12.0-24.0 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 



DOSES OF MEDICINES 



705 



Remedy. 



Iron acetate, tincture of . . 

and ammonium citrate . 

sulphate 

tartrate 

arsenate 

benzoate 

bitter wine of 

bromide 

syrup of 

carbonate, saccha rated . 

chloride 

tincture of 

and cinchonidia citrate . 

citrate 

compound mixture of . 

dialyzed 

solution of 

hydrated oxide of . . . 

hypophosphite 

syrnp of' 

iodide 

syrup of 

lactate ........ 

magnetic oxide of . . . 

malate 

nitrate, solution . . . . 

phosphate 

pomate 

and potassium tartrate . 

pyrophosphate 

and quinia citrate . . , 

reduced ... 

saccha rated carbonate of 

and strychnine citrate . 

subcarbonate 

subsulphate 

sulphate 

dried 

valerianate 

wine of the citrate of. . 
Jaborandi, extract of . . . 

fluid extract of . . . . . 
Jalap 

abstract of . 

compound powder of . . 

extract of 

alcoholic extract of . . . 

fluid extract of 

resin of . . 

tincture of 

Juglans, extract of ... . 

fluid extract of 

Juniperus, fluid extract of, 

Kairin 

Kamala 

fluid extract of 

Kino . 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Kola, fluid extract of . . . 
Koosso. See Brayera 
45 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 


Metric 


Weights arid Measures. 


System. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


1—1 m> 

?o so g 1 - 


0.0015-0.003 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


1-2 fl. oz. 


30.0-60.0 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


Tablespoonful doses 


n arsenical poisoning. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


1 11. dr. 


4.0 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


8-15 min. 


0.5-1.0 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


3-6 gr. 


0.2-0.4 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


5-30 gr. 


0.3-2.0 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


i-2 gr. 


0.03-0.12 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


i-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


10-60 min. 


0.6-4.0 gm. 


5-30 gr. 


0.3-2.0 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


\ dr. 


2.00 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


3-6 gr. 


0.18-0.35 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


4-8 gr. 


0.25-0.5 gm. 


|-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


5-20 gr. 


0.3-1.2 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


1-2 dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


i-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.65-2.0 gm. 



706 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



Remedy. 



Krameria 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

syrup of 

tincture of 

Lactucarium 

fluid extract of 

syrup of 

Lappa, fluid extract of 

Lead acetate 

iodide 

Leptandra 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

Leptandrin 

Lime, solution of 

syrup of 

Liquor potassse, sodse, etc. See Potassa, 

Soda, etc. 
Liquorice, compound mixture of 

powder of ... . 

Lithium benzoate 

bromide 

carbonate . . . 

. citrate 

salicylate 

Lobelia, fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Lupulin 

fluid extract of 

oleoresin of 

tincture of 

Magnesia 

Magnesium carbonate . 

sulphate 

sulphite 

Male fern, oleoresin of 

Malt, extract of 

Manganese binoxide 

sulphate 

Manna 

Matico 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Matricaria, fluid extract of 

Menispermum, fluid extract of 

Menthol 

Mercury with chalk 

corrosive chloride of 

cyanide 

formamidate (1 per cent, solution) . . . 

green iodide of 

mass of (blue pill) 

mild chloride of ,'. 

red iodide of ... . 

salicylate 

tannate 

yellow subsulphate of . 

Mezereum, extract of 

fluid extract of 

Morphine and its salts 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 


Metric 


Weights and Measures. 


System. 


10-20 gr. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


20-30 min. 


1.2-2.0 gm. 


1-4 fl. dr. 


4.0-16.0 gm. 


i-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.00 gm. 


10-15 gr. 


0.6-1.0 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


1-3 fl. dr. 


4.0-12.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


i-3 gr. 


0.03-0.18 gm. 


i-3gr. 


0.03-0.18 gm. 


20-40 gr. 


1.2-2.5 gm. 


3-10 gr. 


. 0.18-0.6 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


2-4 gr. 


0.12-0.25 gm. 


1-4 dr. 


4.0-15.0 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


1-4 fl. dr. 


4.0-16.0 gm. 


i-1 dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


1-5 min. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


10-15 min. 


0.6-1.0 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


i-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


10 gr.-l dr. 


0.6-4.0 gm. 


2 dr.-l oz. 


8 0-32.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


30 min.-l fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


2-4 gr. 


0.12-0.25 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


1-2 oz. 


32.0-64.0 gm. 


*-2 dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


i-l fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


2gr. 


0.12 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


sV tV gr- 


0.002-0.004 gm. 


A4 g r - 


0.004-0.008 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


1 1 av 
6 2 g r - 


0.01-0.03 gm. 


3-10 gr. 


0.2-0.6 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.008-0.3 gm. 


3V-T6 g r - 


0.002-0.004 gm. 


i- 1 g r - 


0.03-0.06 gm. 


4-1 gr- 


0.03-0.06 gm. 


i-1 gr- 


0.015-0.06 gm. 


1-1 gr. 


0.03-0.06 gm. 


3-10 min. 


0.18-0.6 gm. 


tW g^ 


0.004-0.03 gm. 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



707 



Remedy. 



Morrhuol 

Musk 

tincture of 

Myrrh 

tincture of 

Myrtol 

Naphthaline 

Naphthol 

Narceine 

Narcotine 

Nectandra, fluid extract of 

Nitroglycerin (1 per cent, solution) .... 
Nux vomica, abstract of 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Opium, camphorated tincture of (paregoric) 

confection of 

extract of '. . . . 

powder 

tincture of (laudanum) 

wine of . . . 

Pancreatin • 

Papaver, extract of 

fluid extract of 

Papayotin 

Paracotoin 

Paraldehyde 

Pareira 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Pelletierine sulphate 

tannate 

Peppermint, oil of 

spirit of. . , 

Pepsin, pure 

liquor of 

saccharated 

Petroselinum, fluid extract of 

Phenacetin 

Phosphorated oil 

Phosphorus 

Physostigma, extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Physostigmine salicylate 

sulphate 

Phytolacca, abstract of 

berries, fluid extract of 

root, extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Phytolaccin . . . 

Picrotoxin 

Pilocarpine and its salts 

Pilocarpus, abstract of ... 

fluid extract of 

Pimenta, fluid extract of 

Piper methysticum, fluid extract of . . . . 

nigrum, fluid extract of 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 


Metric 


Weights and Measures. 


System. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


2-15 gr. 


0.1-1.0 gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


2-3 gr. 


0.12-0.18 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


*-* g^ 


0.01-0.03 gm. 


. 3 gr. 


0.18 gm. 


1-4 fl. dr. 


4.0-16.0 gm. 


1 min. 


0.06 gm. 


i-1 gr- 


0.015-0.06 gm. 


M g^ 


0.008-0.03 gm. 


1-5 min. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


10-20 min. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


i-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


10-40 gr. 


0.6-2.5 gm. 


irl g r - 


0.01-0.03 gm. 


i-1 gr. 


0.015-0.06 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


5-15 min. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


10-20 gr. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


|-2 gr. 


0.03-0.12 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


20-60 min. 


1.2-4.0 gm. 


i-1 dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


i-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


1 fl. dr. 


4.0 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


2-5 min. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


15 gr.-l dr. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


2-4 fl. dr. 


8.0-15.0 gm. 


30 gr.-l oz. 


2.0-16.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


3-5 min. 


0.18-0.3 gm. 


To-o-yV gr- 


0.0006-0.0008 gm. 


tW gr- 


0.004-0.01 gm. 


1-3 min. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


5-10 min. 


0.3-0.6 gm. 


ih-io gr- 


0.0005-0.0008 gm. 


TZo—io gr- 


0.0005-0.0008 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.00 gm. 


5-30 min. 


0.12-2.0 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


5-30 min. 


0.3-2.0 gm. 


10-60 min. 


0.6-4.0 gm. 


2-3 gr. 


0.12-0.18 gm. 


eV-s 1 ? gr- 


0.001-0.002 gm. 


ihrh gr- 


0.001-0.03 gm. 


5-20 gr. 


0.3-1.2 gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


15-45 min. 


1.2-3.0 gm. 


15 min.-l fl. dr. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


15-45 min. 


1.0-3.0 gm. 



708 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



Kemedy. 



Piper nigrum, oleoresin of ... . 

Piperine 

Piscidia erythrina, extract of - . . 

fluid extract of 

powder of 

Podophyllum, abstract of 

resin of 

Pomegranate, bark of 

Poppy. See Papaver. 

Potassa, solution of (liquor potassse) 

Potassium acetate 

bicarbonate . 

bitartrate 

bromide 

carbonate 

chlorate 

citrate 

solution of 

cyanide 

ferrocyanide 

hypophosphite 

iodide 

mixture of the citrate of ... . 

nitrate 

permanganate 

and sodium tartrate 

sulphate 

sulphide 

sulphite 

tartrate 

Prinos 

fluid extract 

Pulsatilla, fluid extract of 

Pyrethrum, tincture of 

Pyridine 

Pyrodine 

Quassia, extract of 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Quebracho, fluid extract of ... . 

Quercus, fluid extract of 

Quinidine 

Quinine and salts 

arsenate 

Quinoidin 

Kesorcin 

Rhamnus catharticus, fluid extract of 
Rhubarb 

aromatic syrup of 

tincture of . 

compound powder of 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

and soda, mixture of 

sweet tincture of ........ . 

syrup of 

tincture of . . 

wine of 

Rhus, aromatic fluid extract of . . . 

glabra (cortex), fluid extract of . 
(fructus), fluid extract of . . . 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 


Metric 


Weights and Measures. 


System. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.2 gm. 


1-8 gr. 


0.06-0.5 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.6-0.3 gm. 


Hgr- 


0.008-0.03 gm. 


20-30 gr. 


1.2-2.0 gm. 


5-20 min. 


0.3-1.2 gm. 


15 gr.-l dr. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


10-40 gr. 


0.6-2.5 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


10 gr.-l dr. 


0.6-4.0 gm. 


5-30 gr. 


0.3-2.0 gm. 


5-1 5 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


15-60 gr. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


2-4 fl. dr. 


8.0-16.0 gm. 


rV-lgr- 


0.004-0.008 gm. 


10-15 gr. 


0.6-1.0 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


2-15 gr. 


0.12-1.0 gm. 


i fl. oz. 


15.0 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


\-\ oz. 


15.0-30 gm. 


30 gr.-2 dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


1-10 gr. 


0.06-0.6 gm. 


15-30 gr. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


1 dr.-l oz. 


4.0-32.0 gm. 


30 gr.-l dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


2-5 min. 


0.12-0.3 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


1-3 gr. 


0.06-0.18 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


|-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


20-60 min. 


1.2-4.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.00 gm. 


1-30 gr. 


0.06-2.0 gm. 


1-30 gr. 


0.06-2.0 gm. 


i-1 gr. 


0.01-0.06 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


5-10 gr. 


3-0.6 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


2-30 gr. 


0.12-2.0 gm. 


1-4 fl. dr. 


4.0-16.0 gm. 


i-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


i-1 dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


15-40 min. 


1.0-2.5 gm. 


i-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


1-4 fl. dr. 


4.0-16.0 gm. 


1-4 fl. dr. 


4.0-16.0 gm. 


1-4 fl. dr. 


4.0-16.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-S.O gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


30-60 min. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



709 



Remedy. 



Rhus toxicodendron 

Eoses, fluid extract of 

syrup of 

Rubus, fluid extract of 

Rumex, fluid extract of 

Ruta, fluid extract of 

Sabina, fluid extract of 

Saccliarin 

Salicin 

Sal ix, fluid extract of 

Salol . . 

Salvia, fluid extract of . . 

Sarabucus, fluid extract of 

Sandal-wood, oil of . . . . 

Sauguinaria 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Santonica 

fluid extract of 

Santonin . . . 

Sarsaparilla, compound fluid extract of . 

compound syrup of 

fluid extract of 

Sassafras, fluid extract of 

Savine, oil of . 

Scammony 

resin of 

Scoparius, fluid extract of 

Scutellaria, fluid extract of 

Scutellarine 

Senega, abstract of 

fluid extract of 

syrup of 

Senna 

compound infusion of 

confection of 

fluid extract of 

infusion of 

syrup of 

tincture of 

Serpentaria, fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Silver iodide . 

nitrate 

oxide 

Simaruba, fluid extract of 

Soda, solution of (liquor sodee) 

Sodium acetate . . . . 

arsenate 

benzoate 

bi carbonate 

bisulphite 

borate 

bromide 

carbonate 

chlorate 

citrate 

hypophosphite 

hyposulphite 

iodide 

nitrite 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 
Weights and Measures. 



1-6 min. 

f-2 fl. dr. 

1-2 fl. dr. 

1-2 fl. dr. 
30-60 min. 
15-30 min. 

5-15 min. 

h-i gr. 
10-30 gr. 

1-2 fl. dr. 
10-20 gr. 

i-2 fl. dr. 

|-2 fl. dr. 
15-20 min. 

1-5 gr. 

5-10 min. 
10-40 min. 
10-30 gr. 
15-60 min. 

1-4 gr. 

i-2 fl. dr. 

1-4 fl. dr. 

i-2 fl. dr. 

1-2 fl. dr. 

2-5 min. 

5-15 gr. 

2-10 gr. 

l-l fl. dr. 

1-2 fl. dr. 

1-3 gr. 

4-10 gr. 

8-15 min. 

1-2 fl. dr. 
10-60 gr. 

1-2 oz. 

1-2 dr. 

1-4 fl. dr. 
4 fl. oz. 

1-4 fl. dr. 
2 fl. dr.-l fl. oz. 
30 min.-l fl. dr. 

1-2 fl. dr. 

i-2 gr. 

\~\ g r - 

1-1 gr- 
15-30 min. 

5-20 min. 
15 gr.-l dr. 

-1 — 1 try 

6 to gr- 

5-30 gr. 
10-30 gr. 
10-30 gr. 
10-30 gr. 
10-30 gr. 
10-30 gr. 

5-30 gr. 

1-10 dr. 

5-15 gr. 
10-30 gr. 

5-20 gr. 

1-4 gr. 



Metric 
System. 



0.06-0.4 gm. 

2.0-8.0 gm. 

4.0-8.0 gm. 

2.0-8.0 gm. 

2.0-4.0 gm. 

1.0-2.0 firm. 

0.3-1.0 gm. 
0.03-0.25 gm. 

0.6-2.0 gm. 

2.0-8.0 gm. 

0.6-1.2 gm. 

2.0-8.0 gm. 

2.0-8.0 gm. 

1.0-1.2 gm. 
0.06-0.3 gm. 

0.3-0.6 gm. 

0.6-2.5 gm. 

0.6-2.0 gm. 

1.0-4.0 gm. 
0.06-0.25 gm. 

2.0-8.0 gm. 

4.0-16.0 gm. 

2.0-8.0 gm. 

2.0-8.0 gm. 
0.12-0.3 gm. 

0.3-1.0 gm. 
0.12-0.6 gm. 

2.0-4.0 gm. 

4.0-8.0 gm. 
0.06-0.18 gm. 
0.25-0.6 gm. 

0.5-1.0 gm. 

2.0-8.0 gm. 

0.6-4.0 gm. 
32.0-64.0 gm. 

4.0-8.0 gm. 

4.0-15.0 gm. 
125.0 gm. 

4.0-16.0 gm. 

8.0-30.0 gm. 

2.0-4.0 gm. 

2.0-8.0 gm. 

0.03-0.12 gm. 

0.015-0.03 gm. 

0.03-0.06 gm. 

1.0-2.0 gm. 

0.3-1.2 gm. 

1.0-4.0 e;m. 
0.001-0.006 gm. 

0.3-2.0 gm. 

0.6-2.0 gm. 

0.6-2.0 gm. 

0.6-2.0 gm. 

0.6-2.0 gm. 

0.6-2.0 gm. 

0.3-2.0 gm. 

4.0-40.6 gm. 

0.3-1.0 gm. 

0.6-2.0 gm. 

0.3-1.2 gm. 
0.06-0.25 gm. 



710 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



Kemedy. 



Sodium phosphate . . . . . . 

salicylate 

sulphate 

sulphite 

Sparteine sulphate 

Spigelia, fluid extract of . . . . 

and senna, fluid extract of . . 
Squill, compound fluid extract of 
syrup of 

fluid extract of 

syrup of 

tincture of 

Stillingia, fluid extract of . . . 
Stramonium, extract of . . 

fluid extract of 

leaves, alcoholic extract of . 
tincture of 

seeds, extract of 

tincture of 

Strontium bromide 

iodide 

lactate 

phosphate 

Strophanthus, tincture of . . . 

Strophantin 

Strychnine and its salts .... 

Sulphonal 

Sulphur 

Sumbul, fluid extract of . . . . 

tincture of 

Taraxacum, extract of . . . . 

fluid extract of 

Terebene 

Terpine hydrate 

Terpinol 

Thallin, sulphate of 

tartrate of 

Theine • • 

Thuja, fluid extract of ... . 

Thymol 

Toxicodendron, fluid extract of 
Tritieum, fluid extract of . . . 

Turpentine, oil of 

Urethane 

Ustilago maidis, fluid extract of 
Uva ursi, fluid extract of . - . 
Valerian, abstract of 

ammoniated tincture of . . - 

extract of 

fluid extract of 

oil of 

tincture of 

Veratrine 

Veratrum viride, abstract of . . 

fluid extract of 

tincture of 

Verbena, fluid extract of . . . 
Viburnum, fluid extract of . . 
Vinegar. See Acetwn. 
Wahoo. See Euonymus. 
Wild-cherry bark 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 


Metric 


Weights and Measures. 


System. 


2-10 gr. 


0.12-0.6 gm. 


10-20 gr. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


1-4 dr. 


4.0-16.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


2V gr- 


0.002 gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


i-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


5-30 min. 


0.3-1.8 gm. 


15-30 min. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


5-30 min. 


0.3-1.8 gm. 


1-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


. 10-60 min. 


0.6-4.0 gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


i g r - 


0.03 gm. 


1-4 min. 


0.06-0.25 gm. 


i-l £ r - 


0.015-0.03 gm. 


8-15 min. 


0.5-1.0 gm. 


\~\ gr- 


0.015-0.03 gm. 


6-15 min. 


0.4-1.00 gm. 


20-30 gr. 


1.2-2.0 gm. 


10-20 gr. 


0.6-1.2 gm. 


20-30 gr. 


1.2-2.0 gm. 


20-30 gr. 


1.2-2.0 gm. 


3-8 min. 


0.2-0.5 gm. 




0005-0.001 gm. 


eWe gr- 


0.001-0.004 em. 


15-30 gr. 


1.0-2.0 gm. 


1-3 dr. 


4.0-12.0 gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


10-30 min. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


i-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 em. 


5-10 min. 


3-0.6 gm. 


2-5 gr. 


0.12-0.3 ^m. 


in gr- 


0.003 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.06-0.12 gm. 


10-15 gr. 


0.6-1.0 gm. 


1-5 gr. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


1-5 min. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 


5-30 min. 


0.3-2.0 gm. 


10-30 gr. 


0.6-2.0 gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


1-1 fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


10-15 gr. 


0.6-1.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 


5-15 gr. 


0.3-1.0 gm. 


l-l fl. dr. 


2.0-4.0 gm. 


4-5 min. 


0.24-0.3 gm 


i-2 fl. dr. 


2.0-8.0 gm. 




0.001-0.003 gm. 


1-2 gr. 


0.03-0.12 gm. 


1-5 min. 


0.06-0.3 gm. 


3-5 min. 


0.18-0.3 gm. 


15-60 min. 


1.0-4.0 gm. 


1-2 fl. dr. 


4.0-8.0 gm. 



-ldr. 



2.0-4.0 gm. 



DOSES OF MEDICINES. 



711 



Remedy. 



Wild-cherry bark, fluid extract of . 

infusion of 

syrup of 

Wintergreen, oil of 

Wormseed, oil of . ... • . . • . 
Xanthoxylum bark, fluid extract of. 

fruit, fluid extract of 

Zinc acetate 

bromide 

iodide 

oxide 

phosphide 

sulphate (alterative) ...... 

(emetic) 

syrup of iodide of 

valerianate 

Zingiber. See Ginger. 



Dose. 



Apothecaries' 
Weights and Measures. 



30-60 min. 

1-2 fl. oz. 

2-4 fl. dr. 

1-20 min. 

4-8 min. 
15-30 min. 
15-30 min. 

1-2 gr. 

1-2 gr. 

4-3 gr. 

2-8 gr. 

2W0 gr- 

i-1 gr. 
10-30 gr. 
20-40 min. 

1-4 gr. 



Metric 
System. 



2.0- 

30.0- 

8.0- 

0.06- 

0.24- 

1.0- 

1.0- 

0.06- 

0.03- 

0.03- 

0.12- 

0.003- 

0.015- 

0.6- 

1.2- 

0.06- 



4.0 gm. 
60.0" gm. 
•16.0 gm. 
■1.2 gm. 
0.5 gm. 
•2.0 gm. 
2.0 gm. 
0.12 gm. 
0.12 gm. 
0.18 gm. 
0.5 gm. 
0.006 gm. 
0.03 gm. 
2.0 gm. 
2.5 gm. 
•0.2 gm. 



TABLES OF RELATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES IN THE 
METRIC AND APOTHECARIES' SYSTEMS. 

(See Oldberg's Manual of Weights and Measures.) 







Milligrammes 


in Grains. 






Milligramme 




Grain. 


Milligrammes. 


Grain. 


Milligrammes. 


Grain 


0.1 


= 


^hs 


1 


= 


l 

60 


8 


= 


"g" 


0.2 


= 


sws 


1.2 


= 


1 


9 


= 


7 


0.3 


= 


Soo" 


1.6 


= 


1 

40 


10 


= 


l 
6" 


0.4 


= 


1 

T50 


2 


= 


1 
^0 


12 


= 


1 
5 


0.5 


= 


1 


3 


= 


A 


16 


= 


1 

4 


0.6 


= 


HJO 


4 


= 


1 


20 


= 


1 
3 


0.7 


= 


1 
¥0 


5 


= 


A 


30 


= 


1 
2 


0.8 


= 


A 


6 


= 


TV 


60 


= 


1 


0.9 


= 


1 


7 


= 


1 












c 


/ENTIGRAMMES 


in Grain 


3. 






Centigrammes 
(or Cent.) 


Grain. 


Centigrammes, 
(or Cent.) 


Grains. 


Centigrammes 
(or Cent.) 


Grain 


1 


= 


l 

6 


6 


= 


1 


18 


= 


3 


2 


= 


3 


7 


= 


1* 


25 


= 


4 


3 


= 


l 

2 


9 


— 


u 


50 


= 


8 


4 


= 


2 
3 


10 


= 


If 


75 


= 


12 


5 


= 


f 


12 


= 


2 


100 


= 


16 








Grammes in 


Grains. 








Grammes. 




Grains. 


Grammes. 




Grains. 


Grammes. 




Grains. 


0.001 


= 


l 

60 


11 


= 


176 


27 


= 


432 


0.010 


= 


l 


12 


= 


192 


28 


= 


448 


0.100 


= 


1 2 


13 


= 


208 


29 


= 


464 


0.250 


== 


4 


14 


= 


224 


30 


= 


480 


0.500 


= 


8 


15 


= 


240 


31 


= 


496 


0.750 


= 


12 


16 


= 


256 


32 


== 


512 


1 


= 


16 


17 


= 


272 


33 


= 


528 


1.50 


= 


24 


18 


= 


288 


34 


= 


544 


2 


= 


32 


19 


= 


304 


35 


= 


560 


3 


= 


48 


20 


= 


320 


36 


= 


576 


4 


= 


64 


21 


= 


336 


37 


= 


592 


5 


= 


80 


22 


= 


352 


38 


= 


608 


6 


= 


96 


23 


= 


368 


39 


= 


624 


7 


= 


112 


24 


= 


384 


40 


= 


640 


8 


= 


128 


25 


= 


400 


50 


= 


800 


9 


= 


144 


26 


= 


416 


100 


= 


1600 


10 


= 


160 















713 



714 



RELATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 



Cubic Centimetres (or Fluidgrammes) in U. S. Apothecaries' 
Fluidrachms. 



Cubic 




U.S. 


Centimetres 




Fluiclrachm 


1 


= 


4 


2 


= 


1 
2 


3 


= 


3 
4 


4 


= 


1 


5 


= 


li 


6 


= 


H 


7 


= 


if 



Cubic U. S. 

Centimetres. Fluidrachms. 



9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 



91 

-4 



3 
31 



Cubic U. S. 

Centimetres. Fluidrachms. 



16 

20 
24 

28 
32 
48 
64 



4 
5 
6 

7 

8 

12 

16 



INDEX OF DRUGS AND REMEDIAL MEASURES. 



ABOETIFACIENTS, 32 
Abrin, 247 
Absolute alcohol, 53, 53 
Absorption of drugs, 27 
Abstract of aconite, 52 
Abstracts, 24 
Acacia, 43 
Acacise gurnmi, 43 
A. C. E. mixture, 153 
Aceta, 24 
Acetanilid, 43 
Acetaniliduin, 43 
Acetate of ammonium, 66 

of lead, 252 

of morphine, 304 

of potassium, 48 

of sodium, 356 

of zinc, 388 
Acetic acid, 48 
Acetum, 48 

cantharidis, 123 

ipecacuanha, 239 

lobeliae, 258 

opii, 303 

sanguinarise, 346 

scilke, 360 
Acid infusion of roses, 338 

nitrate of mercury, 274 

tartrate of potassium, 99 
Acidum aceticum, 48 
dilutum, 48 
glaciale, 48 

arseniosum, 83, 86 

arsenosum, 83, 86 

benzoicum, 96 

boricum, 100. 397 

carbolicum, 125 

liquefactum, 129 

chromicum, 154 

citricum, 164 

gallicum, 206 

hydrobromicum dilutum, 107 

hydrochloricum, 220 
dilutum, 220 

hydrocyanicum, 220 
dilutum, 221 

nitricum, 285 
dilutum, 286 

niti-o-hvdrochloricum, 220, 288 
dilutum, 220, 288 

phosphoricum dilutum, 319 

picricum, 323 

salicylicum, 339 

sulphuricum, 368 
aromaticum, 369 
dilutum, 369 

tannicum, 371 

tartaricum, 373 



! Acidum trichloraceticum, 379 

valerianicum, 383 
Aconine, 49 
Aconite, 49 

liniment, 52 

ointment, 52 
Aconitina, 52 
Aconitine, 49, 52 

Duquesnel's crystalline, 52 
Action of drugs, direct, 19 
duration of, 28 
indirect, 19 
modes of, 19 
Acupuncture, 391 
Adeps benzoinatus, 96 

lanae hydrosus, 249 
Adhesive plaster, 334 
Administering drugs, modes of, 19 
Adonidin, 52 
Adonis vernalis, 52 
^Ether, 194 

purificatus, 194 
Agaric, 53 
Agaricin, 53 
Alcohol, 53, 58 

absolutum, 53, 58 

amylicum, 53, 58 

deodoratum, 53, 58 

dilutum, 53, 58 

ethylicum, 53 , 

phenylic, 125 
Ale, 58 
Alkaloids, 24 
Allium, 59 

syrup of, 59 
Allspice, 59 
Almond bread, 59, 451 
Almonds, 59 

bitter, 59 

sweet, 59 
Aloe, 60 

barbadensis, 60 

purificata, 61 

socotrina, 60 
Aloes, 60 
Aloin, 60 
Aloinum, 60 
Alteratives, 32, 37 
Alum, 62 
Alumen, 62 

exsiccatum, 63 
Amber, 63 

American wormseed, 135 
Ammonia, 64 

liniment, 66 
Ammoniac, 66 
Ammoniacum, 66 
Ammoniated mercury, 268 

715 



716 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



Ammoniated tincture of ergot, 194 
of guaiac, 213 
of valerian, 385 
Ammonii acetas, 66 

benzoas, 66 

bromidum, 67 

carbon as, 67 

chloridura, 68 

iodidum, 68 

oxalas, 69 

phosphas. 69 

sulphas, 69 

sulphis, 69 

valerianas, 69, 383 
Ammonio-ferric alum, 240 
Ammonium, 66 
Amygdala amara, 59 

dulcis, 59 
Amygdalin, 333 
Aniyl nitrite, 69 
Amylic alcohol, 53 
Amylum, 360 

Anaesthesia by infiltration, 167 
Anaesthetics, 32, 37 
Anaphrodisiacs, 32 
Antacids, 32, 37 
Anthelmintics, 32, 37 
Anthrarobin, 71 
Antiarthritics, 32 
Antidotura arsenici, 87, 243, 258 
Antifebriu, 43 
Antihydrotics, 32 
Antimalarials, 38 
Antimonial powder, 71, 75 
Antimonii et potassii tartras, 71 

oxidum, 71 

sulphidum, 71 

purificatum, 71 
Antimonium nigrum purificatum, 71 

sulphuratum, 71 

tartaratum, 71 
Antimony, 71 
Antiperiodics, 32, 38 
Antiphlogistics, 32 
Antipyretics, 38 
Antipyrin, 75 
Antiseptics, 38, 392 
Antispasmodics, 38 
Antitoxin, 398 
Aphrodisiacs, 32 
Apiol, 80 
Apolysin, 317 

Apomorphinse hydrochloras, 82 
Apomorphine, 81 
Aqua ammoniae, 65 
fortior, 65 

amygdalae amarae, 60 

camphorae, 118 

chloroformi, 154 

cinnamomi, 163 

creosoti, 181 
hydrogenii dioxidi, 222 
menthae piperitae, 312 
pimentae, 59 
rosae, 337 
Aquae, 24 
Arbutin, 383 

Argenti et potassii nitras, 285 
nitras, 282 

dilutus, 285 
fusus, 282 



Argyria, 283 
Aristol, 82, 376 
Arnica, 82 

flores, 82 

radix, 82 

rhizoma, 82 
Aromatic chalk powder, 114 
with opium, 114 

mixture of iron, 241 

powder, 163 

spirit of ammonia, 66 

sulphuric acid, 369 

syrup, of cascara, 130 
of rhubarb, 336 

tincture of rhubarb, 337 
Arsenate of iron, 241 

of sodium, 86 
Arsenic, 83 
Arsenicum, 83 
Arseni iodidum, 86 
Arsenous acid, 83, 86 
Asafetida, 88 
Asafcetida, 88 
Aspidium, 89 
Astringents, 32, 38 
Atomization, 23 
Atrophias sulphas, 91, 95 
Atropine, 91 
Auramine, 276 
Auri et sodii chloridum, 212 
Azedarach, 90 



BALM OF GILEAD," 380 
Balsam of copaiba, 177 
Barbadoes aloes, 60 
Barium chloride, 90 
Barley-water, 450 
Basham's mixture, 241 
Bath, Eussian, 425 

Turkish, 423 
Bearberry, 383 
Beechwood creosote, 179 
Beef essence, 450 

peptonized, 447 

-tea, 449 
Beer, 58 
Belladonna, 91 

folia, 91 

liniment, 95 

ointment, 95 

plaster, 95 

radix, 91 

suppositories, 95 
Benzoate of ammonium, 66 

of bismuth, 98 

of lithium, 256 
Benzoated lard, 96 
Benzoic acid, 96 
Benzoin, 96 
Benzoinum, 96 
Berberine. 115 
Beta-naphthol, 281 
Bicarbonate of potassium, 331 

of sodium, 356 
Bichloride-carbolic acid solution, 394 
Bichloride of mercury, 268 

as an antiseptic, 392 
Bimuriate of quinine and urea, 162 
Biniodide of mercury, 270 
Binoxide of manganese, 260 
Bismuth, 97 * 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



717 



Bismuth benzoate, 98 

salicylate, 98 

subgallate, 98 
Bismutki carbonas, 97 

citras, 97 

et ammonii citras, 97 

salicylatis, 98 

subcarbonas, 97 

subnitras, 97 
Bismuthum, 97 
Bisulphate of quinine, 161 
Bitartrate of potassium, 99 
Bitter almonds, 59 

wine of iron, 246 
Bitters, 32 
Black cohosh, 155 

draught, 352 

drop, 303 

giuger, 209 

mustard, 279 

oxide of manganese, 260 

pepper, 311 

snake-root, 155 

wash, 270 
Blaud's pill, 241 
Bleeding, 444 
Blood-root, 346 
Blue-mass, 270 

ointment, 273 

pill, 270 
Bone-marrow, 210 
Boneset, 203 
Bonjean's ergotin, 194 
Boric acid, 99, 397 
Borate of sodium, 99 
Borated lint, 101 
Borax, 99 
Boroglycerin, 101 
Bran bread, 451 
Brandy, 58 
Brayera. 183 
Bromide of ammonium, 67 

of calcium, 106, 112 

of ethyl, 199 

of gold, 106 

of iron, 241 

of lithium, 106, 256 

of nickel, 106 

of potassium, 101 

of sodium, 107 

of strontium, 362 
Bromides, 101 
Bromine, 107 
Bromoform, 107 
Bronchitis tents, 484 
Broom, 350 
Brown mixture, 255 
Brucine, 292 
Bryonia, 108 
Bryony, 108 
Buchu, 109 

folia, 109 
Burgundy pitch, 328 
Butyl-chloral hydras, 182 



p ACTUS GRANDIFLORUS, 109 
\J Caffeina citrata, 110 
effervescens, 110 
Caffeine, 110 
Cajuput oil, 112 
Calabar bean, 321 



Calabarine, 321 

Calamine, 388 

Calcii bromidum, 106, 112 

carbonas prsecipitatus, 112 

chloridum, 112 

hydras, 116 

hypophosphis, 112 

phosphas prsecipitatus, 112 

sulphas, 112, 114 
Calcium, 112 
Calcined magnesia, 258 
California buckthorn, 130 
Calomel, 270 

ointment, 273 
Calumba, 114 
Calumbine, 115 
Calumbo, 114 
Calx, 115 

chlorata, 141 

chlorinata, 141 

sulphurata, 116 
Camphor, 116 

liniment, 118 

water, 118 
Camphora monobromata, 118 
Camphorated alcohol, 118 

oil, 117 

tincture of opium, 303 
Camphoric acid, 119 
Canada pitch, 328 
Cannabis Indica, 119 
Cantharidal cerate, 123 

collodion, 123, 174 

liniment, 123 

paper, 123 
Cantharidin, 122 
Cantharis, 122 
Capsici fructus, 124 
Capsicine, 124 
Capsicum, 124 

fruit, 124 

plaster, 125 
Carbo ligni, 129 
Carbolic acid, 125 

as an antiseptic, 393 
ointment, 129 
Carbon, 129 
Carbonate of ammonium, 67 

of bismuth, 97 

of creosote, 181 

of guaiacol, 215 

of iron, 241 

of lead, 253 

of lithium, 256 

of magnesium, 259 

of potassium, 332 

of zinc, 388 
Cardamom, 130 

seed, 130 
Cardiac sedatives, 33, 38 

stimulants, 33, 38 
Carminative powder, 163 
Carminatives, 33 
Carron oil, 116, 205 
Caryophyllus, 164 
Cascara cordial, 131 

sagrada, 130 
Cassia fistula, 131 
Cassise pulpa, 131 
Castile soap, 354 
Castor oil, 131 
Cataplasma carbonis, 129 



718 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



Cataplasms, 24 
Catechu, 133 
Cathartics, 33 
Cat's-hair, 203 
Caustic potash, 134 

soda, 134 
Cayenne pepper, 124 
Cerates, 24 
Ceratum camphorse, 118 

cantharidis, 123 

plumbi subacetatis, 254 

resinse, 334 
Cerebral extracts, 210 
Cerii oxalas, 134 
Chalk, 114 

mixture, 112 
Champagne, extra dry, 57 
Charcoal, 129 

poultice, 129 
Charta cantharidis, 123 

potassi nitratis, 281 

sinapis, 280 
Chart*, 24 
Chenopodium, 135 
Chimaphila, 135 
Chi n oid inum, 162 
Chirata, 135 
Chireta, 135 
Chloral, 136 

hydras, 136 
Chloralamide, 138 
Chloralose, 139 
Chlorate of potassium, 140 
Chloride of ammonium, 68 

of barium, 90 

of calcium, 112 

of gold and sodium, 212 

of iron, 240, 242 

of mercury, corrosive, 268 
mild, 270 

of sodium, 356 

of zinc, 388 

as an antiseptic, 397 
Chlorinated lime, 141 
Chlorine gas, 142 
Chlorobroni, 139 
Chlorodyne, 142 
Chloroform, 142 

liniment, 154 

water, 154 
Chloroformuni, 143 

purificatiim, 143 

venale, 143 
Cholagogues, 33 
Chromic acid, 154 
Chrysarobin, 155 

ointment, 155 
Cimicifuga, 155 

racemosa, 155 

rhizoma, 155 
Cinchona, 156 

calisaya, 156 

condaminea, 156 

cortex, 156 

micrantha, 156 

pale, 156 



pitayensis, 
red,* 156 
rubra, 156 
cortex, 
succi rubra, 
yellow, 156 



156 



156 
156 



Cinchonicine, 156 
Cinchonidine, 156, 162 
Cinchonidinse sulphas, 162 
Cinchonidinum, 162 
Cinchouinae sulphas, 162 
Cinchonine, 162 
Cinnamic acid, 163 
Cinnamon, 163 
Cinnamon-water, 163 
Cinnamomum cortex, 163 
Citrate of bismuth, 97 

of bismuth and ammonium, 97 

of caffeine, 110 

of iron, 242 

of iron and ammonium, 243 

of iron and quinine, 243 

of iron and strychnine, 243 

of lithium, 256 

of magnesium, 259 

of potassium, 332 
Citric acid, 164 
Citrine ointment, 275 
Classification of drugs, 37 
Climates, 437 
Cloves, 164 
Clyster, 22 

Cobalto-nitrite of potassium, 286 
Coca, 165 

Cocainse hydrochloras, 165 
Cocaine, 165 
Codeine, 168, 296 

phosphate, 168 
Cod-liver oil, 169 
Coffee, 111, 172 
Colchicine, 172, 173 
Colchicum, 172 

cornis, 172 

radix. 172 

seed, 172 
Cold as a remedy, 401 

bath, 403 

cream, 337 

pack, 311 
Collodion, 173 
Collodium, 173 

cantharidatum, 123, 174 

flexile, 174 

stypticum, 174, 372 

vesicans, 17^ 
Colocynth, 174 
Colocynthidis pulpa, 174 
Cologne- water, 58 
Columbic acid, 115 
Columbo, 114 

Combination of drugs for joint effect, 28 
Commercial oxide of zinc, 305 
Compound cathartic pill, 175 

effervescing powder, 351 

decoction of aloes, 62 
of sarsaparilla, 348 

extract of colocynth. 174 

fluid extract of sarsaparilla, 348 

infusion of gentian, 209 
of senna, 261, 352 

liniment of mustard, 280 

mixture of iron, 242 
of liquorice, 255 
of senna, 352 

pill of antimony, 75 
of asafcetida, 89 
of colocynth, 175 
of rhubarb, 336 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



719 



Compound pill of scamruony, 349 
of soap, 303 
of squill, 360 
powder of almonds, 60 
of catechu, 134 
of chalk, 114 
of cinnamon. 163 
of elateriu, 191 
of ipecac, 239 
of jalap, 247 
of kino, 248 
of liquorice, 255, 352 
of morphine, 304 
of opium, 303 
of rhubarb, 336 
of scammony, 349 
solution of iodine, 234 
spirit of ether, 216 
of juniper, 248 
suppositories of lead, 253 
syrup of sarsaparilla, 348 

of squill, 75, 360 
tincture of benzoin, 96 
of camphor, 118 
of cardamom, 130 
of catechu, 133 
of chloroform, 154 
of cinchona, 163 
of gentian, 209 
Condurango, 175 
Confectio piperis, 312 
rosae, 218. 338 
seunse, 131, 352, 371 
sulphuris, 368 
Confections, 24 
Conii folia, 176 
fructus, 176 
Coniine, 176 
Conium, 175 
Conserves, 24 

Contraindications for drugs, 31 
Convallamarin, 177 
Convallaria, 177 
Convolvulin, 246 
Copaiba, 177 
•Copper, 178 
Cornutine, 192 
Corrosive chloride of mercury, 268 

sublimate, 268 
Cosmoline, 315 
Counter-irritants, 33, 38 
Counter-irritation, 412 
Coxe's hive-syrup, 75, 352, 360 
Cream of tartar, 99 
Creolin, 181 

as an antiseptic, 396 
Creosotal, 181 
Creosote, 179 

carbonate, 181 
Cresol, 179 
Creta prseparata, 114 
Croton chloral, 182 
oil, 182 

liniment, 183 
Cubeba. 183 
Cubebic acid, 183 
Cubebin, 183 
Cubebs, 183 
Cupri sulphas, 178 
Cuprum, 178 
Cusso, 183 
Cyanide of potassium, 184 



DANDELION, 373 
Daturiue, 361 
Decoction of azedarach, 90 

of chimaphila, 135 
Decoctions, 24 
Decoctum aloes compositum, 62 

granati radicis, 331 

htematoxyli, 215 

sarsse, 348 

compositum, 348 

sarsaparilhe compositum, 348 

scoparii, 351 
Definition of therapeutics, 18 
Definitions of drugs, 31 
Demulcents, 33 
Deodorized alcohol, 53, 58 

opium, 303 

tincture of opium, 303 
Dermatol, 98, 184 
Diachylon, 254 
Dialvzed iron, 253 
Diaphoretics, 33, 39 
Diastase, 184 

Diet for child six to twelve months old, 
449 
one year old, 449 
two years old, 449 
seven years old, 448 

lists, 448 
Diethyl -sulphon-dimethyl-methane, 365 
Digestants, 39 
Digested gruel, 448 
Digitalin, 185, 190 
Digitalis, 184 

folia, 184, 189 
Digitin, 185 
Digitonin, 185 
Digitoxin, 185 
Dilute acetic acid, 48 

alcohol, 53, 58 

hydrobromic acid, 107 ' 

hydrochloric acid, 220 

hydrocyanic acid, 221 

nitric acid, 286 

nitro-hydrochloric acid, 220 

phosphoric acid, 319 

solution of subacetate of lead, 253 

sulphuric acid, 368 
Disinfectants, 39 
Disinfection, 416 
Diuretics, 34, 39 
Diuretin, 354 
Dobell's solution, 100 
Donovan's solution, 86 
Dosage, 25 

by the rectum, 27 

hypodermic, 27 
Double cyanide dressing, 397 
Dover's powder, 239, 303 
Dried alum, 63 

sulphate of iron, 245 
Drugs, absorption of, 27 

classification of, 37 
Drugs, combination of, for joint effect, 28 

duration of action of, 28 

indications and contraindications for, 
31 

modes of action of, 19 
of administering, 19 

strength and reliability of, 29 
Duboisine, 190 
Duquesnel's crystalline aconitine, 52 



720 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



ECBOLIC ACID, 192 
Ecgonine, 165 
Effervescing citrate of caffeine, 110 
of lithium, 256 

powder, 356 
Egg-flip, 58 

-nog. 57 
Elaterin, 191 
Elaterium, 191 
Electuaries, 24 
Eliminators, 34, 39 
Elixir phosphori, 321 

proprietatis, 62 

roborans, 163 
Elixirs, 24 
Emetics, 34, 39 

direct, 34, 39 

peripheral, 34, 39 
Emetine, 237, 239 
Emmenagogues, 34, 39 

direct, 34, 39 

indirect, 34, 39 
Emplastra, 24 

Emplastrum ammoniaci cum hydrargyro, 
66 

arnicas, 83 

asafcetidas, 89 

belladonnas, 95 

califaciens, 123 

cantharidis, 123 

capsici, 125 

ferri, 246 

hydrargyri, 274 

menthol, 313 

opii, 303 

picis burgundicae, 328 
canadensis, 328 
cantharidatum, 123, 328 

plumbi, 254 
iodidi, 253 

resin ae, 254, 334 

saponis, 354 
Emulsin, 59, 333 
Emulsion of bitter almonds, 60 

of sweet almonds, 60 
Emulsum ammoniaci, 66 

amygdalae, 60 

asafostidas, 88 

chloroformi, 154 
Endermic medication, 23 
Enema, 22 

peptonized, 447 
Enteroclysis, 419 
Ergot, 191 
Ergotic acid, 192 
Ergotin, 192 
Ergotinic acid, 192 
Ergotinum, 194 
Erigeron, 194 
Erythroxylon, 165 
Escharotics, 38 
Eserine, 321 
Ether, 194 
Ethyl alcohol, 53 

bromide, 199 

iodide, 200 
Eucaine hydrochlorate, 201 
Eucalyptol, 202 
Eucalyptus, 202 
Euonymin, 203 
Euonymus, 202 
Eupatorium, 203 



Euphorbia pilulifera, 203 
Europhen, 203 
Exalgine, 204 
Expectorants, 34, 39 

sedative, 34, 39 

stimulating, 34, 39 
Extracts, 24 
Extractum aconiti, 52 

aloes aquosum, 62 
barbadensis, 62 

arnicae radicis, 82 

cannabis indicas, 122 

cascaras sagradas, 131 

ciniicifugee, 156 

cinchonae, 163 

colchici, 173 

aceticum, 173 
radicis, 173 

colocynthidis, 175 

compositum, 175, 349 

conii, 176 

digitalis, 189 

ergotse. 194 

euonymi, 203 
siccum, 203 

gentianas, 209 

glycyrrhizas, 255 
purum, 255 

hasniatoxyli, 215 

hyoscyami, 224 

jalapae, 247 

leptandras, 254 

nucis vomicae, 295 

opii, 303 

physostigmatis, 322 

podophylli, 330 

quassias, 334 

rhei, 336 

stramonii seminis, 362 

strophanthi, 363 

taraxaci, 373 

uva ursi, 383 
Extractum belladonnas foliorum alcoholi- 

cum, 95 
Extractum aconiti fluidum, 52 

arnicae radicis fluidum, 82 

belladonnas radicis fluidum, 95 

buchu fluidum, 109 

calurnbas fluidum, 115 

cannabis indicae fluidum, 122 

capsici fluidum, 125 

chimaphilae fluidum, 135 

chiratae fluidum, 135 

cimicifugae fluidum, 156 

cinchonas fluidum, 163 

cocas fluidum, 168 

colchici radicis fluidum, 173 
seminis fluidum, 173 

conii fluidum, 176 

convallarias fluidum, 177 

cubebae fluidum, 183 

cusso fluidum, 183 

digitalis fluidum, 189 

ergotas fluidum, 194 

eucalypti fluidum, 202 

eupatorii fluidum, 203 

gelsemii fluidum, 208 

gentianas fluidum, 209 

geranii fluidum, 209 

glycyrrhizae fluidum, 255 

grindelias fluidum, 212 

hamamelidis fluidum, 216 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



721 



Extractum hydrastis fluidum, 219 
hyoscyanii fluidum, 224 
ipecacuanhas fluidum, 239 
kolae fluidum, 249 
leptandrae fluidum, 254 
lobeliae fluidum, 258 
lupulini fluidum, 219 
mezerei fluidum, 279 
nucis vomicae fluidum, 295 
pareirae fluidum, 310 
pilocarpi fluidum, 327 
podophylli fluidum, 330 
pruni Virginianae fluidum, 333 
quassias fluidum, 334 
rhamui Purshiause fluidum, 131 
rhei fluidum, 336 
rhois glabrae fluidum, 337 
rosae fluidum, 338 
sabinas fluidum, 348 
sangu in arise fluidum, 346 
sarsaparillas fluidum, 348 
compositum, 348 
scillae fluidum, 360 
scoparii fluidum, 351 
senegas fluidum, 351 
sennas fluidum, 352 
serpentarias fluidum, 353 
spigeliae fluidum, 359 

et sennse fluidum, 359 
stillingiae fluidum, 361 
stramonii seminis fluidum, 362 
taraxaci fluidum, 373 
uvae ursi fluidum, 333 
Valerianae fluidum, 383 
veratri viridis fluidum, 387 
zingiberis fluidum, 209 

Extractum belladonnas liquidum, 95 
cascarae sagradae liquidum, 130 
ergotas liquidum, 194 
filicis liquidum, 89 
glycyrrhizee liquidum, 255 
hamamelidis liquidum, 216 
hydrastis liquidum, 219 
ipecacuanhas liquidum, 239 
jaborandi liquidum, 327 
nucis vomicae liquidum, 295 
opii liquidum, 303 
pareirae liquidum, 310 
sarsas liquidum, 348 

Extractum euonymi siccum, 203 



FEL BO VIS, 305 
purificatuni, 305 
bovinum purificatum, 305 
Ferri arsenas, 241 
bromidum, 241 

carbonas saccharatus, 240, 241 
chloridum, 240, 242 
citras, 242 
et ammonii citras, 243 

sulphas, 245 

tartras, 243 
et potassii tartras, 243 
et quininae citras, 243 

solubilis, 243 
et strychninse citras, 243 
iodidum saccharatum, 244 
lactas, 244 
oxalas, 245 
oxidum hydratum, 243 

cum magnesia 87, 243, 258 

46 



Ferri phosphas solubilis, 245 

pyrophosphas solubilis, 245 

subsulphas, 240, 245 

sulphas, 240, 245 
exsiccatus, 245 
granulatus, 245 

valerianas, 245, 383 
Ferrum, 239 

dialysatum, 243 

reductum, 240, 245 

tartaratum, 243 
Ferula fcetida, 88 
Filix mas, 89 
Flaxseed, 205 

meal, 205 

oil, 205 

poultice, 205 

tea, 205 
Fleabane, 194 

Flemming's tincture of aconite, 52 
Flexible collodion, 174 
Flowers of sulphur, 366 
Fluid extracts, 24 
Flying blister, 412 
Foods for the sick, 446 
Foot-bath, 422 
Formaldehyde, 205 
Formic aldehyde, 205 
Fowler's solution, 86 
Fusel oil, 53 



GALLA, 206 
Gallic acid, 206 

ointment, 206 
Gambier, 133 
Garlic, 59 ■ 
Gaultheria, 207 
Gelsemine, 207, 208 
Gelseminic acid, 207 
Gelsemium, 207 

General therapeutical considerations, 17 
Gentian, 208 
Gentianae radix, 208 
Geranium, 209 
German chamomile, 261 

soft soap, 354 
Germicides, 416 

Germs, mode of destroying, 417 
Gin, 58 
Ginger, 209 
Glacial acetic acid, 48 
Glandular treatment, 210 
Glauber's salt, 357 
Glonoin, 287 
Glycerin, 211 
Glycerins, 24 
Glycerinum acidi boricum, 101 

carbolici, 212 

tannici, 212 

aluminis, 63, 212 

boracis, 212 

pepsini, 314 

plumbi subacetatis, 212, 354 

tragacanthae, 212 
Glycerita, 24 
Glyceritum acidi carbolici, 129 

tannici, 372 
amyli, 211 
boroglycerini, 101 
hydrastis, 220 
vitelli, 211 



722 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



Glycerole of aloes, 61 
Glycyrrhiza, 255 
Glycyrrhizse radix, 255 
Glycyrrhizinum ainnioniatum, 256 
Goa powder, 155 
Gold, 212 

bromide of, 106 
Goodell's pill of the three valerianates, 384 

surabul pill, 369 
Goulard's extract, 253 
Granatuin, 330 

Granulated citrate of magnesium, 259 
Gray oil, 273 

powder, 273 
Green soap, 354 
Griffith's mixture, 242 

pills, 241 
Grindelia, 212 
Guaiac, 213 

resin, 213 

wood, 213 
Guaiaci lignum, 213 

resina, 213 
Guaiacol, 213 

carbonate, 215 
Gum acacia, 43 

arabic, 43 



H^MATOXYLI LIGNUM, 215 
Hsematoxylon, 215 
Hamamelis, 215 
Heat, 422 

Heavy magnesium, 259 
Hemlock fruit, 176 

leaves, 176 
Henbane 223 
Hoffman's anodyne, 216 
Homatropine, hydrobromate, 217 
Home modification of Turkish bath, 425 
Honey, 217 

of borax, 101 

of rose, 218, 338 

of squill, 360 
Hop poultice, 218 
Hope's camphor mixture 218 
Hops, 218 
Horse-nettle, 357 
House mixture, 354 
Humulus, 218 
Husband's magnesia, 258 
Huxham's tincture, 163, 353 
Hydrargyri chloridum corrosivum, 268 
mite, 270 

iodidum flavum, 275 
rubrum, 270 

oxidum flavum, 275 
rubrum, 275 

perchloridum, 268 

subchloridum, 270 

subsulphas flavus, 276 
Hydrargyrum, 261 

ammoniatum, 268 

cum creta, 273 
Hydrastine, 219, 220 
Hydrastinine hydrochlorate, 220 
Hydrastis, 219 
Hydrate of chloral, 136 

of lime, 115 
Hydrated oxide of iron with magnesium, 
87, 243, 258 

sesquioxide of iron, 87, 243 



Hydrobromate of homatropine, 217 

of hyoscine, 225 

of hyoscyamine, 224 

of quinine, 161 
Hydrobromic acid, 107 
Hydrobromide of coniine, 176 

of hyoscine, 225 
Hydrochlorate of apomorphine, 82 

of cocaine, 165 

of eucaine, 201 

of hydrastinine, 220 

of morphine, 304 

of pilocarpine, 327 

of quinine, 161 
Hydrochloric acid, 222 
Hydrochloride of phenocoll, 317 
Hydrocyanic acid, 220 
Hydrogen peroxide, 222 

as an antiseptic, 397 
Hyoscine, 223, 224 

hydrobromate, 225 

hydrobromide, 225 
Hyoscyami folia, 223 
Hyoscyaminse hydrobromas, 224 

sulphas, 224 

vel hydrobromas, 224 
Hyoscyamine, 223 
Hyoscyamus leaves, 223 
Hypnal, 225 
Hypnotics, 35, 40 
Hypodermic medication, 20 

injection of apomorphine, 82 
Hypodermoclysis, 428 
Hypophosphite of calcium, 112 

of sodium, 357 
Hyposulphite of sodium, 357 



TCE JACKET, 403 
I poultice, 403 
Ichtbyol, 225 
Idiosyncrasy, 30 
Incompatibility, 35 
Indian hemp, 119 

poke, 385 
Indications for drugs, 31 
Infiltration anaesthesia, 167 
Infusions, 24 
Infusum brayerae, 183 

buchu, 109 

calumbse, 115 

caryophylli, 165 

chiratse, 135 

cinchonas, 162 
acidum, 163 

columbse, 115 

digitalis, 189 

ergotse, 194 

gentianse compositum, 209 

lupuli,219 

pruni Virgiuianse, 333 

quassias, 334 

rhei, 337 

rosse acidum, 338 

scoparii, 350 

sennse, 353 

compositum, 352 

senega?, 352 

serpentariEe, 353 

uvse ursi, 383 
Inhalations, 23 
Injectio apomorphinse hypodermica, 82 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



723 



Injectio cocaina? hypodermica, 168 

ergotini hypodermica, 194 

morphina? hypodermica, 305 
Intravenous injection, 430 
Inunctions, 23 
Iodide of ammonium, 68 

of arsenic, 86 

of ethyl, 200 

of iron, 243 

of lead, 253 

of potassium, 227 

of sodium, 230 

of strontium, 362 

of thymol, 376 
Iodine, 230 

ointment, 234 
Iodoform, 234 

as an antiseptic, 395 

ointment, 236 
Iodol, 237 
Iodothyrine, 379 
Iodum* 230 
Ipecac, 237 
Ipecacuanha, 237 
Iron, 239 

by hydrogen, 240 

plaster, 246 



JABORANDI. 323 
Jahorine, 323 
Jalap, 246 
Jalapin, 246 
Jamaica dogwood, 328 
Jamestown weed, 361 
James's powder, 75 
Jequirity, 247 
Jervine, 3S5 

Joint effects of drugs, 28 
Juniper, 247 
Juniperin, 247 
Junket, 452 



KAMALA, 248 
Kaolin, 248 
Kataphoresis, 430 
Kermes mineral, 71 
Kino, 248 
Kola, 249 
Koosin, 183 
Kousso, 183 
Koumyss, 448 
Kreolin, 181, 396 



LACTATE OF IRON, 244 
of strontium, 362 

Lactophenin, 317 

Lactose, 364 

Lady Webster dinner pills, 62 

Lamellte atrophia?, 95 
cocaina?, 168 
homatropinae, 217 
physostiginina?, 323 

Lanolin, 249 

Laudanine, 296 

Laudanum, 303 

Laughing gas, 289 

Lavage, 431 

Lavements, 22 

Lead, 249 



Lead plaster, 254 

Lead-water and laudanum, 253 

Leeches, 432 

Leeching, 432 

Ledoyen's disinfectant solution, 254 

Lemon-juice, 164 

Leptandra, 254 

Leptan drin, 255 

Levant wormseed, 346 

Light magnesia, 258 

Lignum vitse, 213 

Lime, 115 

water, 116 
Lingual traction, 197 
Lini farina, 205 
semina, 205 
Linimentum aconiti, 52 
ammonia?, 66 
belladonna?, 95 
calcis, 116 
camphora? 118 

ammoniatum, 118 
cantharidis, 123 
chloroformi, 154 
crotonis, 183 
hydrargyri, 274 
opii, 303* 

potassii iodidi cum sapone, 230 
plumbi subacetatis, 254 
saponis, 118, 354 

mollis, 354 
sinapis, 280 

compositum, 280 
terebinth ina?, 382 
aceticum, 382 
Linseed, 205 
oil, 205 
poultice, 205 
Linum, 205 
Lipanin, 255 
Liquor acidi arsenosi, 86 
chromici, 155 
ammonia?, 66 
fortis, 65 
ammonii acetatis, 66 

citratis, 69 
arseni et hydrargyri iodidi, 86 
arsenical is, 86 
atrophia? sulphatis, 95 
bismuthi et ammonii citratis, 97 
calcis, 116 

chlorinata?, 142 
saccharatus, 114 
carbonis detergens, 534 
epispasticus, 123 
ferri acetatis, 246 

et ammonii acetatis, 240, 241 
chloridi, 242 
citratis, 243 
perchloridi, 242 
fortior, 242 
subsulphatis, 244 
tersulphatis, 87 
hamamelidis, 216 
hydrargyri nitratis, 274 

perchloridi, 270 
hydrogenii peroxidi, 222 
iodi compositus, 234 
magnesii carbonatis, 259 

citratis, 259 
morphina? acetatis, 305 
hydrochloratis, 305 



724 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



Liquor morphinse sulphatis, 304 
tartarata, 305 

pancreaticus, 309 

pepsini, 314 

plumbi subacetatis, 253 
dilutus, 253 

potassse, 256 

potassii arsenitis, 86 
citratis, 332 
permanganatis, 314 

sodse, 134 

sodii arsenates, 86 
silicatis, 353 

zinci cbloridi, 389 
Liquorice, 255 

root, 255 
Litharge, 254 
Lithia-water, 256 
Litbii benzoas, 256 

broniiduni, 106, 256 

carbonas, 256 

citras, 256 

effervescens, 256 

salicylas, 256 
Lithium, 256 
Liver, 210 
Lobelia, 257 
Logwood, 215 
Lotio hydrargyri flava, 276 

nigra, 270 
Lozenges, 25 
Lugol's solution, 234 
Lunar caustic, 282 
Lupuline, 218 
Lupulinic acid, 218 
Lupulus, 218 
Lycopodium, 258 
Lysol, 258 



MAGEN DIE'S SOLUTION, 304 
111 Magnesia, 258 
levis, 258 
ponderosa, 259 
Magnesii carbonas, 259 

ponderosa vel levis, 259 

citras, 259 

effervescens, 259 

sulphas, 260 
Magnesium, 259 
Male fern, 89 
Mandrake, 330 
Manganese, 260 
Mangani dioxidum, 260 

sulphas, 260 
Manganum, 260 
Manna, 260 
Massa copaibse, 178 

ferri carbonatis, 242 

hydrargyri, 270 
Matricaria, 261 
May apple, 330 
Meconic acid, 296 
Meconine, 296 
Mel, 217 

boracis, 101 

depuratum, 218 

despumatum, 218 

rosse, 218 
Mentha piperita, 312 
Menthol, 312 
Mercurial ointment, 273 



Mercurial oleate, 274, 275 

pills, 270 

plaster, 274 
Mercury, 261 

salicvlate, 275 

with chalk, 273 
Methyl acetanilid, 204 

blue, 276 

chloride, 277 

salicylas, 207 

violet, 276 
Methylene blue, 277 

chloride, 278 

mixture, 153 
Mezerei cortex, 278 
Mezereum, 278 

ointment, 279 
Mild chloride of mercury, 270 
Milk of asafcetida, 88 

of sulphur, 366 

-punch, 57 

peptonized, 446 

-sugar, 364 
Mineral springs, 435 
Mint camphor, 312 

stearopten, 312 
Mistura creosoti, 181 

cretse, 112 

ferri aromatica, 241 

glycyrrhizse composita, 255 

guaiaci, 213 

potassii citratis, 332 

rhei et sodse, 337 

sennse composita, 353 

spiritus vini gallici, 58 
Mitigated caustic, 285 
Modes of action of drugs, 19 

of administering drugs, 19 
Monkshood, 49 
Monobromated camphor, 118 
Monochloral-antipvrin, 225 
Monsel's salt, 240, *244 

solution, 244 
Morphinse acetas, 304 

hydrochloras, 304 

sulphas, 304 

tartrata, 304 
Morphine, 304 
Moschus, 279 
Mucilage of acacia, 43 
Mucilago acacia, 43 
Mulled wine, 57, 452 
Muriate of ammonium, 68 

of morphine, 304 
Musk, 279 
Mustard, 279 

papers, 280 

plaster, 280, 415 
Mydriatics, 35 
Myotics, 35 
Mvristica, 291 
Myrrh, 280 



NAPHTHALIN, 280 
Naphthol, 281 
Narceine, 296 
Narcotine, 296 
Nervous sedatives, 35, 40 

stimulants, 35, 40 
Neutral mixture, 332 
Nickel, bromide of, 106 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



725 



Nitrate of lead, 254 

of mercury, 274 

of pilocarpine, 327 

of potassium, 281 

of silver, 282 
Nitre, 370 
Nitric acid, 235 
Nitrite of aruyl, 69 

of potassium, 286 
Nitroglycerin, 287 
Nitre-hydrochloric acid, 220, 285 
Nitrous oxide, 289 

Norwood's tincture of veratrum viride, 387 
Nuclein, 290 
Nut-gall, 206, 371 
Nutmeg, 291 
Nux vomica, 292 



OIL OF AMBER, 63 
of rue, 338 

of tar, 328 

of vitriol, 368 
Ointment of aconitine, 52 

of ammoniated mercury, 268 

of antimony, 75 

of atropine, 95 

of belladonna, 95 

of calomel, 273 

of cantharides, 123 

of capsicum, 125 

of carbolic acid, 129 

of carbonate of lead, 253 

of chrysarobin, 155 

of cocaine, 168 

of creosote, 181 

of eucalyptus, 202 

of gallic acid, 206 

of galls, 206 

with opium, 206 

of iodide of lead, 253 
of potassium, 230 

of iodine, 234 

of iodoform, 236 

of lead acetate, 253 

of mercury, 273 

of mezereum, 279 

of nitrate of mercury, 275 

of oxide of zinc, 305 

of red iodide of mercury, 275 

of resin, 334 

of rose-water, 337 

of salicylic acid, 343 

of stramonium, 362 

of sulphur, 367 

of tannic acid, 372 

of tar, 329 

of tartrate of antimony, 75 

of veratrine, 384 

of yellow oxide of mercury, 275 
Oiutments, 25 
Oleatum hydrargyri, 274, 275 

veratrinae, 384 
Oleoresina aspidii, 89 

capsici, 125 

cubebee, 183 

lupulini, 219 

piperis, 312 

zingiberis, 209 
Oleum amygdala amarse, 60 
expressum, 60 

cajuputi, 112 



Oleum caryophylli, 164 

chenopodii, 135 

cinnamomi, 163 

copaiba, 177 

crotonis, 182 

cubebae, 183 

erigerontis, 194 

eucalypti, 202 

gaultheria, 207 

jecoris aselli, 169 

juniperi, 248 

lini, 205 

menthte piperita?, 312 

morrhuse, 169 

myristicse, 291 

picis liquidee, 328 

pinientse, 59 

phosphoratum, 321 

ricini, 131 

sab in se, 348 

santali, 345 

sinapis, 279 

volatile, 279 

succini, 63 

tanaceti, 372 

terebinthinee, 380 
rectificatum, 381 

tiglii, 182 

Valerianae, 383 
Opium, 295 

deodoratum, 303 
Opodeldoc, 354 
Ovarian juice, 210 
Oxalate of ammonium, 69 

of cerium, 134 

of iron, 245 
Ox-gall, 305 
Oxide of antimony, 75 

of calcium, 115 

of lead, 254 

of mercury, 275 

of zinc, 305 
Oxygen, 307 
Oxygen-water, 307 
Oxymel, 218 

scillse, 360 
Oxytocics, 35, 40 



PALE CINCHONA, 156 
rose, 337 
Pancreas, 210 
Pancreatin, 309 
Papain, 310 
Papaverine, 296 
Papayotin, 310 
Papers, 24 
Papoid, 310 
Paraldehyde, 310 
Paregoric, 303 
Pareira, 310 
Pareirse radix, 310 
Parsley, 80 
Pearson's solution, 86 
Pelletierine, 330 
Pental, 311 
Pepo, 311 
Pepper, 311 
Peppermint, 312 
Peppermint-water, 312 
Pepsin, 313 
cordial, 314 



726 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



Pepsinum saccharaturu, 314 
Peptonized beef, 447 
enema, 448 

milk, 444 

-punch, 444 

oysters, 447 
Permanganate of potassium, 314 
Peroxide of hydrogen, 222, 397 
Petrolatum, 315 

liquidum, 315 

molle, 315 

spissum, 315 
Petroselinum, 80 
Phenacetin, 315 
Phenacetinum, 315 
Phenicacid, 125 
Phenocoll, 317 

hydrochloride, 317 
Phenol, 125 
Phen ozone, 75 

Phenyl-dimethyl-pyrazolon, 75 
Phenylic alcohol, 125 
Phlebotomy, 444 
Phosphate of ammonium, 69 

of codeine, 168 

of iron, 245 

of sodium, 318 

of strontium, 362 
Phosphide of zinc, 318 
Phosphorated oil, 321 
Phosphoric acid, 319 
Phosphorus, 319 
Physostigma, 321 
Physostigmatus semen, 321 
Physostigmina, 321 
Physostigminse salicylas, 322 

sulphas, 322 
Physostigmine, 321 
Picric acid, 323 

Pill of three valerianates, 384 
Pills, 24 
Pilocarpinse hydrochloras, 327 

nitras, 327 
Pilocarpine, 323 
Pilocarpus, 323 
Pilula asafoetidse composita, 89 

colocynthidis composita, 175 
et hyoscyami, 175 

ferri carbonatis, 241 

hydrargyri, 270 

ipecacuanhse cum scilla, 239 

plumbi cum opio, 253 

quininre sulphatis, 161 

saponis composita, 303 

scammonii composita, 349 

scillee composita, 360 
Pilulse aloes, 61 

et asafcetidse, 62 
et ferri, 62 
et mastiches, 61 
et myrrhse, 61, 280 

antimonii composite, 75 

asafcetidse, 88 

catharticse compositse, 175 
vegetabiles, 175 

ferri iodidi, 244 

opii, 303 

phosphori, 321 

rhei, 336 

compositse, 336 
Pimenta, 59 
Pinkroot, 358 



Piper, 311 

nigrum, 311 
Piperazine, 327 
Piperin, 311 
Pipsissewa, 135 
Piscidia erythrina, 328 
Pitch, 328 
Pix, 328 

burgundica, 328 

canadensis, 328 

liquida, 328 
Plaster of ammoniac with mercury, 66 

of arnica, 83 

of asafoetida, 89 

of belladonna, 95 

of Burgundy pitch, 328 

of Canada pitch, 328 

of cantharides, 123 

of capsicum, 125 

of iodide of lead, 253 

of iron, 246 

of lead, 254 

of menthol, 313 

of mercury, 274 

of opium, 303 

of resin, 334 

of soap, 354 

of tar, 328 
Plasters, 24 
Plumbi acetas, 252 

carbon as, 253 

iodidum, 253 

nitras, 254 

oxidum, 254 
Plumbum, 249 
Plummer's pills, 75 
Podophylli rhizoma, 330 
Podophyllin, 330 
Podophyllum, 330 
Poke-root, 385 
Pomegranate, 330 
Port wine, 58 
Porter, 58 
Potash papers, 281 
Potassa, 134 

caustica, 134 

cum calce, 115, 134, 387 
Potassii acetas, 48 

bicarbonas, 331 

bitartras, 99 

bromidum, 101 

carbon as, 332 

chloras, 140 

citras, 332 

effervescens, 332 

cyanidum, 184 

iodidum, 227 

nitras, 281 

permanganas, 314 

et sodii tartras, 337 

tartras acida, 99 
Potassium nitrite, 286 
Precipitated carbonate of calcium, 112 
of zinc, 388 

phosphate of calcium, 112 

sulphur, 366 
Prepared chalk, 114 
Pride of China, 90 
Protiodide of mercury, 275 
Protonuclein, 291 
Prunus Virginiana, 333 
Prussic acid, 220 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



727 



Pseudomorphine, 296 

Pulvis amygdalae compositus, 60 
antimonialis, 71, 75 
aromaticus, 130, 163 
catechu compositus, 134 
ciunamomi compositus, 163 
cretse aromaticus, 114 
compositus, 114 
cum opio, 114 

effervescens compositus, 351 
elaterini compositus, 191 
glycyrrhizse compositus, 255, 352 
ipecacuanhas compositus, 239 

et opii, 239, 303 
jalapse compositus, 247 
kino compositus, 248 
niorphinse compositus, 304 
opii, 303 

compositus, 303 
rhei compositus, 336 
scammonii compositus, 349 
sodse tartaratae effervescens, 351 

Pumpkin-seed, 311 

Punch, milk-, 57 

Punk, 53 

Purging cassia, 131 

Purified aloes, 61 
ox-gall, 305 
sulphide of antimony, 71 

Pyoktanin, 376 

Pyrogallic acid, 333 

Pyrogallol, 333 

Pyrophosphate of iron, 245 



QUASSIA, 333 
Quassige lignum, 333 
Queen's root, 361 
Quercus alba, 334 

Lusitanica, 206 

tinctoria, 334 
Quevenne's iron, 240, 245 
Quicksilver, 261 
Quinicine, 156 
Quinidinae sulphas, 162 
Quininse bimuriatica carhamas, 162 

hisulphas, 161 

hydrobromas, 161 

hydrochloras, 161 

sulphas, 161 

valerianas, 161, 384 
Quinine, 156 

chocolates, 161 



RASPBEREY, 338 
Rectal medication, 21 
Rectified spirit, 58 
Red cinchona, 156 

iodide of mercury, 270 

oxide of mercury, 275 

precipitate, 275 
ointment, 275 

rose, 338 

wine, 58 
Reduced iron, 240, 245 
Reliability and strength of drugs, 29 
Remedial measures other than drugs. 391 
Remedv, cold as a, 401 
Resin, 334 

cerate, 334 

ointment, 334 



Resin plaster, 254, 334 
Resina, 334 

jalapse, 247 

podophylli, 330 

scammonii, 349 
Resorcin, 335 
Rest cure, 433 

Restorative beef-essence, 450 
Revulsives, 35 
Rheum, 336 

radix, 336 
Rhigolene, 336 
Rhubarb, 336 
Rbus aromatica, 337 

glabra, 337 
Rice-water, 450 
Roborants, 35 
Rochelle salt, 337 
Rosa centifolia, 337 

gallica, 338 

gallicse petala, 338 
Rose-water, 337 
Rosin, 334 
Rottlera, 248 
Rubus idaeus, 338 
Rue, 338 

Rules for dosage, 25 
Rum, 58 
Russian bath, 425 

SABINA, 348 
Saccharated carbonate of iron, 240, 241 
iodide of iron, 244 
pepsin 314 

solution of lime, 116 
Saccharin, 338 
Saccharum, 364 

lactis, 364 
Sal prunella, 281 
Salicylate of bismuth, 98 

of lithium, 256 

of mercury, 275 

of methyl, 207 

of physostigmine, 322 

of sodium, 344 
Salicylic acid, 339 

ointment, 343 
Salol, 344 
Salophen, 345 
Salt, 356 
Saltpetre, 281 
Salts, 260 
Sandalwood, 345 

oil, 345 
Sanguiuaria, 346 
Santonin, 346 

Santoninate of sodium, 347 
Santoninic acid, 346 
Sautoninum, 346 
Sapo, 354 

duris, 354 

mollis, 354 
Sarsee radix, 348 
Sarsaparilla, 348 
Savin e, 348 
Scammonium, 349 
Scammonv, 349 
Schleich's fluid, 167 
Scilla, 359 
Scilliu, 359 
Scillipikrin, 359 
! Scillitoxin, 359 



728 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



Sclerotinic acid, 192 
Scoparii cucuniina, 350 
Scoparin, 350 
Scoparius, 350 
Scopolamine, 349 
Seidlitz powder, 337, 351 
Senega, 351 
Seuegse radix, 351 
Senna, 352 

Alexandrina, 352 

Indica, 352 
Serpen taria, 353 

rhizoma, 353 
Sherry, 58 
Silicate of potassium, 353 

of sodium, 353 
Sinapis alba, 279 

albse semina, 279 

nigra, 279 

nigra? semina, 279 
Sinapisma, 280 
Slaked lime, 116 
Smooth sumach, 337 
Snake-weed, 203 
Soap, 354 

liniment, 118, 354 

plaster, 354 
Socotrine aloes, 60 
Soda, 134 

caustica, 134 

tartarata, 351 
Sodii acetas, 356 

arsenas, 86 

bicarbonas, 356 

boras, 99 

bromidum, 107 

chloridum, 356 

hyposulphis, 357 

iodidum, 230 

phosphas, 318 

et potassii tartras, 337 

sal icy las, 344 

santoninas, 347 

sulphas, 347 
Sodio-theobromine salicylate, 354 
Sodium, 355 

chloride, 356 

ethylate, 356 

hyposulphite, 357 

iodide, 230 

sulphate, 357 
Soft petrolatum, 315 
Solanum Carolinense, 357 
Soluble glass, 353 

Solution of acetate of ammonium, 66 
of iron, 246 
of morphine, 304 

of ammonia, 66 

of arsenate of potassium, 86 
of sodium, 86 

of arsenous acid, 86 

of carbonate of magnesium, 259 

of chloride of zinc, 389 

of chlorinated lime, 142 

of chromic acid, 155 

of citrate of ammonium, 69 

of bismuth and ammonium, 97 

of iron, 243 

of potassium, 332 

of hydrochlorate of morphine, 305 

of iodide of arsenic and mercury, 86 



Solution of iodine, 234 

of lime, 116 

of nitrate of mercury, 274 

of pepsin, 314 

of perchloride of mercury, 270 

of permanganate of potassium, 314 

of potassa, 256 

of soda, 134 

of subacetate of lead, 253 

of sulphate of atropine, 95 
of morphine, 304 

of tersulphate of iron, 87 
Somnal, 358 
Sozoiodol, 358 
Spanish fly, 122 
Sparteine, 350 
Sphacelinic acid, 192 
Spice plaster, 416 
Spigelia, 358 
Spinal extracts, 210 
Spirit of Mindererus, 66 

of turpentine, 380 
Spiritus setheris compositus, 216 
nitrosi, 370 

ammonise, 66 

aromaticus, 66 
fcetidus, 66 

cajuputi, 112 

camphorse, 118 

chloroformi, 154 

cinnamomi, 163 

frumenti, 58 

gaultheria?, 207 

glonoini, 287 

juniperi, 248 

compositus, 58, 248 

menthse piperita?, 312 

myristicse, 291 

odoratus, 58 

phosphori, 321 

rectificatus, 58 

vini gallici, 58 
Springs, mineral, 435 
Squill, 359 

Squirting cucumber, 191 
Starch, 360 

poultice, 360 

water, 360 
Stillingia, 361 
Stramonii folia, 361 

semen, 361 
Stramonium, 361 
Strength, relative, of drugs, 29 
Stronger water of ammonia, 65 
Strontium, 362 

bromide, 362 

iodide, 362 

lactate, 362 

phosphate, 362 
Strophanthin, 363 
Strophantus, 363 
Strychnin se sulphas, 295 
Strychuine, 292 

hydrochloride, 295 
Styptic collodion, 174 
Subcarbonate of bismuth, 97 
SubgallatC of bismuth, 98 
Sublimed sulphur, 366 
Subnitrate of bismuth, 97 
Subsulphate of iron, 240, 244 
Succinum, 63 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



729 



Succus belladonna?, 96 

conii, 176 

hyoscyarni, 224 

limonis, 164 

scoparii, 351 

taraxaci, 373 
Sugar, 363 

of lead, 252 

of milk, 364 
Sulphate of aluminum, 62 

of ammouium, 69 

of atropine, 91, 95 

of calcium, 112, 114 

of cinchonidine, 162 

of cinchonine, 162 

of copper, 178 

of hyoscyamine, 224 

of iron, 240, 245 

and ammonium, 240 

of magnesium, 260 

of manganese, 260 

of morphine, 304 

of physostigmine, 322 

of quinidine, 162 

of quinine, 161 

of sodium, 357 

of sparteine, 350 

of strychnine, 295 

of zinc, 389 
Sulphide of ammonium, 69 

of antimony, 71 
Sulphocarbolate of sodium, 364 

of zinc, 364 
Sulphonal, 365 
Sulphur, 366 

lotum, 366 

ointment, 367 

prsecipitatum, 366 

sublimatum, 366 
Sulphurated antimony, 71 

lime, 116 
Sulphuric acid, 368 
Sumach, smooth, 337 

sweet, 337 
Sumbul, 369 

pill, Goodell's, 369 

radix, 369 
Suppositoria belladonna?, 95 

acidi tannici, 372 

asafoetida?, 89 

glycerina?, 211 

iodoformi, 237 

morphinse, 305 

plumbi composita, 253 
Suppositories, 22, 25 
Suprarenal gland, 369 
Suspension, 440 
Swamp hellebore, 385 
Sweet almonds, 59 

spirit of nitre, 370 

sumach, 337 
Sydenham's laudanum, 303 
Syrupus acacia?, 43 

acidi citrici, 164 

allii, 59 

amygdala?, 60 

calci lactophosphatis, 113 

chloralis, 138 

codeina?, 169 

ferri bromidi, 241 
iodidi, 243 
phosphatis, 245 



Syrupus ferri, quinina? et strychnina? phos- 
phatum, 245 
hypophosphitum, 113 

cum ferro, 244 
ipecacuanha?, 239 
limonis, 164 
picis liquids, 329 
pruni Virginians, 333 
rhei, 336 

aromaticus, 336 
rosse, 338 
rubi idsei, 338 

sarsaparilla? compositus, 348 
scillse, 360 

compositus, 75, 360 
senega?, 351 
senna?, 352 
zingiberis, 209 



TABELL^ TEINITEINI, 287 
Tablets, 25 
of nitroglycerin, 297 
Tamiin, 183 
Taka-diastase, 184 
Tamarinds, 371 
Tamarindus, 371 
Tanacetum, 372 
Tan n ate of quinine, 161 
Tannic acid, 371 
Tansy, 372 

tea, 372 
Tar, 328 

ointment, 329 

water, 329 
Taraxacum, 373 
Tartar emetic, 71 
Tartaric acid, 373 
Tartrate of antimony and potassium, 71 

of iron and ammonium, 243 
and potassium, 243 

of potassium and sodium, 337 
Terebene, 373 
Terebinthina, 380 
Terpine hydrate, 374 
Terpinol, 374 
Testicular juice, 210 
Tetronal, 380 
Thapsia, 374 
Thebaine, 296 
Theine, 110 
Theobromine, 249, 354 
Therapeutical considerations, general, 17 

nihilism, 17 
Therapeutics, definition of, 18 
Thiol, 375 
Thiolum liquidum, 375 

siccum, 375 
Thiosinamine, 375 
Thiosulphite of sodium, 357 
Thorough wort, 203 
Thymol, 376 

iodide, 376 
Thymus gland, 377 
Thyroid gland, 377 
Thyreoidine, 379 
Tinctura aconiti, 52 

aloes, 62 

et myrrhae, 62, 280 

arnica?, 83 

florum, 82 
radicis, 82 



730 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



Tinctura asafcetidas, 89 

belladonnas folioruin, 95 
benzoini, 96 

composita, 96 
bryonias, 108 
buchu, 109 
calurubas, 115 

camphoras composita, 118, 303 
cannabis indicas, 122 
cautharidis, 123 
capsici, 125 
cardaniomi, 130 

composita, 130 
catechu, 134 

composita, 133 
chiratas, 135 

chloroformi et morphinas, 154, 305 
ciniicifugas, 156 
cinchonas, 163 

composita, 163, 353 
cinnamomi, 163 
colchici seminis, 173 
conii, 176 
convallarias, 177 
cubebas, 183 
digitalis, 189 
ferri chloridi, 242 

percbloridi, 242 
gallas, 206 
gelsemii, 208 
gentianas composita, 209 
guaiaci, 213 

ammoniata, 213 
bumuli, 219 
hydrastis, 219 
hyoscvami, 224 
iodi, 234 

ipecacuanhas et opii, 303 
jaborandi, 327 
jalapas, 247 
kino, 248 
lobelias, 257 

astherea, 258 
lupuli, 219 
moschi, 279 
myrrhas, 280 
nucis vomicae, 295 
opii, 303 

ammoniata, 303 

camphorata, 303 

deodorata, 303 
physostigmatis, 322 
podophylli, 330 
pruni Virginianas, 333 
quassias, 334 

quininas ammoniata, 163 
rhei, 337 

aromatica, 337 

dulcis, 337 
sanguinarias, 346 
scillas, 360 
senegas, 352 
sennas, 353 
serpentarias, 353 
stramonii, 362 
strophanthi, 363 
sunibul, 369 
valerianas. 383 

ammoniata, 383 
veratri viridis, 386 
zingiberis, 209 
Tinctures, 25 



Tonics, 35, 40 
Touchwood, 53 
Transfusion, 441 
Tribromethane, 107 
Trichloracetic acid, 379 
Trikresol, 379 
Trinitrin, 287 
Trinitrophenol, 323 
Trional, 380 
Triturates, 25 
Trituratio elaterini, 191 
Troches, 25 

Trochisci acidi benzoici, 96 
carbolici, 129 
tannici, 372 

bismuthi, 97 

catechu, 134 

cretas, 114 

cubeba, 183 

eucalypti, 202 

ferri redacti, 245 

glycyrrhizae et opii, 256 

guaiaci, 213 

ipecacuanhas, 239 

magnesias, 258 

menthas piperitas, 312 

morphinas, 304, 305 

et ipecacuanbas, 305 

potassii chloratis, 141 

sautonini, 347 

sodii santoninatus, 347 

zingiberis, 209 
Tropic acid, 217 
Tropine, 217 
Tullv's powder, 304 
Turkish bath, 423 

home modification of, 425 
Turpentine, 380 

liniment, 382 

ointment, 382 

stupe, 381 
Turpeth mineral, 276 



UNGUENTUM ACIDI CARBOLICI, 129 
gallici, 206 

salicylici, 343 

tannici, 372 
aconitinas, 52 
antimonii tartarati, 75 
aquas rosas, 337 
atropinse, 95 
belladonnas, 95 
cantharidis, 123 
capsici, 125 
cetacei, 96 
chrysarobini, 155 
cocaiuas, 168 
creasoti, 181 
eucalypti, 202 
gallas, 206 

cum opii, 206 
hydrargyri, 273 

atnmouiati, 268 

iodidi rubri, 270 

nitratis, 275 

dilutum, 275 

oxidi flavi, 275 
rubri, 275 

subchloridi, 273 
iodi, 334 



INDEX OF DRUGS. 



731 



Unguentum iodoformi, 236 

niezerei, 279 

petrolei, 315 

picis liquidse, 329 

plumbi acetatis, 253 
carbonatis, 253 
iodidi, 253 

potassii iodidi, 230 

resinse, 334 

stramonii, 362 

sulphuris, 367 

terebinthiuge, 382 

veratrinae, 384 

zinci oxidi, 305 
Unna's dressing, 306 
Ursiu, 383 
Uva ursi, 383 
Uvse ursi folia, 383 



VALERIAN, 383 
Valerianae rbizoma, 383 
Valerianate of ammonium, 69, 384 

of iron, 245, 384 

of quinine, 161, 384 

of zinc, 384 
Valerianic acid, 383 
Vallet's mass, 242 
Vapor acidi hydrocyanici, 222 

chlori, 142 

conii, 176 
Vaseline, 315 
Vasomotor depressants, 35, 41 

stimulants, 35, 41 
Venesection, 444 
Veratri viridis rhizoma, 385 
Veratrina, 384 
Veratrine ointment, 384 
Veratroidine, 385 
Veratrum viride, 385 
Vienna paste, 387 

mixture, 153 
Vinegar, 48 

of lobelia, 258 

of opium, 303 

of sanguinaria, 346 

of squill, 360 
Vinegars, 24 
Vinum album, 58 

antimoniale, 75 

antimonii, 75 

colchici, 173 
radicis, 173 
seminis, 173 

ergotse, 194 

ferri, 246 

amarum, 246 
citratis, 246 

ipecacuanhas, 239 

opii, 303 

picis, 329 

portense, 58 

quininse, 163 

rubrum, 58 

xericum, 58 
Virginia snake-root, 353 



WAHOO, 202 
Warburg's tincture, 38' 
Warming plaster, 123, 328 
Wash, black, 270 

yellow, 276 
Washed sulphur, 366 
Water of chloroform, 154 
Watered toast, 452 
Wet pack, 426 
Whiskey, 58 
White ginger, 209 

lead, 253 

mustard, 279 

oak, 334 

precipitate, 268 
ointment, 268 

wine, 58 
Whytt's tincture, 163 
Wild cherry, 333 
Wine, 58 

of antimony, 75 

of citrate of iron, 246 

of colchicum-root, 173 

of colchicum-seed, 173 

of ergot, 194 

of iron, 246 
bitter, 246 

of ipecac, 239 

of opium, 303 

of tar, 329 

whey, 57, 451 
Wines, 25 
Wintergreen, 207 
Witch-hazel, 215 
Wormseed, 135 



VANTHOPUCCINE, 219 

VELLOW CINCHONA, 156 
I gentian, 208 

iodide of mercury, 275 

jasmine, 207 

oxide of mercury, 275 

prussiate of potassium, 178 

py ok tan in, 276 

sulphate of mercury, 276 

wash, 276 
Young's rule for dosage, 26 



ZINCI ACETAS, 388 
carbonas, 388 

prsecipitatus, 388 
chloridum, 388 
oxidum, 305 

ven ale, 305 
phosphidum, 318 
sulpbas, 389 
sulpho-carbolas, 364 

as an antiseptic, 397 
valerianas, 384 
Zingiber, 209 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



ABORTION, 453 

Cascara sagrada, or compound liquorice 
powder, as a laxative for associated con- 
stipation ; if these fail, rhubarb or castor 
oil, 453 

Creolin (2 per cent, solution), should be in- 
jected after removal of the membranes, 
or if fever should follow, 455 

Curettement, 455 

Diet and hygiene, 453 

Elaterium, jalap, scammony, strychnine, 
erigeron, cantharides, contraindicated, 
unless very necessary, 453 

Ergot and quinine, in small doses, with 
perfect rest for one or two weeks, and 
antiseptic irrigation as an after-treat- 
ment, 455 

Iodine, applied to the inner surface of 
uterus, after removal of membranes, as 
a hemostatic and antiseptic, 455 

Opium or morphine, best agents to quiet 
uterus if abortion threatens, 454 

Podophyllin, senna, salines in active doses, 
and aloes, not £o be used if they can be 
avoided, 453 

Quinine, useful in malarial poisoning, as a 
preventive ; in other cases contraindi- 
cated, 454 

Saline purges contraindicated, except in 
plethoric women, 453 

Sponges should not be used as tampons, 454 

Tampons of absorbent cotton, dusted with 
iodoform, followed later by ergot, if 
abortion is inevitable, 454 

Venesection useful in plethoric women to 
prevent, 454 

Viburnum prunifolium, fluid extract, 
drachm 1 to lh (4.0-6.0), taken during 
pregnancy as a prophylactic, 454 

ABSCESS, 455 

Aconite or veratrum viride, in full dose, 

often aborts, 455 
Alcohol, given with milk, in cold abscess, 

456 
Belladonna ointment, locally applied to 

abort; or tincture, internally, if aconite 

is not at hand, 455 
Calx sulphurata, gr. T ^ (0.006) every hour 

or two, useful to abort or cause absorp- 
tion, 455 
Carbolic acid, minims 5 to 10 (0.3-0.65) of 

2 per cent, solution, injected into gland 

threatening suppuration, 455 
Cod-liver oil with hypophosphites, quinine, 

and iron, useful in cold abscess, 456 
Hydrogen peroxide, 10 per cent, solution, 



to wash out cavity of tubercular or slow 
abscess, 223, 456 

Incision, if pus forms, followed by irriga- 
tion with carbolic acid (1 : 20) or bichlo- 
ride solution (1 : 5000) and antiseptic 
dressing, 456 

Iodine, locally applied, may abort, 455 

Iodoform gauze, packed into cavity, or 
ethereal solution injected after aspira- 
tion, and antiseptic dressing, useful in 
tubercular abscess, 456 

Lead-water, applied on bread-crumb poul- 
tice or lint, in early stage, to abort, 
455 
| Nitrate of silver, gr. 20 to 40 (1.3-3.0) to 
the ounce, locally applied, may abort, 
455 

Poultices to assist maturation, 456 
I Prescriptions for tonics, in cold abscess, 456 

ACIDITY. 

Ammonia, the most active remedy in gas- 
tric acidity, contraindicated if acute ir- 
ritation exists, 65 

Bicarbonate of sodium, in form of effer- 
vescing powder, valuable in gastric 
acidity, 356 

Bismuth a slow and feeble antacid, 97 

Carbonate of calcium, precipitated, best 
antacid in intestinal acidity, 112 

Cerium oxalate, used in some cases of gas- 
tric acidity instead of bismuth, 134 

Charcoal useful in some cases of " sour 
stomach," 129 

Lime-water, 116 

Liquor potassse useful both for gastric and 
urinary acidity, 256 

Magnesium a useful antacid, 259 

ACNE, 457 

Calx sulphurata, gr. ^ to £ (0.006-0.008) in 
pill, thrice daily, in pustular acne, 116, 
457 

Carbolic acid touched to pustules, after in- 
cision, 457 

Cod-liver oil, if scrofulosis exists, 457 

Fowler's solution often cures and prevents 
relapse, dose gtt. 1 to 3 (0.05-0.15) thrice 
daily for a month or two, 457 

Green or Castile soap used in face-bath 
night and morning, followed by brisk 
rubbing ; if irritation ensues, simple 
cerate or emulsion of bitter almonds 
will relieve, 457 

Ichthyol, 20 parts to 100 of lard, well rubbed 
in, when induration is great, 226, 457 

Mercurial ointment, to relieve induration, 

733 



734 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



several days intervening between its 
use and that of sulphur, 457 

Phosphorus especially useful in acne indu- 
rata, 321 

Eesorcin, gr. 10 to 20 to the ounce (0.65- 
1.3:32.0) of lard, when induration is 
great, 457 

Saline purges, followed by cascara sagrada 
or similar remedy, to regulate bowels, 
if dependent upon obstinate constipa- 
tion, 457 

Sulphur internally and as a wash or oint- 
ment for women with disordered men- 
struation, prescription for, 367, 457 

ADDISON'S DISEASE. 

Suprarenal gland, 369 

ADENITIS, 458 

Ichthyol, prescription for, 458 

Iodine ointment and lard, equal parts, ap- 
plied by inunction night and morning, 
or tincture, as a paint, stopping applica- 
tion on appearance of redness or fluctu- 
ation, 458 

Iron, syrup of the iodide, gtt. 5 to 20 (0.3- 
1.45) in children, 458 

Lancing preferable to allowing abscess to 
break, 458 

Poultice, when redness or fluctuation ap- 
pears, 458 

Eemoval of gland by dissection, if enlarge- 
ment is scrofulous, 458 

Tonics, to improve systemic condition, 458 

ALBUMINURIA. (See Bright's Disease.) 
Gallic acid, if due to atony of kidneys, 206 
Strontium lactate, if due to renal atony, 362 

ALCOHOLISM. (See Poisoning from 
Alcohol.) 

ALOPECIA, 458 

Chrysarobin, drachm * to 1 (2.0-4.0) to lan- 
olin 1 ounce (32.0), 459 

Corrosive sublimate, gr. 2 to 5 (0.1-0.3) to 
rectified spirit 1 drachm (4.0) and oil of 
turpentine 7 drachms (28.0), 459 

Liquor epispasticus painted over bald spot 
after loose hairs have been depilated, 458 

Pilorcarpine, locally applied, often stimu- 
lates new growth ; too much causes 
small pustules around follicles ; pre- 
scription for, 326 

AMBLYOPIA AND AMAUROSIS, 459 

Antipyrin, 460 
Bromide of potassium, 460 
Cauterization of nape of neck, 459 
Correction of optical errors, when arising 
from congenital trouble or non-use, 459 
Cups, wet and dry, 459 
Digitalis in toxic cases, 460 
Electricity, constant current, 459 
Emmenagogues, if due to menstrual dis- 
orders, 459 
Fly-blister to temple in some cases, 459 
Iodide of potassium, 459 
Lactate of zinc, 460 
Mercury, when due to syphilis, 459 
Metallo-therapy, may be tried in hysterical 
cases, 459 



Nitrate of silver, 460 

Nitrite of amyl, inhalations, 460 

Nitro-glycerin, 460 

Nux vomica in ascending doses in tobacco 
or alcoholic cases, 294 

Phosphorus, 460 

Pilocarpine, in ursemic, tobacco, or alcohol 
amaurosis, 325, 459 

Salicylates, 460 

Stretching the optic nerve, 460 

Strychnine, hypodermically, after irrita- 
tion has subsided, 459, 460 

Suspension, and injections of testicular 
juice, 460 

AMENORRHEA, 460 

Aloes, as a specific, when dependent upon 
constipation, atony of sexual system, or 
angeruia, 61, 461 

Apiol, 3 to 10 minims (0.15-0.64) in capsule 
thrice daily for a week before date of 
menstruation, 80, 461 

Arnica, 82 

Binoxide of manganese, gr. 1 to 3 (0.05- 
0.15), taken for two weeks before time 
of menstruation, 260, 461 

Cantharides, as a stimulant, if due to atony 
or depression, 122 

Cimicifuga, fluid, extract, gtt. 30 (2.0), at 
the proper time for a flow, 156, 461 

Dewees's emmenagogue mixture, 461 

Eupatorium, in hot infusion, if due to cold, 
203 

Goodell's prescription for, 461 

Griffith's pills, largely used when depend- 
ent upon ansemia, 242 

Hot sitz-bath, for several nights before 
period; mustard added often increases 
its efficacy, 461 

Iron and myrrh, a standard remedy if due 
to atony or ansemia, 280, 461 

Oil of rue, gtt. 5 (0.3), in capsule, thrice 
daily, 461 

Potassium permanganate, useful, but infe- 
rior to binoxide of manganese, 314, 461 

Salines inferior to aloes if due to constipa- 
tion, 461 

Savine, gtt. 5 (0.3), in capsule, thrice daily, 
to stimulate uterus, 348, 461 

Tansy, gtt. 5 (0.3), in capsule, thrice daily, 
or in form of tansy tea, 461 

ANiEMIA, 461 

Aromatic mixture of iron, 241 

Arsenate of iron in aneemia of chronic 
diarrhoea, 241 

Arsenic, not to exceed gr. T V (0.004) daily, 
alone or combined with iron, valuable, 
465; very valuable in pernicious and 
malarial anaemia, 84 

Arsenite of copper, 179, 465 

Beta-naphthol, when due to intestinal in- 
digestion, 464 

Bitters, simple or aromatic, in conjunction 
with iron, when stomach and intestines 
are atonic, 464 

Blaud's pill, 464 

Bromide of iron, gr. 5 to 20 (0.3-1.3), in 
syrup, useful when there is chorea, 241 

Bullock's blood, fresh or dried, given by 
enema when iron fails, 465 

Carbonate of iron, 464 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



735 



Chloride of iron, useful because of its tonic 

properties, 242 
Dialyzed iron, 243 
Diet and hygiene, 465 
Hypophosphites and phosphate of lime, 

with cod-liver oil, iron, and quinine, 

when anrernia is due to childbearing 

and lactation, 114, 464 
Iodide of irou, syrup of, largely used in 

strumous and scrofulous anaemias, 243 
Iron, 239, 462 
Mercury bichloride or calomel, especially 

valuable in syphilitic cases. Inunctions 

of mercurial ointment, once a day or 

every other day, of service in all forms 

of ameniia, 269, 464 
Oxygen inhalations of value, 307 
Quevenne's iron, 464 
Quinine in malarial cases, and in tonic 

doses in all other angemias, 464 
Reduced iron, with laxatives and mineral 

acids for their effects on intestines and 

liver, in uncomplicated cases, 464 
Salol, when due to decomposition products, 

464 
Sulphate of iron or some other astringent 

preparation in conjunction with mild 

purges, when tongue is broad, flabby. 

and white, 464 
Suprarenal gland useful in pernicious type, 

369 

ANAL FISSURE, 465 

Carbolic acid, 1 drop (0.05), applied to fis- 
sure to effect cure ; in addition when 
hemorrhoids are present, a lotion of 
tannic acid, glycerin, and water, 466 

Castor oil, to relieve bowels if sulphur can- 
not be used, 466 

Flexible collodion painted over spot, may 
relieve, 466 

Iodoform suppositories, gr. 2 to 10 (0.1- 
0.65), relieve pain of defecation ; bella- 
donna, gr. ^ (0.016), to be added when 
there is spasm of sphincter, 466 

Potassium bromide, drachms li to the 
ounce (6.0:32.0) of glycerin, locally ap- 
plied to fissure by means of a brush, 
highly recommended, 466 

Sulphur, 20 to 40 grains (1.3-2.6), combined 
with powdered cinnamon or aromatic 
powder, at night to render passages soft, 
466 

ANEURYSM, 466 

Aconite, inferior to veratrum viride as a 
cardiac sedative, 466 

Chloroform inhalation if dvspncea is great, 
467 

Digitalis, contraindicated, 466 

Iodide of potassium, in large doses, asso- 
ciated with restricted diet and rest in 
bed ; more valuable in syphilitic than 
in other forms of the disease, 229, 466 

Morphine, gr. £ (0.08), combined with 
chloral or better with croton chloral, gr. 
10 (0.65), in sleeplessness due to pain, 
467 

Veratrum viride, gtt. 1 to 2 (0.05-0.1), twice 
or thrice daily if heart is excitable and 
vascular tension high, 386, 466 



ANGINA PECTORIS, 467 

Aconite, useful between attacks, 468 

Alcohol, instead of nitrites, when there is 
vascular relaxation, 467 

Antipyrin, gr. 20 (1.3), valuable in some 
cases, 467 

Arsenic, in full dose long continued, and 
elimination of causes of nerve-storm, 
468 

Cactus grandiflorus, in some cases, 110 

Digitalis, when heart is weak, 467 

Ether, in 1-drachm (4.0) doses in ice-water 
or capsule, to nervous females, often 
aborts, 468 

Hoffmann's anodyne, often the best rem- 
edy, 467, 217 

Morphine, gr. \ to \ (0.016-0.03) hypoder- 
mically, when nitrite of amyl fails to 
relieve, 468 

Nitrite of amyl, inhalation of a few drops 
from handkerchief during attack, 70, 
467 

Nitrite of sodium or potassium, gr. 3 (0.15), 
thrice daily, useless unless arterial ten- 
sion is high and heart throbbing, 286, 
467 

Nitro-glycerin, gtt. 1 (0.05) of a 1 per cent, 
solution during attack, 287, 467 

Phosphorus, gr. T $g- (0.0006), after meals, 
often of value, 468 

Prescription for use between attacks, 468 

Stomach-pump may be required when due 
to overloaded stomach, 468 

Tonics combined with careful diet and hy- 
giene necessary to a cure, 468 

ANOREXIA, 468 

Calomel, useful when following acute dis- 
ease ; nitro-rnuriatic acid, however, gen- 
erally preferable, 272 

Capsicum, in convalescence, acts most fav- 
orably, 124 

Chimaphila, in dropsical patients, as a 
tonic and diuretic, 135 

Eupatorium useful in, 203 

Gentian, 208 

Prescriptions for tonics, 468 

Quassia, especially valuable when follow- 
ing malarial fever, 334 

APOPLEXY, 469 

Belladonna, hypodermically, if respiration 

fail, 470 
Croton oil, gtt. 1 (0.05) with sweet oil gtt. 

5 (0.3), as a depletant cathartic, 469 
Diet, 470 
Elaterium, gr. \ (0.01), as a depletant 

cathartic, 469 
Ice to the head, 469 
Iodide of potassium, in large doses several 

days after attack, when clot has firmly 

formed, to promote absorption, 469 
Massage and electricity, applied to muscles 

to prevent atrophy ; contraindicated if 

inflammation exist, 469 
Mercury, 469 

Mustard, plaster to feet, or mustard foot- 
bath and ice to head, keeping head high 

and feet low, 469 
Opium and calomel, gr. \ (0.016) of each 

everv four hours, if meningitis arise, 

469 * 



736 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Stimulants contraindicated, 470 

Strychnine, hypodermically, if respiration 
fail ; is also useful to stimulate trophic 
centres in cord, 470 

Venesection, if patient is full-blooded, to 
prevent inflammation and further leak- 
age, 469 

Veratrum viride or aconite, when venesec- 
tion is impossible, to lower blood-press- 
ure, 469 

APPENDICITIS, 470 

Absolute rest necessary, 470 

Ice-bag or leeches, applied to appendicular 

region, 470 
Magnesium sulphate or citrate, 471 
Opium or morphine (after the bowels have 

moved), to relieve pain and act as an 

antiphlogistic, 471 
Surgical treatment, 471 

ARTHRITIS. 

Bicarbonate of sodium, applied to part on 
lint, to allay pain, 356 

Lithium carbonate and citrate, prevent 
deposit in joints from rheumatoid ar- 
thritis, 256 

Mustard plaster, as a counter-irritant, 279 

Veratrine ointment, 384 

ASCARIS LUMBRICOIDES. (See Woems.) 
ASCITES. (See Dropsy.) 

ASPHYXIA, 471 

Ammonia, injected intravenously into leg 

to stimulate heart and respiration, 65 
Artificial respiration. Sylvester's method, 

471 
Electricity, only to be used as a peripheral 

irritant to restore respiration, 472 
Laborde's lingual traction of great value, 

472 
Oxygen inhalations, 307 
Eules regarding position of patient, 472 

ASTHENOPIA, 472 

Cannabi^indica, in retinal asthenopia, pre- 
scription for, 121 

Eserine or pilocarpine, weak solution, as a 
stimulant to ciliary muscles, 473 

Glasses, combined with prisms if necessary, 
to correct optical defects, 472 

Hot compresses, 473 

Massage, rest, salt baths, strychnine, and 
iron, if due to neurasthenia, 473 

Strychnine or tincture of nux vomica in 
large doses, to stimulate ciliary muscles, 
473 

ASTHMA, 473 

Aconite, in early stages, 51 

Arsenic, internally or smoked in cigarettes, 
best remedy when mucous membrane is 
at fault, 85, 476 

Belladonna, combined with morphine, very 
useful, 94, 474 

Bromide of potassium or sodium, gr. 30 
(2.0), half an hour before retiring, 476 

Bronchitis-tent, 476 

Chloral, rarely useful ; if pushed, danger- 
ous, 138 



Chloroform, inhaled, relaxes spasm ; also 
useful in form of liniment applied to 
chest, to abort, 154, 474 

Cocaine, applied to nasal cavities, if due to 
nasal disorders, 476 

Coffee, a cup of strong black, during parox- 
ysm, 111, 475 

Compressed and rarefied air, 476 

Diet and hygiene, 476 

Ethyl iodide, to increase secretions and 
prevent thickening, 201 

Euphorbia pilulifera, J to 1 drachm (2.0- 
4.0) of the fluid extract, 203, 475 

Gelsemium, 208 

Grindelia, fluid extract of, gtt. 20 to 60 
(1.3-4.0), or leaves soaked in nitre 
smoked as cigarettes, or fumes of burn- 
ing leaves inhaled, exceedingly useful, 
212, 476 

Iodide of potassium, useful in bronchial, 
harmful in gastric type, 229, 476 

Lobelia, tincture gtt. 10 (0.65) every four 
hours, if attack threaten ; in emetic 
dose if heart be strong, when spasm is 
present, 257, 474, 475 

Morphine, hypodermically, gr. £ to \ (0.01- 
0.016), alone or combined with atropine, 
474 

Nitrate of potassium alone or combined 
with belladonna, in form of cigarettes 
or inhalations of fumes, often relieves, 
281, 474 

Nitrite of amyl, 3 to 6 drops (0.15-0.3) on 
handkerchief, inhaled with care, re- 
lieves spasm, 70, 475 

Nitro-glycerin, serviceable if bronchial mu- 
cous membranes are engorged, 287, 475 

Oil of amber, 63 

Oxygen, inhalations when cyanosis is ex- 
treme, 476 

Physostigma, in bronchial asthma, to aid in 
expelling mucus, 322 

Sandalwood oil, useful in catarrhal cases, 
346 

Tobacco-smoking often efficacious in pa- 
tients not accustomed to it, 475 

Zinc oxide, prescription for, 307 

ATONY. 

Arsenic, in gastric and intestinal atony, 84 

Calumba, valuable in gastro-intestinal 
atony following fevers, 115 

Capsicum, one of the best remedies in gas- 
tric atony due to debility and alcohol- 
ism, 124 

Cardamom, with bitter tonics and mineral 
acid, in gastro-intestinal atony, 130 

Chimaphila, useful as a stimulating diu- 
retic in atonic renal conditions, 135 

Hydrastis, indicated in atony of mucous 
membranes, 219 

Leptandra, in duodenal atony, 255 

Lime salts, useful in atony of mucous mem- 
branes, 114 

Pepper, in atony of genito-urinary mucous 
membranes, 311 

Physostigma, in intestinal and vesical 
atony, 322 

Strychnine, in intestinal atony, 294 

AURAL VERTIGO. 

Pilocarpine, 326 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



737 



BALANITIS AND BALANO - POSTHITIS, I 

566 

Astringent solutions, to cleanse parts, zinc \ 
chloride (gr. 4to the ounce [0.2:32.0]), j 
boric acid (1 per cent.), carbolic acid j 
(1.5 per cent.) ; silver nitrate (gr. 1 to ' 
the ounce [0.05 : 32.0] ) especially valu- 
able, 566 

Lead-water, dilute, as a wet dressing, pre- | 
ceded by astringent washes, in phimo- ! 
sis ; if inflammation increase, circum- 
cise, 567 

Silver-nitrate stick, touched to ulcerations. 
567 

Tannin or zinc oxide, as a dusting powder, 
after retracting prepuce and cleansing 
parts, followed by returning prepuce 
over absorbent cotton, 567 

BALDNESS. (See Alopecia.) 

BED-SORES, 476 

Aloes, glycerole of, as a local application, 

61 
Alum, with spirit of camphor and white 

of egg, locally applied, to prevent, 477 
Catechu, with lead subacetate, locally ap- 
plied, to harden skin, 477 
Glycerin application daily, after washing 

and rubbing part, to prevent, 211 
Incision, followed by irrigation, if sores 

tend to burrow, 477 
Iron, tincture of chloride, gtt. 20 (1.3) every 

four hours as a tonic, 477 
Nitrate of silver (gr. 20 to the ounce [1.3 : 
.32.0]), painted over threatening part, to 

abort. If ulcers form and are sluggish, 

same solution may be used, 284, 477 
Salt and whiskey, rubbed over skin to 

harden it (drachms 2 to the pint [8.0 : 

500.0]), 477 
Soap plaster, applied to sore after washing 

with bichloride solution (1 : 5000) and 

dusting with iodoform, 354, 477 
Supportive measures and increased amount 

of food, if sloughs are large, 477 
Zinc ointment, on squai'es of lint, sometimes 

used in lieu of soap plaster, 477 

BILIOUSNESS, 477 

Aconite, antagonizes the poisonous alka- 
loids which cause slow pulse, high arte- 
rial tension, etc., 480 

Ammonium chloride, gr. 5 (0.3) thrice 
daily, if associated with catarrh, 480 

Bromides and chloral, if nervousness and 
irritation are present, 480 

€alomel, gr. £ (0.01) in powder every fifteen 
minutes until six are taken, followed in 
four hours by a saline, if stools be light. 
272, 479 

Chirata, extract of, gr. 5 (0.3), in hepatic 
torpor, prescription for, 480 

Diet, 479 

Euonymus, extract of, gr. 3 (0.15), 480 

Horseback riding combined with gym- 
nastic movements especially valuable, 
480 

Ipecac, powdered, gr. 30 to 60 (2.0-4.0), or 
apomorphine, gr. ^ (0.004) hypoder- 
mically, may relieve in first stage, 479 



Leptandra, where liver is torpid, 254 
Mustard plaster or cup to nape of neck, if 

face is flushed ; foot-bath also of service, 

480 
Nitro-muriatic acid, gtt. 3 (0.15), thrice 

daily in water, of great service, 288, 

480 
Opium, antagonizes the poisonous alkaloid 

which causes hot skin, rapid pulse, di- 
lated pupils, etc., 480 
Podophyllin, gr. £ (0.01), if stools be dark, 

479 
Protiodide of mercury, gr. ■£$ to -£$ (0.001- 

0.0016), in trituration, thrice daily, if 

due to catarrh, 480 
Salines, if attack is sudden, to sweep out 

poisonous matter, 479 
Salol or salophen, in 10 gr. (0.65) doses, 

useful as an intestinal antiseptic, 480 
Stillingia, fluid extract of, dose 20 drops 

(1.3), 480 

BLEPHARITIS, 481 

Boric-acid lotion when there is accompany- 
ing conjunctivitis, 481 

Chloral, 5 per cent, solution, to remove 
scabs and crusts, 481 

Creolin, 1 to 2 per cent, solution, useful as 
a wash, 182 

Methyl blue, 276 

Ointments, dilute citrine, Pagenstecher's 
(yellow oxide of mercury, 1 gr. [0.05], 
vaseline, 1 drachm [4.0]), pyrogallic 
acid, milk of sulphur (3 per cent.), lo- 
cally applied after removal of crusts, 
481 

Silver nitrate, touched to crater-like ab- 
scesses, gives good results, 481 

Sodium bicarbonate or biborate solution, 
gr. 8 to ounce (0.5 : 32.0), to remove 
scabs and crusts, 481 

BOILS, 481 

Atomized sprays useful in, 23 

Belladonna, locally applied to relieve pain 
and inflammation, 482 

Calcium sulphurate hastens pointing and 
prevents formation of new ones ; use- 
less in boils of diabetes, 116, 481 

Camphorated alcohol, applied over boils in 
formative stage, then wiped dry, fol- 
lowed by camphorated oil, to abort, 118, 
482 

Carbolic acid, 5 per cent, strength, injected 
into apex of boil when formation is 
assured, to abort, 128, 482 

Chloride of calcium, added to poultice, 
hastens maturation, 113 

Collodion painted ovej- inflamed spot, to 
abort, 174; if pus form, it may be ab- 
sorbed, if not, evacuate by incision, 481 

Egg-shells baked and eaten, for successive 
crops, 116 

Opium, locally applied to relieve pain and 
inflammation, 482 

Phosphorus. 321 

Poultices, containing sweet oil and lauda- 
num, to assist maturation, 482 

Prescription for ointment, 482 

Silver nitrate (gr. 20 to the ounce [1.3: 
32.0]), painted over part, may abort, 
284, 481 



738 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



BREATH, FETID. 

Camphor, as a mouth- wash, 117 

BREASTS (INFLAMED), 482 
Aconite or veratrum viride, to depress cir- 
culation, 466 
Belladonna, internally or as an ointment, 
before and after inflammation, with cold 
compresses to breast, 93, 482 
Breast-pump, if milk continues to form, 

482 
Incise as soon as pus forms, 482 
Pressure bandage with ice bag, 482 
Purges, mild saline, 482 

BONE DISEASE. 

Iodide of iron, syrup of, if anaemia exist, 

232 
Iodine ointment, diluted one-half, or tinc- 
ture, locally applied, 232 

BROMIDROSIS. 

Belladonna, 93 

Borax of great value, 100 

Carbonate of calcium, precipitated, a useful 

application, 113 
Salicylic acid, used as a dusting powder, 

prescription for, 342 

BRONCHITIS, 482 

Aconite, alone or combined with sweet 
spirit of nitre, in initial stage, 51, 483 

Amber, oil of, and olive oil (1 : 3), applied 
to back and front of chest, in infantile 
bronchitis, 63 

Ammoniac, useful in old forms devoid of 
inflammation, 66 

Ammonium carbonate, alone or with the 
chloride, especially useful in children ; 
gr. 2 to 10 (0.1-0.65) in syrup of acacia, 
67 

Ammonium chloride, in second stage, to 
stimulate bronchial tubes, prescription 
for, 485 

Apomorphine, gr. T V to \ (0.006-0.015), as 
an expectorant in subacute stage ; if 
exudation accumulates rapidly, gr. -fo 
to T V (0.003-0.006), hypodermically, as 
an emetic, 82, 487 

Asafoetida as a stimulating expectorant, 88 

Astringent sprays, often of value if secre- 
tion be excessive; tannic acid (gr. 2 to 
4 to the ounce [0.1-0.15:32.0]), alum 
solution (a few grains to saturation). 
Monsel's solution (10 to 15 drops to the 
ounce [0.65-1.0:32.0]), lead acetate (gr. 
1 to 5 to the ounce [0.05-0.3 : 32.0] ), 487 

Belladonna, to check excessive secretion 
and stimulate respiration, 487 

Benzoic acid, 96 

Bronchitis tent, 484 

Caffeine, or strong coffee, to stimulate res- 
piration if suffocation threatens, 487 

Camphor, in old or atonic cases, 117; lini- 
ment rubbed on chest, 483 

Cimicifuga in chronic bronchitis, 156 

Codeine, recommended when cough is ex- 
cessive, 169, 486 

Creosote, recommended in chronic bron- 
chitis, 180 



Croton oil and sweet oil (half and half), 
sometimes applied to chest, 182 

Cubebs or copaiba, as expectorants, liable 
to derange stomach, 177, 183, 486 

Digitalis, if heart be feeble, 487 

Dover's powder, gr. 5 to 10 (0.30-0.65), with 
a hot drink, useful in early stage, 483 

Ethyl iodide, 5 to 10 drops (0.3-0.65), in- 
haled from a handkerchief every few 
hours in the later stages to loosen secre- 
tions, 201, 486 

Eucalyptus oil, valuable in later stages; 
dose, gtt. 1 to 5 (0.05-0.3), in capsule, 
every three hours, 202, 486 

Euphorbia pilulifera \ to 1 drachm (2.0- 
4.0) of fluid extract in chronic bronchi- 
tis, 203 

Flaxseed tea, a useful demulcent, 205 

Gallic acid for profuse expectoration, 206 

Grindelia, very useful in later stages, 212 

Guaiacol vapor inhalations very valuable, 
214 

Hot foot-bath, with drinks of hot lemonade, 
in early stages, 483 

Hypnal for cough, 225 

Inhalations of steam from boiling water, to 
relieve bronchial soreness, when counter- 
irritation fails, 484 

Iodine externally, 232 

Iodide of potassium, often useful when 
ammonium salts fail, contraindicated if 
secretion is excessive, 229 

Iodoform, to lessen cough and fetid dis- 
charge, 236 

Ipecac, to unload stomach, 237; as a seda- 
tive expectorant, 238 ; to promote secre- 
tion in first stage, also as an emetic 
when exudation accumulates rapidly 
and suffocation threatens, 487 

Myrrh, with expectorant mixtures, useful 
' in later stages, 280 

Oro-nasal respirator with terebene, iodide 
of ethyl, and chloroform, 486 

Oxygen inhalations, when dyspnoea is. 
great, 307, 487 

Potassium citrate with ipecac, to aid in 
formation of secretion, prescriptions, 
332, 483 

Potassium cyanide for excessive cough, 184 

Pyridine as an inhalant, 485 

Resin, inhalations of fumes, 334 

Sandalwood oil, in later stages, dose 5 to 10 
minims, 346, 486 

Sanguinaria, 346 

Senega, a stimulating expectorant in sub- 
acute and chronic stages, 351 

Squill, inferior to other drugs as an expec- 
torant, 360 

Strychnine, to stimulate respiration, if suf- 
focation threatens, 487 

Tar, 329 

Tartar emetic, as an expectorant, gr. fa 
(0.001) hourly, or 1 drachm (4.0) of solu- 
tion (gr. 2 to the pint [0.1:500.0]), or 
as an emetic in sthenic cases, 74 

Terebene, if ammonium chloride fails; 
dose, 5 to 10 minims (0.3-0.65), in cap- 
sule or emulsion ; must be stopped if 
kidneys or stomach are irritated ; or 
used in an inhaler with equal parts of 
iodide of ethyl and chloroform, 373,. 
486 



INDEX OF DISEASES AXD REMEDIES. 



739 



Terpiue hydrate or terpinol useful, 374, 

486 
Turpentine, inhalations or applied to chest, 

for children, diluted one-half with sweet 

oil, 382 
Water, hot and cold dashes, if death is 

imminent from suffocation, 487 

BRONCHOCELE. 

Ointment of biniodide of mercury, useful 

in, 270 
Potassium iodide internally, and tincture 

of iodine externally, 229 
Thymus gland in, 377 

BRONCHORRH(EA. 

Alum, solution gr. 20 to the ounce (1.3 : 

32.0) ; applied in fine spray, 63 
Gallic acid, 206 

BRUISES. 

Alcohol, as a lotion, very useful, 55 

Arnica, 82 

Liquor plumbi subacetatis, locally applied ; 
strength 1 to 4 ounces to the pint (32.0- 
128.0 : 500.0) ; contraindicated, if skin 
is broken ; also useful as lead-water and 
laudanum (water 16, lead-water 4, laud- 
anum 1), 253, 301 

Warming plaster, 328 

BUBO. 

Carbolic acid, solution Cgr. 8 to the ounce 
[0.6:32.0]), 10-miuim injections, pre- 
ceded by ether spray, 128 

Incision, at first sign of suppuration, fol- 
lowed by washing with either bichloride 
solution (1 to 1000), hydrogen peroxide 
(V strength), or zinc chloride (gr. 40 to 
the ounce [2.5:32.0]), 495 

Iodine, painted around spot, with compress 
and spica bandage, or hot bag over 
swelling, 491 

BURNS AND SCALDS, 488 

Anaesthesia, chloroform in, 489 

Antipyrin in solution and ointment, 489 

Bath in the treatment of, 488 

Boric acid solution, a useful dressing, 100, 
489 

Calcium carbonate, precipitated, as a dress- 
ing, 113 

Cantharides, tincture of (1:40), locally 
applied on lint if burn is not diffuse, 
488 

Carbolized sweet oil, cosmoline, or simple 
cerate, useful application to counter- 
irritation burns, 128 

Cold cream, as a dressing, 338 

Digitalis, in shock, if circulation fails to 
respond to less powerful stimulants, 488 

Hypodermoclysis useful, 430 

Ichthyol ointment, 226 

Iodoform in ointment with other drugs in 
severe burns, 488 

Lead carbonate, as an ointment, or, with 
linseed or other oils, as a dressing, 253 

Lime-water and linseed oil, equal parts, the 
best dressing, 205. Carbolic acid is of 
service, added in proportion of 1 to 20, 
488 

Morphine and atropine, gr. J to J (0.016- 



0.03) of former to gr. ^ (0.001) of latter, 
to allay pain, 488 

Picric acid the best dressing, 323, 488 

Potassium citrate with sweet spirit of 
nitre, if urine is high-colored, 488 

Poultice, applied to counter-irritation blis- 
ter, relieves pain ; when blister forms, 
puncture if large, allow to break if 
small, and dress with absorbent cotton 
416 

Salicylic acid, prescription for, 342 

Sodium carbonate solution often relieves 
pain, 489 

Stimulants, if shock is severe, 488 

Zinc oxide, 305 

CANCER (GASTRIC). 

Arsenic, small doses often repeated, to re- 
lieve vomiting and pain in gastric can- 
cer, 85 

Condurango, in the dose of 1 drachm (4.0) 
of the fluid extract, 175 

Hydrochloric acid, 220 

CANCRUM ORIS. 

Arsenic internally, 85 

Boric acid, as a mouth-wash, 100 

CARBUNCLE. 

Carbolic acid, solution (gr. 8 to the ounce 
[0.6:32]), hypodermic injections, to 
abort, 128 

Phosphorus, 321 

CARIES. 

Lime salts, especially valuable in dental 
caries of nursing women, 114 

CATARRH OF AIR-PASSAGES. (See 
Nasal Catarrh.) i 

Alum solution (gr. 20 to the ounce [1.3: 

32.0]), applied in fine spray, 63 
Arsenic, internally, 84 
Camphor, of service in old and atonic 

cases, 117 
Sozoiodol, applied locally in 5 per cent. 

solution, 358 

CATARRH OF BLADDER. 

Ammonium benzoate, to render urine acid, 

66 
Juniper, a valuable stimulant in chronic 

cases, 247 

CATARRH OF UTERUS. 

Hydrastis, 219 

Sozoiodol, in powder, applied by tampon, 
in catarrh of cervix uteri, 358 

CEREBRAL DISEASES. 

Blisters, to nape of neck in cerebritis, 413 
Croton oil, in cerebral congestion, 182 
Elaterium, in cerebral congestion, 191 
Phosphorus, often of service in cerebral 

softening, 321 
Veratrum viride, of greatest value in cere- 
britis during stage of hypersemia, after 
that period harmful, 386 

CHANCRE. 

Nitric acid, used as a caustic, surrounding 
tissues being protected by oil, 285 



740 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



CHANCROID, 489 

Acetanilid, used in a dry powder, 47 

Actual cautery, the most destructive caus- 
tic, 489 

Benzoate of bismuth, 98 

Bismuth aud ziuc oxide, or calomel and 
bismuth, are substitutes for iodoform, 
490 

Carbolic acid, as a wet dressing (gr. 5 to 
water oz. 1 [0.3:32.0]), 491 

Cocaine, 20 per cent, solution to relieve 
pain of cauterization, 489 

Hot sitz-bath or general warm bath, 490 

Iodoform, the best dn sting-powder after 
cauterizing, also useful as a palliative 
treatment, preceded by nitric acid wash 
(3j to water Oj [4.0:500.0]), in erosive 
chancroid, 490 

Iodol or aristol, as a substitute for iodo- 
form, 490 

Nitric acid, a good caustic, surrounding 
tissue being protected by oil, 285, 490 

Salicylic acid in powder or ointment, 342 

Sulphuric acid with charcoal, a good caustic 
and after dressing, 490 

Tannin, combined with dusting-powder 
(1:4), if discharge is profuse, 490 

CHAPPING. 

Calcium carbonate, precipitated, as a local 
protective in intertrigo of infants, 112 

Camphor, added to precipitated calcium 
carbonate, useful in intertrigo, 118 

Carbonate of zinc, in infantile forms, pre- 
scription for, 388 

Cold cream, a useful application, 337 

Light magnesia, as a dusting-powder in in- 
tertrigo, 258 

Lycopodium, as a dusting-powder, 258 

Starch as a dusting-powder in intertrigo, 
360 

Zinc oxide, in powder form, useful in in- 
tertrigo, 306 

CHILBLAINS. 

Alum, as a wash, 63 

Capsicum, tincture, painted over parts or 

applied as a paper, prescription for, 

125 
Ceratum resinse, 334 
Ichthyol ointment, 226 
Iodine ointment and lard, equal parts, 

give great relief, 233 

CHLOROSIS. (See Anosmia.) 



CHOLERA (ASIATIC), 491 

Camphor in the form of camphorated wine, 
of the greatest service in controlling 
cramps, 492 

Enemata of warm salt solution (3»j to Oj 
[4.0 to 500.0]), highly recommended 
by Italian observers, 493 

Enteroclysis, associated with hot baths, 
very valuable, 419 

Ether, subcutaneously, as a diffusible stim- 
ulant, 493 

Hypodermoclysis, very useful, 493 

Opium, 492 

Purgatives, contraindicated, unless bad 
food has been taken, 492 



Quarantine, and strict hygiene, as a pro- 
phylactic, 491 

Salol and salophen, 492 

Sulphuric acid, with camphor, to control 
diarrhoea, 368, 493 

Tannic acid, by enemata (3j-viij to Oj 
[4.0-32.0:500.0]), 493 

CHOLERA INFANTUM, 494 

Arsenic, to check vomiting, prescription 

for, 496 
Beef -juice, as a food especially valuable, 494 
Brandy, if vomiting is active and collapse 

threatens, a few drops to drachm (4.0) 

of nourishment, 494 
Castor oil, with paregoric to empty bowels 

and allay irritation, 494 
Cold drinks, cracked ice, and antipyretics, 

if rectal temperature is above normal, 

494 
Diet, 494 

Enteroclysis, very valuable, 496 
Hot drinks, applications and baths if rectal 

temperature is subnormal, temperature 

being watched, 494 
Iodoform and oil injections to relieve tenes- 
mus, 236 
Irrigation of bowels, 496 
Laudanum, gtt. 10 (0.65) and starch-water, 

oz. 2 (64.0), by enema, and calomel gr. 

i 1 ^ (0.005) or gray powder gr. £ (0.01) 

by mouth, to control vomiting and purg- 
ing, if severe, 496 
Mustard or spice plaster, over belly, always 

useful, 495, 496 
Podophyllin, if stools are of peculiar pasty 

color, 495 
Predigested milk or beef-juice, the best 

food, 495 
Prescriptions for, 495 

CHOLERA MORBUS, 497 

Camphor, 117 

Castor oil, with laudanum, to sweep out 
intestines, before diarrhoea mixture is 
used, 497 

Ipecac, gr. 3 (0.15) every two hours, often 
of service, 238 

Morphine and atropine if pain is severe, 
497 

Mustard or capsicum plaster, over abdo- 
men, 497 

Prescription for, 497 

Salol, prescription for, 345 

CHORDEE, 563 

Aconite, often relieves, 51 

Belladonna internally, and ointment ap- 
plied to under surface of penis, 94 

Bromide of potassium, dr. 1 (4.0), with 
chloral, gr. x (0.6), at bedtime, repeated 
during night if necessary, 563 

Camphor with bromides, very useful in 
some cases, 117 

Cantharides, gtt. 1 (0.05), thrice daily, 123 

Hot sitz-bath and steeping penis in hot 
water before retiring, relieves, 423 

Lupulin, gr. 30, 563 

Morphine, gr. I (0.016), with atropine gr. 
^y (0.001), hypodermically into peri- 
neum, to relieve, 563 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



741 



Opium or belladonna suppositories, to re- 
lieve, 563 

CHOREA, 497 

Arsenic, in ascending doses ; discontinue if 
symptoms of poisoning ensue, 84, 497 

Bromides with chloral, when there is in- 
somnia, prescription for, 498 

Chloral, 137 

Chloroform inhalations when excessive, 
150 

Cimicifuga alone, or with arsenic, very use- 
ful, 155, 498 

Hot pack, at bedtime if muscular jerkings 
are severe, 498 

Monobromated camphor, 119 

Nitro-glycerin, 287 

Quinine in full doses, 160 

Salicylates or iodides of value, if associated 
with rheumatism, 498 

Silver nitrate, occasionallv used, not re- 
liable, 283 

CINCHONISM. 

Potassium bromide, as a preventive, 105 

CIRRHOSIS OF LIVER. (See Hepatic 
Cirrhosis.) 

COLDS. (See Coryza.) 

COLIC. 

Asafcetida, useful in children, 88 

Chloral and bromide, when severe in chil- 
dren ; prescription for, 137 

Ether internally, very useful, 199 

Hoffmann's anodyne, 199 

Hyoscyamus, 224 

Matricaria, infusion, to prevent, in teething 
children, 261 

Mustard plaster, i to i strength if skin is 
tender, 279 

Peppermint in infantile colic, 312 

Rue, as a carminative, 338 

COLIC (HEPATIC), 498 

Belladonna, in full dose, to relax spasm, 94 

Benzoate of sodium, 500 

Calomel, if liver be very torpid, 500 

Chloroform or ether inhalations to relieve 
pain during spasm, 151, 499 

Diet, 500 

Hot applications over liver, as a relaxant, 
498 

Horse-back riding, 500 

Morphine, gr. i to h (0.016-0.03), with atro- 
pine gr. -£$ (0.001) hypodermically, to 
relieve pain, 498 

Olive or cotton-seed oil, Ih pints (750.0), 
during attack ; ether, drachm 1 (4.0), 
may be added with advantage, 498 

Opium with belladonna, to relieve pain and 
spasm, 299 

Salicylate of sodium, 500 

Turpentine, useful in, 500 

COLIC (RENAL). 

Belladonna, in full dose, 94 

Chloroform, a few inhalations often relieve, 

151 
Opium with belladonna relieves spasm and 

pain, 299 



COLLAPSE. 

Belladonna as a vaso-motor stimulant, 94 
Digitalis, 188 

Ether, by mouth, inhalation, or hypoder- 
mically, of great service, 199 

CONDYLOMATA. 

Calomel, as a dusting powder, often re- 
moves, 272 

CONGESTION. 

Croton oil, as a revulsive in cerebral con- 
gestion, 182 

Digitalis, relieves stasis of congested lung 
in typhoid state, and congestion of the 
kidneys, 188 

Elaterium, in cerebral congestion, 191 

Ergot of service, especially with digitalis, 
193 

Glycerin, on cotton tampon, as a depletant 
in uterine congestion, 211 

Jalap useful in plethora with cerebral con- 
gestion, 246 

Juniper, often relieves congested kidneys, 
247 

CONJUNCTIVA (BURNS OF), 501 

Atropine incorporated with liquid vaseline 
instilled into eye, to prevent iritis, 501 

Cod-liver oil instilled into eye after re- 
moval of foreign matter, 501 

Gold-beater's skin inserted between lids 
and eyeball, or breaking up granula- 
tions, prevents corneal inflammation, 
502 

Neutralization of foreign matter, if acid or 
alkaline, 501 

CONJUNCTIVA (CHEMOSIS OF), 505 

Astringent washes, especially alum, 505 
Nicking swollen tissue with scissors, 505 
Warm, moist compresses, 505 

CONJUNCTIVA (HEMORRHAGE BE- 
NEATH), 505 

Boric-acid or cocaine wash, when conjunc- 
tival irritation exists, 505 

Massage of globe through closed lids, to aid 
absorption of blood, 505 

CONJUNCTIVA (XEROSIS OF), 505 

Glycerin, almond oil, cod-liver oil, or weak 
alkaline washes, 505 

CONJUNCTIVITIS (CHRONIC), 503 

Acetate of zinc, gr. 1-2 (0.05-0.1) to the 
ounce (30.0), 388 

Boric acid, wash (gr. 10 to the ounce [0.65 : 
32.0]), cocaine, gr. 2 (0.1), may be added 
if there is no corneal ulcer ; for this 
condition salt, gr. 4 to the ounce (0.3 : 
32.0), may be substituted, 503 

Copper crystal, or a solution (gr. 1 to 3 to 
the ounce [0.05-0.15:32.0]), applied to 
diseased spot, if subacute, 179 

Correction of any refractive error, 503 

Lapis divinus, 503 

Tannin and glycerin (gr. 10 to the ounce 
[0.65 : 32.0] ),' as an application, 503 

Yellow oxide or sulphate of mercury salve, 
or alum crystal, useful application, 503 



742 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Zinc oxide, in powder, or the sulphate in 
the form of a wash, 306 

CONJUNCTIVITIS (DIPHTHERITIC), 504 

Atropine instilled, 504 

Boric-acid or bichloride solution, frequent- 
ly applied in early stages, 504 

Cade, oil of (strength 1 to 10), 505 

Citric-acid ointment or lemon-juice, locally 
applied. 505 

Hot compresses, 504 

Quinine, solution (gr. 3 to the ounce [0.15 : 
32.0]), 505 

Silver nitrate, same as in purulent con- 
junctivitis, 505 

Sulphur, insufflations, 505 

CONJUNCTIVITIS (FOLLICULAR), 503 

Alum, crystal, applied locally if due to 

atropine instillations, 503 
Astringent and antiseptic lotions, 503 
Calomel, as a dusting-powder, alone or 

with bismuth, aristol, or iodoform, 503 
Copper sulphate, as an ointment (gr. £ to 

the drachm [0.03 : 4.0] ), 503 

CONJUNCTIVITIS (GRANULAR), 504 

Atropin, instillations, in acute forms, 504 
Boric acid or salicylic acid, solution, as a 

wash in acute forms, 504 
Boroglyceride (20 to 50 per cent.), applied 

to chronic granulations, 504 
Copper sulphate, crystal, applied to chronic 

granulations, 504 
Corrosive sublimate solution (1 : 200 or 1 : 

500), applied every second day in 

chronic forms, preceded by cocaine ; 

eyes also being irrigated thrice daily 

with sublimate solution (1 : 7000), 504 
Crushing granulations, often satisfactory, 

504 
Excision of granulations when isolated, 

504 
Glycerole of tannin, applied to chronic 

granulations, 504 
Grattage, 504 
Jequirity infusion (3 per cent.) painted on 

inner side of eyelids, of use, 247, 504 
Leeches to temple, to reduce inflammation 

in acute stage, 504 
Liquor potassae, beta-naphthol, iodoform, 

aristol in powder or salve, yellow-oxide 

ointment, calomel, or hydrastin may be 

tried, 504 
Scarification, not advisable, 504 
Silver nitrate, stick or solution (gr. 10 to 

the ounce [0.65 : 32.0]), applied daily, if 

there is discbarge ; neutralize excess 

with salt solution, 284, 504 
. Yellow oxide of mercury, ointment with 

lard, equal parts, in chronic types, 275 

CONJUNCTIVITIS (LACHRYMAL), 503 
Treatment same as for chronic type. 

CONJUNCTIVITIS (MUCO-PURULENT). 

Treatment same as for purulent type. 

CONJUNCTIVITIS (PURULENT), 502 
Atropine or eserine, if corneal ulcer ap- 
pears, 502 
Bichloride of mercury (1 : 8000), or boric 



acid (saturated solution), as a wash, 
used hourly, 502 

Boroglycerin, 101 

Hot compress, in lieu of cold, if vitality of 
cornea is threatened, 502 

Iced compress in early stage, to reduce in- 
flammation, 502 

Leeching, useful if inflammation is high, 
contraindicated in infants, 502 

Permanganate of potassium, aqua chlorini, 
sulphocarbolic acid solution, alum sul- 
phate, zincsnlphate,creolin (1 percent.), 
or iodoform ointment may be tried, 502 

Peroxide of hydrogen useful as a cleansing 
agent, 502 

Silver nitrate, stick or solution (gr. 10 to 
the ounce [0.65 : 32.0]), touched to lids 
after they have been cleansed of pus, 
excess neutralized with salt solution ; 
2 percent, solution dropped in new-born 
infant's eyes to prevent, 502, 503 

Sozoiodol (2 : 30), 358 

CONJUNCTIVITIS (SIMPLE), 501 

Alum crystal applied when it tends to be- 
come chronic, 501 

Atropine usually unnecessary unless cor- 
neal ulcer is present, 501 

Boric acid, lotion (gr. 10 to the ounce 
[0.65 : 32.0] ), 501 

Compresses of ice to allay inflammation. 
501 

Creolin solution (1 per cent.), 501 

Mercury, bicloride solution (1 : 10,000), if 
discharge is great, 501 

Peroxide of hydrogen, 501 

Poultices and bandages contraindicated, 
501 

Silver nitrate, solution (gr. 2 to 5 to the 
ounce [0.1-0.3:32.0]), if there is muco- 
purulent discharge. If discharge is ex- 
cessive employ gr. 10 to the ounce (0.65 : 
32.0), and neutralize excess with salt 
solution or wash with tepid water, 501 

Smoked glasses, 501 

Sodium biborate, gr. 4 to 8 to ^j (0.3 to 
0.5:32.0), 501 

Tannin and glycerin (gr. 10 to the ounce 
[0.65 : 32.0] ), or alum crystal if there is 
a chronic tendency, 501 

Zinc oxide, 306 

Zinc sulphate solution (gr. 1 to 2 to the 
ounce [0.05-0.1:32.0], alone or with 
boric acid, if there is chronic tendency, 
389, 501 

CONSTIPATION, 505 

Aloes, 61 ; and podophyllin, with other 
drugs useful for temporary use ; pre- 
scription for, 508 

Belladonna, 94 

Bryonia, when intestinal secretions are de- 
ficient, 108 

Cascara sagrada, the best curative agent, 
dose gtt. 10 to 20 (0.05-1.3) of fluid ex- 
tract or drachm 1 (4.0) to 6 (24.0) of 
cordial, 130, 508 

Castor oil ultimately harmful in all cases, 
132, 508 

Colocynth, jalap, or senna, not to be used 
constantlv, 508 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



743 



Compound cathartic pill, sometimes neces- 
sary, 509 

Diet, of extreme importance, 506 

Enemeta, as a routine treatment, harmful, 
509 

Glycerin, suppositories or enemata, often 
'used, 211, 509 

Gymnastic movements, horseback riding 
or massage, with regulated diet, 506 

Hunyadi, Carlsbad, or Friedrichshall wa- 
ters, rarely of value in chronic forms, 508 

Leptaudra, fluid extract of, in intestinal 
atony, 254 

Lobelia, in combination with cascara sa- 
grada, useful in atonic forms, 257 

Magnesium sulphate by the mouth or by 
enema, 260 

Manna, as a laxative fruit for adults, or 
drachms 1 to 2 (4.0-8.0) to bottle of milk, 
for infants, 261, 508 

Mercury, as an habitual purgative harmful, 
508 

Opium in reflex constipation, 509 

Phosphate of sodium, useful in rickety chil- 
dren, 32 to 4 (0.1-0.2) ; or adults, 318, 508 

Pilula cathartica vegetabilis, may be re- 
quired, 509 

Ehubarb, usually harmful ; in some cases 
in children, useful, 336, 508 

Salines, simply to unload bowels, 508 

Seidlitz powder. 351 

Senna, said to be useful in constipation 
of pregnancy, particularly if combined 
with cascara sagrada, 352 

Soap suppositories, useful in children, 354 

Stillingia, recommended when habitual ; 
prescriptions for, 361 

Sulphur, especially valuable if hemorrhoids 
are present, 367 

Tobacco, sometimes used, 509 

CONVULSIONS. 

Allium, as a poultice, over spine or feet in 
infantile spinal or cerebral convulsions, 
59 

Amyl nitrite, 70 

Chloral with bromide, in infants ; also use- 
ful alone in uraemic and puerperal con- 
vulsions, if no acute renal trouble exists, 
103, 137, 138 

Chloroform, 150 

CORNS, 509 

Fowler's solution, locally applied, 86 
Salicvlic acid, the best application, formula 

for, 341, 509 
Silver nitrate solution (gr. 60 to the ounce 

[4.0:32.0]), applied to soft corns every 

four or five days, 510 

CORYZA, 510 

Aconite, useful in early stages, 51 

Allium, as a poultice to breast, or in emul- 
sion or boiled in milk, for children, 59 

Arsenic, taken for months, often cures per- 
sistent colds, 84 

Antipyrin, in 2 to 4 per cent, solution as a 
spray, preceded by a cocaine spray, 78, 
510 

Belladonna in, 94, 510 

Bromides useful in headache, 511 

Camphor, as a snuff, or inhalation of spirit, 



or fumes, when sneezing and lachryma- 
tion are excessive, 117 

Cocaine, a few minims of a 4 per cent, solu- 
tion dropped into nostril, followed by 
lotion (see prescription) with atomizer, 
or cocaine (1 part), morphine (1 part), 
and bismuth (7 parts) as a snuff, 167, 510 

Cubebs, as a snuff during stage of secretion, 
183 

Glycerin, applied alone by brush or spray, 
often of service, 211 

Hamamelis, useful after* acute stage is past, 
215 

Hot mustard foot-bath with hot draught or 
Dover's powder, followed by rest in bed, 
may relieve, 510 

Inhalation of tincture of iodine, 234 

Iodide of potassium, at beginning will often 
abort, 229 

Menthol, very useful, 313 

Prescription for wash, 510 

Quinine, internally, combined with chlo- 
ride of ammonium, useful after secre- 
tion is established, 511 ; also useful as 
a spray, 161 

Sweet spirit of nitre, 510 

Tartar emetic, 74 

COUGH. 

Acacia, as a mucilaginous drink with flax- 
seed and liquorice, to loosen hacking 
cough, 43 

Almond, essential oil of, in emulsion, as a 
demulcent in cough of phthisis, 60 

Belladonna, the best remedy in nervous 
cough, 94 

Cannabis indica, a useful adjunct to cough 
mixtures, 120 

Chloroform, useful, added to cough mix- 
tures for irritant cough, 151 

Codeine, useful in nervous cough, 169 

Flaxseed tea, alone or with paregoric, a 
useful demulcent in excessive cough, 
205 

Gelsemium in nervous cough, 208 

Honey, 218 

Hydrocyanic acid, highly recommended, 
prescription for, 221, 222 

Hyoscyamus in nervous cough, 224 

Hypnal, 225 

Iodine, as a paint over supraclavicular 
spaces, in irritative cough, 232 

Ipecac, in sprav, useful in chronic winter 
cough, 237 * 

Morphine in wild-cherry syrup, useful in 
irritative cough and when cough is 
greater than necessary to expel mucus, 
301 

Paregoric (1 drachm [4.0]) in hot water, 
from which the steam is inhaled, use- 
ful in irritative form of cough, 301 

Sandalwood oil for excessive cough follow- 
ing influenza, 346 

Syrupus pruni Virginianae, as a vehicle for 
cough mixtures, 333 

CRAMPS. 

Belladonna, internally or locally as a lini- 
ment, 94 
Chlorodyne, for stomach cramp, 142 
Ginger, especially useful in menstrual 



744 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



cramp due to cold, 209. (See Dysnienor- I 
rhoea.) 

CRETINISM. 
Thyroid gland very useful, 377 

CROUP (MEMBRANOUS). (See 
Diphtheria.) 

CROUP (SPASMODIC), 511 

Aconite, useful, 51 

Amyl nitrite, inhalations, if paroxysm is 
severe, 70, 511 

Antimonial wine, drachm 1, to cause vom- 
iting if paroxysm is severe, 511 

Belladonna, bromides, chloral, or opium in 
small doses at bedtime, as a preventive, 
511 

Bromides and lactucarium, 511 

Cold cloth around neck, and child placed 
at once in hot bath, air of room being 
moistened by steam, 511 

Menthol, useful, 511 

Prophylactic measures, 511 

Sanguinaria, as an emetic, unfavorable, 346 

CYSTITIS (ACUTE), 512 

Aconite in full dose, with sweet spirit of 
nitre and potassium citrate if there is 
fever; prescription for, 512 

Belladonna, alone or with aconite, espe- 
cially useful if due to cold ; dose gtt. 5 
to 10 (0.3-0.65) thrice daily, 512 

Boric acid, to render urine acid, 100 

Cannabis indica, preferable to opium for 
relieving pain, 120, 512 

Copaiba, 177 

Creolin, as a vesical wash (1 to 2 per cent, 
solution) in cystitis of women, 181 

Flaxseed tea, as a demulcent, 205 

Hot compress over bladder, should not con- 
tain irritants, 512 

Hot sitz-bath and enemata, to relieve bear- 
ing-down pain, 512 

Hygienic measures, 512 

Laudanum, gtt. 30 (2.0), to starch- water 
oz. 2 (64.0), in enema, to relieve bear- 
ing-down pain, 512 

Leeches to perineum or cups to sacrum, 
512 

Opium, belladonna, or iodoform supposi- 
tory, to allay bearing-down pain, 301, 
512 

Quinine, contraindicated, 513 

Salines, in early stage to evacuate bowel, 
513 

Salol, gr. 10 (0.65) thrice daily if inflamma- 
tion becomes purulent, 512 

CYSTITIS (CHRONIC), 513 

Arbutin, gr. 3 to 5 (0.15-0.3), or fluid extract 
of buchu or uva ursi, 1 to 1\ drachms 
(2.0-6.0), to improve vesical mucous 
membrane when inflammation of sub- 
acute type, 383, 513 

Benzoic or boric acid, gr. 5 to 10 (0.3-0.65) 
in pill, to render urine alkaline, 100, 513 

Buchu, 109, 513 

Cantharides, 122 

Creolin solution (1 to 2 per cent.) as a vesi- 
cal douche, 514 

Grindelia, as a vesical stimulant, 212 

Juniper of value, 247 



Mercury, bichloride solution (1 : 10,000), as 
an injection to cleanse bladder, 513 

Myrrh often of service, 280 

Opium suppositories, gr. I to \ (0.016-0.03), 
very useful, 301 

Pareira, 310 

Potassium salts, except bitartrate, to ren- 
der urine alkaline when mucus is ex- 
cessive, 513 

Salol, 513 

Sandalwood oil, 346 

Silver nitrate, solution (gr. 1 to oz. 4 [0.05 : 
128.0] increased gradually to gr. 2 to 
oz. 1 [0.1:32.0]), as an injection when 
discharge is muco-purulent, followed by 
salt solution if pain is severe, 513 

Strychnine and cantharides when vesical 
atony is great, 514 

Turpentine, oil of sandalwood, cubeb, or 
copaiba, useful when vesical atony is 
great, 514 

DEBILITY. 

Arsenic, with bitter tonics, very useful, 84 

Calomel, in debility of children, often re- 
lieves, 271 

Capsicum for gastric atony, 124 

Eupatorium, a good tonic, 203 

Lime salts, 114 

Phosphorus, of service in sexual debility, 
321 

DELIRIUM TREMENS. 

Chloral, of great service used cautiously, 
137 

Croton oil, 182 

Hops, 218 

Hyoscine, in insomnia 224 

Monobromated camphor, when nervous 
twitching is troublesome, 119 

Valerian with morphine, frequently used, 
383 

DIABETES INSIPIDUS, 514 

Arsenic, 85 

Belladonna or opium, if due to nervous 
irritability, 514 

Carbonate or citrate of lithium, gr. 10 (0.65), 
with sodium arsenite, gr. -£$ (0.002), val- 
uable in gouty types, 257 

Ergot, in combination with bromide of 
sodium, 194, 514 

Gallic acid, alone or with opium, one of the 
best remedies, 206, 514 

Opium, 301 

Rhus aromatica, highly recommended, 337 

Strychnine and sulphate of iron, as tonics, 
514 

Suprarenal gland useful in, 369 

DIABETES MELLITUS, 514 

Acidulated water or non-purgative alkaline 
water, to allay thirst, 516 

Almond bread or bran bread, as a food for 
diabetics, 59, 451 

Alum, 63 

Antipyrin, 78, and arsenate of sodium and 
carbonate of lithium when of gouty 
origin, 85 

Carbonate of sodium, by intravenous in- 
jection in diabetic coma, 516 

Chloride of gold and sodium, gr. ^ (0.006), 
recommended, 515 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



745 



Codeine, in ascending doses, beginning gr. 

1 to 5 (0.05-0.25), thrice daily, 169 
Colchicuru and iodides, in gouty types, 515 
Diet, 514 

Ergot, highly recommended, 515 
Ether, hypodermically, to support heart in 

diabetic coma, 516 
Gallic acid, with opium, one of the best 

remedies, 206 
Glycerin or saccharin, as sweetening agents 

to replace sugar, 211, 339, 516 
Iodol, gr. 2 to 6 (0.1-0.3), thrice daily, rec- 
ommended, 237 
Iron, lacto-phosphates of lime and sodium, 

strychnine and astringents, if cachexia 

comes on, 516 
Jambul, gr. 5 to 30 (0.3-2.0), once to thrice 

daily, said to be very useful in some 

cases, 516 
Lime-water, 115 
Lithium carbonate or citrate, with arsenic, 

very useful, if due to gout, 85, 257, 515 
Morphine, very useful in ascending doses, 

515 
Opium, gr. \ to \ (0.016-0.03), thrice daily, 

largely used, 301, 515 
Pancreatin, when the disease is due to a 

lesion of the pancreas. 309 
Purgatives, restricted diet, and exercise, if 

due to high living and sedentary habits, 

515 
Salicylates and iodide of potassium, if due 

to rheumatic or gouty taint, 515 
Transfusion, in diabetic coma, 516 

DIARRHCEA, 517 

Allspice, 59 

Ammonium chloride, gr. 5 (0.3) every four 
hours, best remedy in persistent catar- 
rhal states, 518 

Arsenic, 85 

Belladonna, may be used in serous types, 
93 

Bichloride of mercury, gr. ^ita (0.0003), 
hourlv, if stools be slimv and bloodv, 
269, 520 

Bismuth, with carbolic acid, gtt. 1 or 2 
(0.05-0.1) highly recommended in se- 
rous and summer diarrhoeas, 97, 519 

Cajuput, gtt. 10 to 20 (0.65-13) in serous 
forms, 112 

Calomel, followed by a saline, useful in 
sthenic cases of summer diarrhoea, 519 

Calumba, in summer and serous diarrhoeas, 
prescription for, 115 

Camphor, useful in serous but never in 
mucous types, 117, 518 

Carbolic acid, especially useful as an intes- 
tinal antiseptic, 128, 519 

Castor oil, with laudanum and sodium bi- 
carbonate, to unload bowel and render 
it alkaline, 132, 517 

Catechu, alone or with opium, in serous 
types, prescription for, 133 

Chalk mixture, with kino and -catechu, in 
serous diarrhoeas, prescription for, 112 

Charcoal, useful in acid and fermentative 
types, 130 

Chirata, nitro-muriatic acid, or, better still, 
nitric acid and cardamoms, in mucous 
type, prescription for, 517, 518 



Chlorate of potassium for acute rectal 
catarrh with mucous diarrhoea, 141 

Chlorodvne, largely used in serous types, 
142 

Chloroform, with astringents and opium, 
very useful after removal of irritant 
cause, 151, 518 

Cinnamon, as a stimulant in serous tvpes, 
163 

Cloves, 164 

Copper sulphate, gr. \ (0.016) with opium, 
gr. 1 (0.06) in pill, or in enema, gr. 5 to 
20 to the ounce [0.3-1.3 : 32.0] ), if due 
to ulceration, 179 

Creolin in entero-colitis, 5 : 1000 of water, 
182 

Diet, for summer diarrhoea, 517, 519 

Enteroclysis, when mucous form becomes 
chronic, 518 

Ergot, sometimes useful in serous types, 
193 

Gallic acid, 206 

Geranium, 1 to 2 roots, boiled in pint of 
milk, of great service in infantile tvpes, 
209 

Ginger, a good addition to diarrhoea mix- 
tures, 209 

Guaiacol carbonate, in fermentative forms 
of, 215 

Hsernatoxylon, useful in children, because 
of agreeable taste, 215 

Hope's camphor mixture, in serous and 
choleraic types, 218 

Ipecac, gr. \ to \ (0.016-0.03) thrice daily, 
useful in summer diarrhoea of children, 
238, 620 

Kino, formula for, 248, 518 

Lead acetate, with opium and camphor in 
serous types, prescription for, 252, 517 

Mercury, with chalk or calomel, in hepatic 
disorder, 273, 519 

Morphine, gr. fa to fa (0.0008-O.OC12) hypo- 
dermically, often checks summer diar- 
rhoea in children, 302 

Mustard plaster, or other counter-irritants, 

to abdomen, 517 
I Naphthalin or naphthol, in fetid and sum- 
mer diarrhoeas, 281, 519 

Nitrate of silver and hyoscyamus, or lead 
acetate and opium, in mucous diarrhoea, 
prescription for, 517 

Niti-o-muriatic acid, or podophyllin, gr. fa 
to fa (0.0012-0.0016), in summer diar- 
rhoea, if duodenum is at fault, 289 

Nutmeg, useful in serous types, 291 

Opium, 301, 518 

Pancreatin in lienteric diarrhoea, 309 

Pepsin with hydrochloric acid in summer 
diarrhoea, if gastric digestion is deficient, 
519 

Phosphate of sodium, lime salts, and com- 
mon salt iii summer types, if rickets is 
present, 318, 520 

Podophyllin, 330 

Potassium iodide, gr. 3 to 5 (0.15-0.3), if 
catarrhal state is obstinate, 518 

Precipitated carbonate of calcium, in serous 
diarrhoea, 112 

Kaspberry-leaves, used in domestic medi- 
cine, 338 

Rhubarb, often useful, preceding direct 
treatment in summer diarrhoea, 336 



46 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Salol combined with chalk mixture, 519 

Sulphate of iron in chronic forms, 245 

Sulphocarbolate of zinc, 2 grains (0.1) every 
three hours ; of service in summer diar- 
rhoea, 519 

Sulphocarbolates, 364 

Sulphuric acid, especially valuable in serous 
types, prescription for, 363, 518, 519 

Tannic acid, in atonic or serous types, 
372 

Tar mixture, highly recommended in ob- 
stinate types, formula for, 329 

Thymol, naphthalin, and especially sali- 
cylic acid, useful as intestinal antisep- 
tics, in summer diarrhoea, 519 

Zinc oxide, in summer types, prescription 
for, 307 

Zinc sulphate, 2-grain (0.1) pills, especially 
useful with opium, or podophyllin, gr. 
■£$ (0.001), in serous types, 389 

DIARRHOIA (CHRONIC), 521 

Arsenic, 85 

Bismuthi et ammonii citras, in chronic 
serous types, 97 

Diet, 521 

Iron sulphate, gr. 5 (0.3) in pill, in chronic 
types, 245 

Nitric acid, with a bitter tonic, useful in 
green diarrhoea of children, combined 
with pepsin, 286 

Operative procedures when due to lesions 
of the rectum, 521 

Rockbridge alum water, useful when 
anemia is present, 522 

Silver nitrate in pill form, or in other cases 
rectal injections of this drug, gr. 2 to oz. 
1 (0.1 : 32.0) followed by iodoform sup- 
pository, of greatest benefit, 521 

Sodium bicarbonate, gr. 5 to 20 (0.3-1.3), 
and iodoform suppositories, by their 
combined action, give great relief, 521 

DILATATION (GASTRIC AND INTES- 
TINAL). 
Physostigma with nux vomica, 322 

DIPHTHERIA, 522 

Aconite, in early stages, 51 

Alum, 63 

Antitoxin, of great value ; 5 to 10 cubic 
centimetres should be thrown into the 
connective tissues of the back. A spe- 
cial syringe is used for this purpose, and 
should be perfectly aseptic, 399, 523 

Antistreptococcic serum, 400 

Calomel by sublimation, of great good in 
some cases, 523 

Carbolic acid (1 : 100) in the form of spray 
or gargle, 128 

Chlorate of potassium, contraindicated for 
internal use, because of danger to the 
kidneys. It may be applied upon a 
swab, 141, 523 

Corrosive sublimate, gr. -^ (0.0012), or calo- 
mel, gr. | to \ (0.01-0.015) every hour, 
unless diarrhoea or ptyalism be pro- 
duced, 269, 522 

Ice-bags to the neck, ice in the mouth and 
the tincture of the chloride of iron in- 
ternally, if glandular suppuration 
threatens, 523 



Irrigation of the nasal chambers useful in, 
522 

Lime-water as spray or application very 
useful in, 116 

Loeffler's application (menthol, dr. 2| [10.0], 
dissolved in dr. 9 [36.0] of toluol ; add 
dr. 1 [4.0] of liquor ferri chloridi and 
absolute alcohol, fl. oz. 2 [60.0]), 525 

Milk diet, 522 

Monsel's solution, as a topical application, 
245 

Oxygen inhalations, strychnine, and atro- 
pine if suffocation is imminent. In- 
tubation or tracheotomy may be neces- 
sary, 523 

Peroxide of hydrogen is the best local ap- 
plication. May be applied on a swab or 
as a spray (1 :4), to remove false mem- 
brane, 223, 522 

Potassium permanganate, solution (gr. 20 
to the pint [1.3 : 500.0], applied as a 
swab or gargle, 314 

Salt solution (7 : 1000), as a spray in nasal 
diphtheria, 522 

Tincture of the chloride of iron, 242 

Tonics, such as quinine, strychnine, and 
the chloride of iron, as supportive meas- 
ures, 522 

Turpentine, by inhalation, prescription for, 
523 

DROPSY, 525 

Acupuncture, less favorable than incisions, 
only to be resorted to after other rem- 
edies fail, 391, 529 

Caffeine, in cardiac or renal dropsy, 111 ; 
in torpidity of kidneys, 529 

Calomel and digitalis, in renal and cardiac 
types, 271, 529 

Colocynth, compound extract of, gr. 2 to 6 
(0.1-0.3), 175, 528 

Copaiba, of service in slow renal types, 
177 

Digitalis, gtt. 5 to 10 (0.3-0.65), with' can- 
tharides, gtt. 1 (0.05), thrice daily, in 
renal torpidity due to heart trouble, 
528 

Elaterium, especially useful in renal dropsy, 
191, 527 

Jalap, compound powder of, gr. 20 to 30 
(1.3-2.0), with potassium bitartrate, gr. 
10 (0.65), added, especially serviceable 
in renal dropsy, 246, 527 

Magnesium sulphate, in concentrated solu- 
tion, before breakfast, 260 

Milk diet, very useful, 528 

Paracentesis abdominis, very useful in as- 
cites, 529 

Pilocarpine, useful in localized and renal 
dropsy, contraindicated in cardiac types, 
325, 529 

Potassium iodide, in hepatic cirrhosis and 
localized effusions, to remove liquid, 
529 

Scoparius, infusion, may be used, 351 

Senega, rarely of value, 351 

Squill with digitalis, prescription for, 360, 
528 

Strophanthus in cardiac dropsy, 363 

Sugar of milk, useful as a diuretic, 364, 
528 

Tapping in ascites, the best method, 529 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



747 



DYSENTERY, 517 

Alum, internally, 63 

Arsenic, 85 

Bichloride of mercury, gr. ^j (0.0003), if 
passages are slimy and bloody, 520 

Bichloride of mercury, injections (1 : 5000), 
followed by solution (1 : 30,000) to pre- 
vent toxic effect by absorption, 521 

Boric acid, 3j to Oj (4.0 : 500.0), or sul- 
phocarbolate of zinc, gr. 15 to 1 quart 
(1.0 : 1000.0), very useful as rectal injec- 
tion, 521 

Calomel, in purgative dose, contraindicated 
if weakness exists, 271, 520 

Continuous irrigation with two-way tube, 
of great value, 520 

Copaiba, 177 

Creolin enemata, 182 

Ergot, useful in bloody stools, 193 

Hamamelis, injections, if much blood is 
present, 520 

Ice-water, injections, if due to inflamma- 
tion, used only in strong persons, 520 

Ipecac, best remedy in acute dysentery, 
238, 521 

Lead acetate, with opium and camphor, 
prescription for, 252 

Nitro-hydrochloric acid, if due to defective 
action of secretory glands, 289, 519 

Prescription for enema, 520 

Quinine injections useful in amoebic dysen- 
tery, 161, 521 

Silver nitrate, rectal injections (gr. 10 to 20 
to the pint [0.6-1.3 : 500.0]), if ulcers are 
chronic ; followed by salt solution if 
action is too severe, 283, 520 

Tannic acid (3j [4.0] to water Oj [500.0]), 
in the form of intestinal irrigation, 521 



DYSMENORRHEA, 529 

Amyl nitrite, often relieves, 70 

Antipyrin or acetanilid, in neuralgic at- 
tacks ; in other cases of doubtful value, 
78, 530 

Belladonna, suppository, gr. \ (0.03, of ex- 
tract, or ointment applied to os ; tinc- 
ture, internally, useful to relax spasm, 
94, 530 

Camphor with acetanilid, in pill, useful in 
nervous cases, 117 

Cannabis indica and gelsemium, often of 
service, 121, 530 

Cimicifuga in neuralgic form, 530 

Epsom salts or aloes, if constipation is 
present, 530 

Ether or bromide of ethyl, 531 

Gelsemium in spasmodic forms, 208 

Hot sitz-bath, followed by turpentine stupe, 
and Dover's powder, gr. 10 (0.65), often 
relieves, 530 

Iron, strychnine, and quinine, as tonics, 
with rest and horseback riding for anae- 
mic and run-down patients, 530 

Opium, to relieve spasm and pain, 299, 
530 

Piscida erythrina, extract, in the dose of 
from J to 2 fluidrachms (2.0-8.0), 328 

Potassium bromide, 104 

Water, cold and hot, alternately dashed 
over loins in atonic cases, 530 



DYSPEPSIA. (See Indigestion.) 
Arsenic, useful in atonic types associated 

with chronic diarrhoea, 85 
Bismuth, when due to acid fermentation, 

97 
Bismuth subgallate in fermentative dys- 
pepsia, 99 
Gentian, 208 
Hydrastis, as an antiseptic and curative 

agent in chronic types, 219 
Hydrochloric acid, if gastric secretion is 

deficient, 220 
Lavage in fermentative dyspepsia, 431, 596 
Nitric acid with bitter tonics often relieves 

intestinal types, 286 
Permanganate of potassium, 314 
Quassia, useful, if not due to gastritis, 334 
Serpentaria, as a tonic in atonic types, 353 
Strontium bromide, in painful dyspepsia, 

362 
Terebene, useful as an antiseptic in fer- 
mentative dyspepsia, 373 

DYSPNCEA, 531 

Ammonium carbonate, as a respiratory and 
cardiac stimulant, 531 

Arsenic, continuously employed, useful in 
emphysema and chronic pulmonary in- 
flammation, 531 

Dry cupping over back, when due to car- 
diac or pulmonary trouble, 531 

Hyoscine, contraindicated, 531 

Morphine, gr. \ to \ (0.008-0.016), night and 
morning, often cures when due to ner- 
vous or cardiac disorders, 302, 531 

Opium, if due to nervous disorders, 531 

Strychnine, in idiopathic types and when 
due to bronchorrhoea in old people, 295, 
531 

Thoracentesis if there is pleural effusion, 
532 

EAR (DISEASES OF). 

Bismuth subgallate useful in purulent 
otitis media, 99 

Glycerin, useful to soften impacted ceru- 
men, 211 

Potassium permanganate, solution, useful 
in purulent otitis media, 314 

EARACHE, 532 

Cardiac sedatives, 532 

Chloroform, on swab, behind and in front 
of ear in otalgia, 533 

Cocaine, gtt. 1 to 3 (0.5-0.15), dropped into 
nostril, followed by spray if mucous 
membrane is engorged, 532 

Heat, drv, applied to head on affected side, 
532 ' 

Inflation of Eustachian tube with Politzer's 
air-bag, 532 

Irrigation with normal salt solution hot as 
can be borne, gives great relief, 532 

Leeching behind ear, to relieve pain, 532 

Menthol and albolene spray, following co- 
caine, 532 

Poultices, oil, and laudanum, contraindi- 
cated, 532 

Puncture of tympanum, if it bulge, fol- 
lowed by careful cleansing and insuffla- 
tion of boric acid, 533 



748 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Tincture of belladonna and of opium | 
dropped into the ear, 532 

ECLAMPSIA, 651 

Amyl nitrite, dangerous, 70 

Chloral and bromide, each 1 drachm (4.0), 

by rectum, before applying hot pack, 

653 
Chloroform, pushed rapidly as possible, at 

onset of attack, 653 
Elaterium, gr. \ (0.016), rubbed up with 

butter, or compound jalap powder and 

calomel, may be substituted for croton 

oil, 652 
Ether, as an anaesthetic, contraindicated, 

653 
Extraction of child rapidly as possible, if 

attack comes on during labor, 653 
Ice-bag to head while in warm pack, 652 
Morphine, veratrum viride, and amyl ni- 
trite, may be held in reserve, to be used 

if necessary, 653 
Pilocarpine, contraindicated, 652 
Venesection, hot wet pack, and croton oil, 

gtt. 2 (0.1), with sweet oil on tongue, to 

eliminate poison, 652 
Veratrum viride in full doses, 386 

ECZEMA, 533 

Ammoniated mercury in chronic dry form, 
268 

Arsenic, only when skin is very dry, 85, 
535 

Bismuth subgallate in weeping eczema, 99 

Black wash of value in, 270 

Calamine in moist eczema, 388 

Cantharis, internally in small doses, 123 

Carbolic-acid ointment (minims 10 [0.65] to 
cerate 1 ounce [32.0]), to prevent itch- 
ing, 129 

Dermatol in weeping eczema, 99 

Green soap, 354, 534 

Hygienic measures and diet, 533 

Ichthyol ointment, highly recommended, 
226 

Internal treatment, 535 

Iron, syrup of iodide, in young children 
with ansemia and debility, 244 

Kaolin as a dusting-powder, 248 

Lead, dilute solution of subacetate, a useful 
lotion, 254 

Liquor carbonis detergens, in acute cases, 
534 

McCall Anderson's ointment, 534 

Methyl blue in eczema of the eyelids, 276 

Ointments, prescriptions for, 306, 335, 534 

Poultices, or olive oil with carbolic acid 
(gtt. 1 to 2 to the ounce [0.05-0.1 : 32.0]), 
followed by soap and water, necessary 
in some cases to soften scales, before use 
of ointment, 534 

Prescription of iodol, as an ointment, about 
nose and lip, 237 

Eesorcin ointment. (gr..2 to 30 to the ounce 
[0.1-2.0:32.0]), locally applied in sub- 
acute types; in chronic form ointment 
(gr. 2 to 10 to the ounce [0.1-0.65 : 32.0] ), 
335, 534; solution gr. x-xv (0.6-1.0) to 
f^j (32.0) in itching of erythematous 
form, 335 

Salicylic acid ointment (gr. 30 to 60 [2.0- 



4.0] to lard 1 ounce [32.0] ), in chronic or 
weeping types, 342, 534 
Starch poultice, in crusty eczema, 360 
Tar ointment, in chronic forms, 329, 534 
Thiol, as a dusting-powder, preceded, by an 
antiseptic wash, especially suited to 
moist eczema, 375 
Unna's dressing, 306 
Zinc carbonate, as a protective powder in 

weeping eczema, 388 
Zinc oxide, as a dusting-powder or oint- 
ment in early stages, applied directly 
or on lint, generally preceded by black 
wash, 533 

EMISSIONS, 535 
Bromide of sodium or potassium, gr. 20 

(1.3), at bedtime, valuable in spinal irri- 

tabilitv, 103, 536 
Chloral, gr. 20 (1.3), at bedtime, 536 
Cold sponging of perineum and scrotum, 536 
Hygienic measures, 536 
Hyoscine, gr. T ^ (0.0006, of great value, 

225, 536 
Monobromated camphor very useful in 

spermatorrhoea, 119 
Potassium citrate, gr. 20 (1.3), thrice daily, 

to render urine non-irritating, 536 
Strychnine and arsenic, in full dose, of 

great service in genital atony, 536 
Warm bath before retiring, often useful, 

536 

EMPHYSEMA OF LUNGS. 

Cod-liver oil, useful, 170 

Ethyl iodide, 201 

Euphorbia pilulifera, | to 1 drachm (2.0- 

4.0) of the fluid extract, 203 
Iodide of potassium, 229 
Physostigma. aids in expelling mucus, 322 
Strychnine, 295 

EMPYEMA. 

Iodine, gr. 6 (0.4) ; potassium iodide, gr. 6 
(0.4) ; water, 1 pint (500.0), as an irri- 
gating fluid, used daily, 233 

ENDOCARDITIS, 536 

Aconite, tincture of, gtt. 2 to 3 (0.1-0.15), 

hourly, in early stage of acute sthenic 

types, 537 
Antirheumatics, antilithics, or iodides, if 

due to diathetic taint, 536 
Antistreptococcic serum in ulcerative endo- 
carditis, 401 
Calomel, gr. I (0.016), with morphine, gr. 

fo (0.006), every two hours, in early 

stages, 268, 537 
Digitalis, to strengthen heart in later 

stages, 537 
Ice-bag over prsecordium, 537 
Iron, tincture of chloride, associated with 

supportive treatment, in purulent types, 

537 
Leeches or wet cups, in early stages, to 

abort, 537 
Lithium citrate or acetate, or citrate of 

potassium, to prevent calcareous deposit 

in valves, 537 
Mercury, in full dose, sthenic cases, 268 
Veratrum viride, used for same purposes as 

aconite, 537 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



749 



ENTERITIS. (See Dysentery and Diar- 

RHCEA.) 

EPIDIDYMITIS, 567 

Guaiacol used locally highly recommended, 
214 

Heat, moisture, and pressure, in later 
stages, to relieve induration, 568 

Horand-Lauglebert's dressing, 56b 

Ice-bags, 568 

Iodide of potassium, gr. 10 to 20 (0.65-1.3), 
thrice daily, to remove induration, 568 

Iodine, painted over scrotum, said to be 
beneficial, 568 

Mercury and belladonna ointments, equal 
parts, or iodine, gr. 4 (0.25), with lano- 
lin, ounce 1 (32.0), locally applied, to 
relieve induration, 568 

Punctures, useful to relieve tension and 
alleviate pain, 568 

Best in bed, elevation of pelvis and testi- 
cles, cessation of local gonorrhoeal treat- 
ment and administering treatment for 
acute inflammation, 568 

Silver nitrate, solution, painted over scro- 
tum, in early stage, may relieve, 284, 
568 

Strapping and suspending testicle, to re- 
duce inflammation, 568 

EPILEPSY, 537 

Acetanilid, 46, 544 

Adonis vernalis with bromides have been 
found useful, 52, 541 

Ammonium or sodium nitrite, used to sup- 
plement amyl nitrite, 543 

Amyl nitrite, inhalations, when aura is 
perceived and also in status epilepticus 
to relax spasm, 70, 542, 543 

Anaesthetics contraindicated in all cases 
except status epilepticus, when chloro- 
form may be used to control attack, 
543 

Antifebrin and antipyrin especially useful 
in some cases, 78, 544 

Belladonna, with bromides, recommended, 
541 

Bleeding for the status epilepticus, 543 

Borax may be used, 100, 544 

Bromate of potassium, 541 

Bromide of ammonium, should be used 
with other drugs, 67, 541 
of calcium, 106 
of gold, 106 

of iron, when anaemia is present, 540 
of lithium, highly recommended in 

some cases, 106, 540 
of nickel, 540 

of potassium, the most reliable, in as- 
cending dose, 103, 538 
of sodium, not so apt to disorder stom- 
ach, 540 

Cannabis indica, 542 

Chloral, alone or with bromides, well di- 
luted, after meals, used with care, 137, 
544 

Diet, 545 

Digitalis, with bromides, useful in some 
cases, 541 

Duboisine, especially in psychic forms, 191 

Hydrobromic acid, liable to derange diges- 
tion, 541 



Iodide of potassium, useless except in 
syphilitics, 543 

Mercury, associated with potassium iodide, 
when due to gumma, 544 

Mixed treatment, 541 

Monobromated camphor, 119 

Xitro-glycerin, useful in some cases of 
petit mal, 287, 542 

Opium with gelsemium, only to be used 
when other remedies fail ; also a pro- 
longed course of, in ascending doses, 
useful in old cases, 541 

Potassium nitrite, 286 

Quassia injections, when due to worms; 
if not obtainable, sodium chloride solu- 
tion may be used, 545 

Silver, nitrate, may be tried when other 
remedies fail, 283, 542 

Solatium carolinense, fluid extract of, 2 to 
15 minims (0.1-1.0), thrice daily, in 
the epilepsy of childhood, 357, 544 

Strontium bromide, 362 

Tartar emetic ointment, as a counter-irri- 
tant at back of neck, 74 

EPISTAXIS, 545 

| Acetanilid, used locally, has been recom- 
mended, 47 

Acetic acid, locally applied, to arrest, 48 

Aconite or veratrum viride, tincture, gtt. 2 
to 4 (0.1-0.2), in sthenic cases, followed 
in thirty minutes by smaller doses, if 
necessary, 52, 545 

Alum powder, pure or half-and-half with 
starch, as a snuff, 545 

Bacon fat inserted as a plug in nostril, may 
arrest, 545 

Compression of facial artery may be neces- 
sary, 546 
| Ergot, turpentine, hamamelis, or oil of 
erigeron, internally, in slow oozing, 
193, 546 

Hot foot-bath, or hot- or cold-water bags 
applied to dorsal vertebrae, may arrest, 
546 

Ice applied to nose, may arrest, 546 

Ipecac, in nauseating doses, recommended, 
545 

Monsel's solution, in spray (gtt. 30 to 4 
ounces [2.0:128.0]), only to be tried 
when other remedies fail ; very dis- 
agreeable, 545 

Oil of erigeron, 194, 546 

Plugging anterior and posterior nares, if 
necessary, with cotton or lint soaked in 
vinegar, 546 

Tannic acid, in powder or solution, snuffed 
up nostril, 546 

Vinegar or lemon-juice injected into nos- 
tril, 546 

EPITHELIOMA. 

Acid nitrate of mercury, applied to part 

with glass rod, 274 
Arsenous acid and gum acacia (of each 1 

ounce [32.0] to water 5 fluidrachms 

[20.0]), locally applied, 86 
Resorcin, in epithelioma of the face, 335 

ERYSIPELAS, 546 
Alcoholic stimulants if patient passes into 
typhoid state, 547 



750 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Antipyrin, to control fever, 547 

Antistreptococcic serum, 400 

Bitters and iron, during convalescence, as 
tonics, 547 

Boric acid, as a lotion, 99 

Cold bathing to control excessive fever, 547 

Ichtkyol ointment and vaseline, half-and- 
half, locally applied, preceded by wash- 
ing with castile soap, followed by bi- 
chloride solution (1 : 1000), 226, 547 

Iodine, tincture, painted around inflamed 
edges, to arrest, 233 

Iron, tincture of chloride, gtt. 20 to 40 
(1.3-2.6), thrice daily, best internal 
treatment, 242, 547 

Pilocarpine, gr. f to h (0.008-0.01), hypo- 
dermically, contraindicated in debility ; 
also injected around borders of inflam- 
mation in some cases, to arrest, 326, 547 

Silver nitrate, solution (gr. 80 to the i 
ounce [5.0:16.0]), applied twice or 
thrice, to arrest, 284, 547 

Veratrum viride or aconite, in early stages 
of sthenic cases, 546 

White-lead paint, locally applied, when 
ichthyol is not at hand, 547 

EXHAUSTION AND DEPRESSION, 547 

Stimulants, 548 

EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 

Belladonna relieves some cases, 93, 94 
Sparteine, 350 

FAINTING. 

Alcohol, 54 

FEET (SWOLLEN, TENDER, OR SWEAT- 
ING), 548 

Arsenic, gr. ^to ? V (0.001-0.0015), in swell- 
ing of old persons, 548 

Borax, stockings soaked in saturated solu- 
tion and dried, each day, when sweat- 
ing is excessive, 548 

Carbonate of calcium, precipitated, locally 
applied to sweating feet, 113 

Cotton instead of woollen stockings may 
aid cure, 549 

Hamamelis, distilled or fluid extract, 
drachm £ to 1 (2.0-4.0) of former, or 
gtt. 10 to 20 (0.65-1.3) of latter, 548 

Lead plaster and linseed oil, equal parts, 
applied on linen to feet, every third 
day, for sweating, 254 

Prescription for dusting-powder, 548 

Best, absolute, of feet, may be necessary in 
swollen feet, 548 

Salicylic acid and borax, equal parts, in 
water and glycerin, best application to 
sweating and tender feet, 548 

FELON. 

Bread-crumbs saturated with liquor plumbi 
subacetatis, as a poultice, to abort, 254 

Silver nitrate, solution, applied early, to 
abort, 284 

FEVER, 549 

Acetanilid, 45, 550 

Aconite, the best depressant for sthenic 
types in children, 51 



Alcohol, as a systemic support and stimu- 
lant in low fevers, 54, 55 

Ammonia for sudden cardiac failure in, 
65 

Antimonial powder as an antipyretic, 75 

Antipyretics, useful in most sthenic fevers, 
often fail in thermic fever, 551 

Antipyrin, 77, 550 

Brand's method, 410 

Camphor a diffusible stimulant in adynamic 
fevers, 117 

Coca a supportive and stimulant in low 
fevers, 168 

Cold applications and baths, 549, 550, 551 

Cold packs and baths, in asthenic types to 
be relied on first; if impracticable, then 
antipyretics, 551 

Digitalis, in small doses, valuable in ex- 
hausting fevers, 188 

Guaiacol, useful in, 214 

Hvdrochloric acid an adjuvant to digestion, 
'220 

Musk, by rectal injections, valuable in low 
stages, 279 

Neutral mixture, useful, as a febrifuge, es- 
pecially in children, 332 

Phenacetin, 316 

FIBROIDS. 

Ergot, used as an expulsive and curative 
remedy, 193 

FLATULENCE. 

Aromatic powder, 163 

Asafcetida, 88 

Camphor, 177 

Capsicum, prevents formation of gas, 124 

Charcoal 129 

Chloroform, gtt. 1 to 2 (0.05-0.1), or spirit, 

gtt. 10 to 20 (0.65-1.3), will relieve, 151 
Cloves, a useful tonic and stimulant, 164 
Ginger, 209 
Hoffmann's anodyne, the best carminative, 

216 
Ipecac, 238 
Pepper, 311 
Peppermint, 312 
Podophyllin with euonymin, leptandra, 

chirata, and creosote, 330 
Potassium permanganate, 314 
Turpentine, prescriptions for, 381 

FRECKLES AND CHLOASMA, 552 

Almonds, emulsion of, supposed to be of 
value, 60 

Boric acid, saturated solution, applied same 
as corrosive sublimate wash, 100, 552 

Corrosive sublimate (gr. 1 to 4 to the ounce 
[0.05-0.25 : 32.0] ), applied night and 
morning until irritation appears, then 
stop for some days and again renew, 
552 

Lactic acid (gr. 10 to the drachm [0.65: 
4.0]), applied same as corrosive subli- 
mate, 552 

Prescription for chloasma of pregnancy, 
306 

Prescriptions for, 552 

FURUNCLES. (See Boils.) 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



751 



GALACTORRHCEA, 650 

Antipyrin, gr. 2h (0.125), thrice daily, said 
to decrease secretion, 651 

Caustic, introduced into uterus, successful 
in some cases by inducing menstrual 
flow, 650 

Chloral should be tried, 651 

Compression of gland with applications of 
belladonna ointment and potassium 
iodide internally, usually relieves, 650 

Diet. 651 

Electricity, generally ineffective, 650 

Ergot, long continued, highly recom- 
mended, 650 

Malt, wine-glassful at midday and evening 
meals, useful addition to diet ; pyro- 
phosphate of iron, gr. 4 (0.3), in addi- 
tion, if anaemia is present, 651 

Warm douches, 650 

GANGRENE. 

Bromine, as an escharotic in hospital gan- 
grene, 107 

Carbolic acid or creosote, spray (gtt. 5 to 10 
to the ounce [0.3-0.65 : 32.0] ), useful in 
pulmonary gangrene, 128 

Nitric acid, to destroy tissue, 285 

GA3TRALGIA, 552 

Acetanilid, 46 

Alum, 63 

Arsenic with iron, the most reliable rem- 
edy, prescription for, 553 

Bismuth and pepsin, 1 to H hours after 
meals, to prevent pain, 97, 553 

Bromide of strontium, a valuable remedy, 
553 

Bromides or valerian, alternated with other 
treatment if case is neurotic, 553 

Cannabis indica, prescription for, 121 

Cod-liver oil in emulsion with hypophos- 
phites, occasionally better than arsenic 
and iron, 553 

Counter-irritation and a vigorous revulsive, 
especially useful in hysteria, 553 

Cyanide of potassium, dilute hydrocyanic 
acid or chloroform as a substitute for 
bismuth, if it favors constipation, 553 

Diet and hygiene, 553 

Emesis and. purgation, when due to indi- 
gestible food, 553 

Hot applications, stimulating infusions, 
chloroform, hot brandy or whiskey or 
laudanum, gtt. 30 (2.0) to 60 (4.0), dur- 
ing acute stage, 552 

Hydrocyanic acid, useful in nervous types, 
221 

Massage, enemata, diet, or suppositories of 
gluten, glycerin, or soap, to overcome 
constipation, 553 

Menthol, 313 

Nitro-glycerin, 287 

Potassium nitrite, gr. 4 to 5 (0.25-0.3), 286 

Salicylic acid, used in paroxysmal forms, 342 

GASTRIC CATARRH (ACUTE), 554 

Ammonium muriate, useful in subacute 

forms in children, prescription for, 68 
Diet, principal point in treatment, 554 
Effervescing draughts, useful in convales- 
cence, 554 



Emetic, mild, to dislodge fermenting mass, 

if present, 554 
Flannel to protect abdomen, 555 
Ice, to quench thirst, if anorexia is great, 

554 
Iron, if ansemia exists, 555 
Milk, with large percentage of lime-water, 

554 
Pepsin and hydrochloric acid, 555 
Salicylic acid, valuable in vomiting, 342 
Salt, in moderation, in food, 555 
Seidlitz powder, one fourth of one powder 

every fifteen minutes, to settle stomach 

and remove fermenting mucus, 554 
Sodium bicarbonate with gentian, useful, 

554 
Spice poultice to relieve epigastric distress, 

555 
Tartar emetic, given early, in acute attack 

of children, may abort, 74 

GASTRIC CATARRH (CHRONIC), 555 

Apomorphine, as an emetic, to throw off 

mucus, 81 
Arsenic for the vomiting, in hand-fed 

babies, 85 
Bicarbonate of sodium for hyperacidity, 555 
Bismuth subnitrate, added to prescription, 

if hyperacidity exists, 555 
Carlsbad salt, Saratoga- Carlsbad water, or 

Seidlitz powder of great benefit, 555 
Cascara sagrada, if constipation exists, 555 
Charcoal, prescription for, 129 
Diet, such as koumyss, light broths, and 

matzoon, 555 
Hydrochloric acid, if due to atrophy of the 

gastric tubules, 220, 555 
Lavage almost always to be used, 555 
Silver nitrate and hyoscyamus, with coun- 
ter-irritation and regulated diet, 224, 

283, 555 

GASTRIC DILATATION, 556 

Cod-liver oil, by stomach or inunction, if 
due to rachitis, 556 

Diet, 556 

Enemas, nutrient, often useful, especially 
in older children, 557 

Faradization of gastric walls recently in- 
troduced, 557 

Gentian and calumba, useful as tonics, 557 

Iodide of iron, syrup of, lacto-phosphates 
of lime, or phosphate of sodium, in stru- 
mous diathesis, 556 

Lavage. 556 

Physostigma, tincture, gtt. 5 to 10 (0.3-0.65),. 
or extract, gr. h to \ (0.008-0.016), to im- 
prove muscular coats, 556 

GASTRIC ULCER, 557 

Arsenic, 85 

Bismuth and sodium bicarbonate, as an as- 
tringent and sedative, and to these may 
be added morphine or codeine for pain, 
97, 558 

Carlsbad salts, magnesium sulphate, or so- 
dium phosphate, for relief of constipa- 
tion, 559 

Cocaine, gr. \ (0.016), alone or combined 
with bismuth, to control vomiting, 559 

Cold compresses or an ice-bag applied to 
epigastrium in hsematemesis, 559 



752 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Counter-irritation, continuous, over belly, 
to relieve pain, 558 

Creosote or carbolic acid, for vomiting, 559 

Diet and hygiene, 558 

Massage and electricity, 558 

Monsel's solution, cold compresses, or tur- 
pentine, may be given to check hemat- 
emesis, 559 

Morphine for pain or collapse following 
perforation, 558, 559 

Eectal alimentation, of great service, 559 

Eesorcin useful in some cases, 335 

Eest for the patient and rest for the stom- 
ach essential, 557 

Silver nitrate with hyoscyamus in pill, 
half to one hour before meals, 558 

Spice plaster, useful as a continuous coun- 
ter-irritant, 558 

Stimulants, cardiac, guardedly adminis- 
tered, external heat and rubbing, in 
collapse following hemorrhage or per- 
foration, 559 

GASTRITIS (ACUTE), 559 

Belladonna or atropine, internally, and 
flaxseed poultice over epigastrium and 
chest, if collapse threatens, 559 

Bismuth, as an astringent and sedative, 97 

Flaxseed tea, a useful demulcent, 205 

Mucilaginous drinks and albuminous sub- 
stances freely given, 559 

Oils, to prevent spread of inflammation, 
559 

Opium, in fluid form, to relieve pain and 
irritation, 559 

Paregoric contraindicated, 559 

Warm water, internally, or stomach-pump, 
to unload stomach at onset, 559 

GASTROENTERITIS, 560 

Castor oil or magnesium sulphate, to sweep 
out poison, 560 

Morphine, Irypodermically, to allay pain, 
followed or preceded by mild, rapidly 
acting emetic, if irritating substance re- 
mains, 560 

Opium, with hot applications or plasters to 
belly, to control irritation and diar- 
rhoea, 560 

Predigested foods, 560 

GASTRO-INTESTINAL CATARRH. 

Carlsbad, Vichy, or other alkaline mineral 
water of purgative powers, often useful, 
436 

Diet for seven-year-old child, 448 

Garlic, as a poultice to belly almost equal 
to spice poultice, 59 

Gentian with bicarbonate of sodium useful 
in children, 208 

Hvdrastis, especially useful if due to alco- 
holism, 219 

Salicylate of bismuth in the presence of 
fermentation or putrefaction, 98 

Sanguinaria, of service if jaundice is pres- 
ent, 346 

Sodium bicarbonate, 10 to 20 grains, 356 

Tar, in 2-gr. (0.1) pills, 329 

GIDDINESS. 

Cod-liver oil with quinine, valuable in old 

age, 170 
Ergot and bromides useful, 193 



GLANDS (DISEASED). 

Ammoniac plaster, as a stimulant to en- 
larged glands, 66 

Ammonium iodide and glycerin (gr. 30 to 
the ounce [2.0 : 32.0]), locally applied to 
enlarged tonsils, 69 

Carbolic acid (2 per cent, solution), injected 
into glands threatening suppuration, 128 

Cod-liver oil, in lympbatic enlargements, 
170 

Ichthyol ointment, valuable as an inunc- 
tion in lymphatic enlargements, 226 

Iodine, the best remedy for enlargements, 
232 

Mercury ointment as an inunction in en- 
larged glands, 274 

Potassium iodide for enlargements of the 
cervical glands, 229 

GLAUCOMA, 560 

Atropine, contraindicated, 561 

Eserine (gr. 1 to 2 to tbe ounce [0.05-0.1 : 
32.0]), or pilocarpine nitrate (gr. 2 to 4 
to the ounce [0.1-0.2:32.0]), dropped 
into eye if operation is delayed, 323, 561 

Hot compresses, leeches, and opiates to re- 
lieve pain, 561 

Iridectomy, the only curative treatment, 
561 

Pilocarpine in, 325, 561 

GLEET. 

Bichloride of mercury, injection (gr. \ to 
water ounces 6 [0.025 : 192.0]), every 
three or four hours, 270 

Cantharidal collodion, applied to under 
surface of penis, or perineum, 413 

Cantharidal, 123 

Sandalwood oil, 345 

Turpentine, internally, 382 

Uva ursi, 383 

GOITRE. (See Beonchocele.) 

GONORRHOEA (ACUTE), 561 

Aconite, gtt. 2 (0.1), every two or three 

hours, if inflammation is high, 563 
Almond emulsion, diminishes burning on 

urination, 60 
Benzoic acid, with cannabis indica, useful 

in later stages, 96 
Bicarbonate of sodium or potassium citrate, 

gr. 10 (0.65), after meals, increasing, if 

necessary ; relieves ardor urinse, 563 
Cannabis indica, often used in later stages 

instead of copaiba and cubebs, 121 
Carbolic acid injection, 565 
Cinnamon oil, by injection or spray, 163 
Cocaine, solution (4 per cent.), instilled into 

urethra before urination, diminishes 

ardor urinse, 563 
Copaiba and cubebs, useful, 177, 183, 563 
Diet and hygiene, 564 
Erigeron oil, occasionally 'used instead of 

copaiba and cubebs, 194 
Eucalyptus, valuable in subacute stages, 

202 
Hot sitz-bath, prolonged, and hot-water in- 
jections, useful in females, 569 
Hvdrastis, one of the best remedies, locally 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



753 



and internally in later stages ; also as a 
vaginal wash for females, 219 

Lead acetate, injection, gr. 1 to 8 to the 
ounce, (0.05-0.6:32.0), 252 

Lead-water and laudanum, or alcohol and 
water, applied on a cloth to penis, dur- 
ing inflammation, 562 

Mercury bichloride (1 : 20,000 or 1 : 40,000), 
in large quantities to flush urethra ; in 
females, 2 pints of solution (1:4000), 
thrice daily, to irrigate vagina, 561, 569 

Opium or belladonna, hypodermically or in 
suppository, to control pain in posterior 
urethritis, at same time discontinuing 
active treatment, and observing strict 
hygiene and diet, 564 

Prescription for administration of balsams, 
563 

Prescriptions for checking the discharge, 
562; for injection for posterior ure- 
thritis, 564 

■Quercus alba, injections, useful in females, 
334 

Salol, 563 

Sandalwood oil, 563 

Silver nitrate, injections (gr. £ to 3 ounces 
[0.025 : 90.0]), useful in subacute stage; 
in females, gr. 4 to 60 to the ounce 
(0.2-4.0 : 32.0), painted over vagina, fol- 
lowed by astringent cotton tampon, 284, 
562 

Urinating with penis in hot water, to re- 
lieve ardor urinse, 563 

Warm baths, lasting one-half to two hours, 
useful in early stage, 564 

Zinc acetate, injection, gr. 1 to 20 to ounce 
(0.05-1.3 : 30.0) of rose-water, 388 

Zinc chloride, injection, gr. 1-2 to the 
ounce (0.05-0.1 : 32), occasionally used 
in second stage, 389 

Zinc sozoiodol, 2 per cent, solution, 358 

Zinc sulphate, weak solution, as an astrin- 
gent, 389, 562 

GONORRHEA (CHRONIC), 565 

Bichloride of mercury useful in, 270 

Copper sulphate or silver nitrate, solution 
as an application, after dilatation, to 
focus of inflammation, 565 

Dilatation, if stricture exists, 565 

Prescriptions for, 565, 566 

Pressure and use of cold, often valuable, 566 

Sandalwood oil, to stimulate depraved mu- 
cous membrane, 345 

Silver nitrate, solution, if discharge per- 
sists after dilatation ; also in posterior 
urethritis, 565 

Unna's treatment with coated sounds, pre- 
scription for, 565 

Uva ursi, 383 

GOUT, 569 

Antipyrin, said to have a specific effect, 78 

Chloral, in insomnia, 571 

Chloroform liniment, applied over affected 
part, 151 

Cod-liver oil, 170, 571 

Colchicum, wine of the root, gtt. 20 (1.3), 
increasing by gtt. 1 (0.05) every four 
hours, until symptoms are relieved or 
appear toxic, in acute types, 173, 570 
4S 



Collodion, not more than one or two coats ; 
also useful with iodine, 174, 570 

Colocynth with hyoscyamus, to unload the 
bowels, prescription for, 175 

Diet, 570 

Fowler's solution, gtt. 3 (0.15) in water, a 
standard remedy in subacute and chronic 
types, 571 

Gentian, 208 

Hot air, valuable, 413 

Iodide of iron, syrup of, and cod-liver oil 
if anaemia is present, 571 

Iodide of potassium, to relieve night pains ; 
also with colchicum, in chronic gout, 
570 

Iodine, ointment or tincture, locally ap- 
pliedto chronic gouty joints, 571 

Leeches or venesection, contraindicated, 
570 

Lithium carbonate or citrate (gr. 5 to 10 
to the ounce [0.3-0.65 : 32.0]), locally ap- 
plied to dissolve deposit around joints, 
256, 571 . 

Morphine, hypodermically, to relieve acute 
pain, 570 

Peppermint oil, locally applied, 570 

Potassium bromide, the best remedy for in- 
somnia, 571 

Potassium permanganate, 314 

Salicvlates in large dose may be useful in, 
341 

Sodium bicarbonate and linseed oil (1 : 9), 
locally applied to joints, 570 

Stimulants, ether hypodermically, opium 
except in brain or kidney disturbances; 
diuretic and alkaline drinks and coun- 
ter-irritation, in retrocedent gout, 571 

Water, distilled or medicinal, in large 
amounts, 569 

GRANULAR LIDS. (See Conjunctivitis, 
Granular.) 

GRAVES'S DISEASE. (See Exophthal- 
mic Goitre.) 

GRIPING. 

Allspice or ginger, to prevent griping of 
purgatives, 59, 209 

GROWTHS (PATHOLOGICAL). 

Acid nitrate of mercury, 274 

Caustic potash, or soda, occasionally used to 

destroy, 134 
Chromic acid, as a caustic, to destroy 

growths on skin or mucous membranes, 

154 
Injections of tincture of iodine in ovarian 

tumors, 233 
Lime as an escharotic on hairy growths, 115 
Methylene blue, 277 
Nitric acid, 285 
Pyoktanin, 277 
Sodium ethylate to remove hairy growths, 

356 
Thiosinamine has been used with some 

success in malignant growths, 375 

GUMS (DISEASES OP). 

Burnt alum, useful applied to swollen 
gums, 63 



754 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Catechu, as a mouth-wash, for spongy gums, 
133 

Cocaine, locally applied, in soreness and 
tenderness of gums, 166 

Iodine, solution (gr. 1 to the ounce [0.05 : 
32.0], locally applied, followed hy rins- 
ing mouth, when gums are retracted, 
233 

Myrrh, tincture, locally applied, to spongy 
or tender gums, 280 

HAY FEVER. 

Arsenic, 85 

Cocaine, with bismuth and morphine, as a 

snuff, 167 
Eesorcin, solution, 2 per cent., in spray, 335 
Terpine hydrate, in full dose, 374 

HEADACHE, 571. 

Acetanilid, 46 

Belladonna, valuable in young people, 95 

Bleeding, 572 

Caffeine, with antipyrin or sodium bro- 
mide, in nervous headache, 111, 572 

Camphor, with acetanilid or antipyrin, in 
nervous headache, 117 

Cannabis indica, when at menopause or due 
to retinal asthenopia, 120 

Capsicum plaster to nape of neck, 125 

Cimicifuga, if due to eye-strain, 156 

Colchicum, in gouty headache, 573 

Croton chloral, if due to eye-strain or asso- 
ciated with sick stomach, 182 

Cup, to nape of neck, in congestion, 572 

Ergot, if due to congestion, 193, 572 

Eucalyptus, if headache be rheumatic or 
malarial, 202 

Gelsemium, if due to nervous troubles or 
eye-strain, 208 

Horseback exercise and sleep very useful 
in obtaining relief from nervous head- 
ache, 572 

Hydrobromic acid, if due to eye-strain in 
nervous women, 107 

Ice-bag, applied to head, or leeches behind 
ears, in severe cases, 572 

Kola, very useful in elixir or tincture for 
sick and neuralgic headaches, 249 

Liquor magnesii citratis, in sick headache, 
259 

Magnesium carbonate, gr. 5 to 60 (0.3-4.0), 
in sick headache due to gastric acidity, 
259 

Mustard foot-bath and plaster to nape of 
neck, in congestion, 279, 572 

Nux vomica, gtt. 1 (0.05) every five or ten 
minutes till 10 drops (0.65) are taken, 
in sick headache, 295 

Phenacetin, if due to eye-strain or neural- 
gia, 316 

Potassium bromide, 103 

Prescriptions for, 572, 573 

Salicylic acid or iodide or acetate of potas- 
sium, if due to gout, 572 

Sodium bicarbonate, as an antacid in sick 
headache, 356 

Strychnine or nux vomica, in sick head- 
aches or if due to eye-strain, 295, 572 

HEART DISEASE, 573 

Aconite or veratrum viride, often useful in 
palpitation and hypertrophy, 51, 577, 

578 



Adonidin, often of service when digitalis 
fails, 52, 576 

Ammonia and ether, followed by digitalis 
and alcohol, in heart failure, 65, 577 

Amyl nitrite, in single whiffs, often relieves 
cardiac failure, 70 

Barium chloride, in heart failure, 91 

Baths by Schott's method ; formula for, 580 

Belladonna, when arhythmia is present, 
577 ; in palpitation, 93 ; plaster in hyper- 
trophy, 578 

Cactus grandifloris, useful in valvular dis- 
ease with incompetency, cardiac weak- 
ness and palpitation, 110, 577 

Caffeine, very useful, 111, 578 

Camphor in palpitation, 117 

Cimicifuga, as a tonic in fatty and irritable 
heart when digitalis fails, 156 

Citrate or bitartrate of potassium with digi- 
talis when secretion of urine is scanty, 
577 

Convallaria majalis, in cardiac arhythmia, 
177 

Diet, exercise, and hygiene, 578, 579, 580 

Digestive remedies, in palpitation due to 
indigestion, 577 

Digitalis, to be tried in all heart troubles, 
except in simple or compensatory hyper- 
trophy, 188, 574, 576 

Hoffman's anodyne, very useful in palpi- 
tation due to indigestion or tobacco, 217 

Hydragogue cathartics for the dropsy and 
portal engorgement, 577 

Iodides to relieve tension in fatty heart, 
579 

Iron in palpitation due to ansemia, 577 

Iron, arsenic, and simple bitters for asso- 
ciated debility and anosmia, 577 

Kola, useful in cases with debility, 249 

Nitro-glycerin, when arterial tension is 
high, 577, 579 

Nux vomica, as a stimulant, 577, 579 

Opium, if dyspnoea prevents sleep, 302 

Potassium bitartrate or citrate with digi- 
talis for scanty secretion of urine, 577 

Rest in bed essential when aconite is used, 
579 

Sparteine, in arythmia or palpitation, also 
as a substitute for digitalis, if it fails, 
350, 576, 577 

Strophanthus, if digitalis fails, 369, 576, 
578 

Suprarenal gland, 369, 579 

Venesection followed by digitalis for over- 
distended right ventricle, 577 

Veratrine ointment, locally in palpitation, 
577 ; in hypertrophy, 578 

Veratrum viride, 386 

HEMATEMESIS, 584 

Ergot, hamamelis, or ipecac, in slow bleed- 
ing, 584 

Ice, cracked, swallowed frequently, accom- 
panied by Monsel's solution, gtt. 3 (0.15) 
in a half-tumblerful, of water, every 
fifteen minutes, 584 

Iron, tincture of chloride, or turpentine, 
internally, 584 

Lead acetate with morphine or opium, gr. 
2 to 3 (0.1-0.15), in pill, 584 

Monsel's salt, gr. 2 to 3 (0.1-0.15), in pill, 
244, 584 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



755 



Silver nitrate, gr. \ (0.015) in pill, in slow 

bleeding, 584 
Tannic acid, gr. 20 (1.3), to drachm ; must 

not be given with Monsel's solution, 584 

HEMATURIA, 586 
Alum, gr. 2 to 3 (0.1-0.15) to water 1 ounce 

(32.0), injected into bladder, if alarming, 

586 
Astringent injections, should be used only 

when bleeding is alarming, 586 
Camphor, gr. 10 to 20 (0.6-1.3), in divided 

doses, in pill, 586 
Cannabis indica, useful in some cases, 586 
Ergot, 586 
Erigeron, 586 
Gallic acid, gr. 20 (1.3), very valuable, 206, 

586 
Hamamelis, injected daily into bladder, or 

used internally, 215 
Hyposulphite of sodium, 5 to 15 grs. (0.3- 

1.0), if due to malaria, 357, 586 
Morphine and atropine hypodermically and 

cups over kidneys in hematuria, 587 
Prescription for, 586 
Quinine, usually harmful, unless due to 

malaria, 587 
Rhus aromatica, 337 
Turpentine, 381. 586 

HEMOPHILIA. 

Calcium chloride, 113 

HEMOPTYSIS, 583 

Acetanilid, has been recommended, 47 

Aconite, to prevent pneumonia following, 
contraindicated in exhaustion, 584 

Alum, solution (gr. 20 to the ounce [1.3: 
32.0]), in fine spray, 63 

Chloral and bromides, to allay nervous ex- 
citement, 584 

Ergot, fluid extract, 1 to 1| drachms (4.0- 
6.0), internally, 583 

Esmarch bandages to limbs when aconite 
cannot be used because of exsanguina- 
tion, 584 

Gallic acid, gr. 20 to the ounce (1.3 : 32.0) 
of water, when ergot is not at hand, 
206, 583 

Hamamelis, 215 

Ice or dry cup over bleeding spot, 584 

Ice or ice-cold compresses to the scrotum or 
vulva in, 584 

Ipecac, in small doses, very effective, 238 

Morphine, hypodermically, to allay nervous- 
ness and cough, 301, 584 

Tannic acid, Monsel's solution, or alum, 
used in spray, as styptics, prescriptions 
for, 244, 372, 583 

HEMORRHAGE, 581 
Alum, a useful styptic, applied to bleeding 

vessel, 62 
Antipyrin, 79 
Arnica, 82 

Cinnamon in uterine hemorrhage, 163 
Compress, soaked in antiseptic liquid or 

filled with antiseptic powder, preferable 

to styptics, 582 
Hamamelis, useful for uterine oozing, and 

bleeding from the bladder, 215 
Hypodermoclysis, 428 



Ligation preferable to styptics, when appli- 
cable, 581 

Monsel's solution, 244 

Oil of erigeron, 194 

Packing of astringents, if bleeding point 
cannot be reached by compression, or for 
ligation, 582 

Sulphate of sodium by the mouth or intra- 
venously ; useless hypodermically, 357 

Tannic acid, 372 

Transfusion, 441 

HEMORRHAGE (INTESTINAL), 585. (See 
also Hemorrhage.) 

Chloride of calcium, 585 

Enemas, styptic, for hemorrhage from rec- 
tum or colon ; alum (gr. 10 to the ounce 
[0.65:32.0]), copper (gr. 5 to the ounce 
[0.3:32.0]), Monsel's solution (dr. 1 to 
2 ounces [4.0:64.0]), Monsel's salt (gr. 
10 to the ounce [0.65 : 32.0], or drachm \ 
[2.0] to water 2 ounces [64.0] ), chlorate 
of potash (gr. 10 to 25 to the ounce 
[0.6-1.6:32.0]), and tannic acid (gr. 20 
to ounce [1.3:32.0]) of glycerin and 
water, 585 

Ergot, 585 

Ice, by mouth, and to the bell}", and Mon- 
sel's salt, gr. 3 (0.15), in hard, pill, every 
half-hour or oftener, 585 

Ice-water injections in bloody purging of 
dysentery, 586 

Lead acetate and camphor, in pill, of ser- 
vice in some cases, 585 

Monsel's solution not advisable, 244 

Sulphuric-acid, gtt. 5 to 10 (0.3-0.65) in 
water, 585 

Tannic acid, when Monsel's salt is not at 
hand, 585 

Turpentine, in capsule or emulsion, when 
bleeding is not active, 381, 585 

HEMORRHOIDS, 587 

Aloes, 61 

Carbolic acid injection dangerous, 588 

Cocaine and iodoform ointment, prescrip- 
tion for, 588 

Cold-water injections in the morning, re- 
lieve congestion and cause easy evacua- 
tion, 405, 588 

Ergot, sometimes useful in bleeding piles, 
194 

Gallic acid and ointment of stramonium, 
equal parts, 206 

Gallic acid and opium, suppository, pre- 
scription for, 588 

Hamamelis, internally or as a lotion or in- 
jection, 216, 588 

Hygiene and general rules, 588 

Iodoform suppository, if ulceration is pres- 
ent, 236 

Lead-water and laudanum lotion after 
acute stage is passed, 588 

Linseed oil, 205 

Nitric acid, lightly touched to one or two 
points, 286, 588 

Potassium chlorate, with laudanum, as an 
injection, 141 

Poultice, to effect reduction, 588 

Quercus alba, as an astringent wash, 334 

Stillingia, prescription for, 361 

Sulphur, to produce soft passages, 367 



756 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Tannic acid, suppositories in bleeding piles, 
372 

HEPATIC ABSCESS, 589 

Active treatment for dysentery, if present, 

590 
Ammonium muriate, thought to be of value, 

68 
Aspiration, when pus forms, 589 
Diet, 590 
Quinine and iron, after abscess develops, 

590 

HEPATIC CIRRHOSIS. 

Ammonium chloride, 68 
Iodoform, highly recommended, 236 
Nitro-muriatic acid, in early stages, 288 
Potassium iodide, often useful in early 

stages, 229 
Sodium phosphate very useful, 318 

HEPATITIS (ACUTE), 589 

Aconite in early stages, 589 

Cantharidal blister, small, over right hypo- 
chondrium ; if impracticable, use mus- 
tard plaster, 589 

Hot cloths, over counter-irritant, may re- 
lieve pain and aid in formation of blis- 
ter, 589 

Saline purgatives, preceded by calomel, gr. 
1 (0.05), in divided doses, if constipation 
exists, 589 

Sweet spirit of nitre with potassium citrate, 
or diuretic waters, to regulate kidneys, 
589 

Veratrum viride, 386, 589 

HEPATITIS (CHRONIC AND SUBACUTE), 

590 

Ammonium chloride, useful jn subacute 
forms, 68 

Antisyphilitic treatment, if due to syph- 
ilis, 590 

Aspiration, frequently repeated, may effect 
a cure, 590 

Nitro-muriatic acid, internally and exter- 
nally, most useful remedy, 288, 590 

Potassium iodide, useful in all cases, 590 

HERNIA. 

Chloroform or ether inhalations, to relax 
muscles during reduction, 150, 199 

HICCOUGH, 590 

Amyl nitrite. 591 

Belladonna, 94 

Camphor, spirit of, dose 1 drachm (4.0), 117, 
591 

Capsicum, tincture, gtt. 2 to 3 (0.1-0.15), 
591 

Chloral, 138 

Chloroform, 591 

Emetics or purges when gastric or intesti- 
nal irritation is present, 591 

Ether, sprayed on epigastrium, 591 

Hoffman's anodyne, especially valuable, 
216, 591 

Musk, gr. 10 (0.65), given by rectum, valu- 
able in all cases, especially in typhoid 
fever, 279, 591 

Nux vomica, accompanied by mineral acids, 
if due to indigestion, 591 



Oil of amber, gtt. 5 to 10 (0.3-0.65), in cap- 
sule, one of the best remedies, 63, 591 

Pilocarpine hydrochlorate, hypodermically 
or hot pack if due to ursemia, 591 

Valerian, tincture of, dose 1 drachm (4.0), 
591 

HYDROCELE. 

Iodine, injections, after evacuation of the 
sac, the best curative remedy, 233 

HYDROCEPHALUS. 

Potassium iodide, to cause absorption of 
fluids, 228 

HYSTERIA. 

Calcium bromide, 106 

Hops, as a nervous sedative, 218 

Monobromated camphor, to produce sleep, 

119 
Oil of amber, 63 
" Pill of three valerianates," recommended, 

384 
Potassium bromide, 103 
Valerian, 383 

Valerianate of ammonium, 69 
Valerianate of iron if associated with 

anaemia, 245 

IMPOTENCE. 

Cannabis indica, with strychnine, nux 

vomica, or ergot, if no organic trouble 

exists, prescription for, 120 
Cantharis, with nux vomica and iron, may 

restore sexual power if loss is due to 

excess, 123 
Cold douche to perineum and testicles, in 

atonic types, 408 
Gold, chloride of, and sodium, gr. -fa (0.003), 

212 

INCONTINENCE OF URINE, 591 

Alkalies, 592 

Antiseptic fluids, to cleanse bladder, in 
paralysis, 593 

Arsenic, with nux vomica, in weakness of 
spinal centres, prescription for, 592 

Belladonna, if due to vesical spasm, 94, 
592 

Bromides with chloral, if due to vesical 
spasm, 103 

Buchu, with sweet spirit of nitre, valuable 
in some cases, 109 

Cantharides, gtt. 1 (0.05), with alkaline 
diuretics, thrice daily, in adults, 123, 
593 

Catheterization, in retention or paralysis, 
593 

Circumcision, if prepuce is redundant, re- 
lieves some cases, 592 

Diuretic waters, used for years, necessary 
in some cases, 593 

Fowler's solution, gtt. $ to 1 (0.025-0.05) 
in chronic types due to atony, 592 

Hyoscyamus, if due to irritable bladder, 
224 

Potassium citrate when due to acidity, 332 

Ehus aromatica, in incontinence of chil- 
dren, due to atony, 337 

Santonin, often valuable when other reme- 
dies fail, 347 

Strychnine. 592 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



757 



Sweet spirit of nitre and potassium citrate, 
if urine is dark and concentrated, pre- 
scription for, 370, 592 

Worms removed from vagina often cure, 
592 

INDIGESTION (GASTRIC AND INTES- 
TINAL), 593 

Alkalies, before meals in atonic states, dur- 
ing or after meals when the secretion of 
acid is excessive, 594, 595 

Ammonium chloride, in painful forms, 68 

Asafcetida, in indigestion of old age, asso- 
ciated with flatulence, 88, 597 

Bicarbonate of sodium with bitters, 594 

Bitter tonics, useful in atony, contraindi- 
cated in gastric irritation, 594 

Bromide of strontium, in excessive secre- 
tion, when not due to ulcer, 362, 596 

Bryonia, when dependent upon gastric or 
intestinal atony, 108 

Carbolic acid and bismuth, 596 

Chirata, if liver is torpid or constipation is 
present, 135 

Chloroform spirit, gtt. xx (1.3), often of 
great value, 598 

Chloral, creosote, sodium hyposulphite, or 
thymol, with lavage, when fermentation 
is excessive, 596 

Diastase when starchy foods are not di- 
gested, 184 

Diet, 593, 594 

Fats, excluded in fermentative types, 596 

Gold, chloride of, and sodium, when epi- 
gastric pain is present, 212 

Hydrochloric acid, combined with carda- 
moms, in atrophy of the gastric tubules, 
cancer, or intestinal dyspepsia, 596 

Hyoscyamus, belladonna, opium, bromides, 
and bismuth, when there is hyperacid- 
ity, 595 

Lavage, 596 

Leptandra, of great value in intestinal 
types, prescription for, 254 

Nitrate of silver, especially where an ulcer 
is present, 596 

Nitro-hydrochloric acid or nitric acid, val- 
uable in many cases, 286, 288, 597 

Ox-gall, 305 

Pancreatin, with sodium bicarbonate and 
alkaline mineral waters, in intestinal 
types, 597 

Papain, 310 

Podophyllin or mercury in lientery, 597 

Prescription for torpid liver of indigestion, 
598 

Prescription for flatulence of intestinal in- 
digestion, 597 

Rhubarb, quinine, condurango, and nux 
vomica, useful tonics, 594 

Salol in intestinal form with fermentation, 
345 

Serpentaria, as a tonic, 353 

Test meal as a means of diagnosis, 594 

Volatile oils, prescription for, 597 

Yellow oxide of mercury, gr. £$ or -^ 
(0.001-0.0012), in trituration, if there is 
foul belching or ill-smelling stools, 275 

INFLAMMATION. 

Cannabis indica, valuable in chronic tvpes, 
121 



Cocaine, in acute types, prescription for, 166 

Flaxseed for inflamed mucous membranes, 
205 

Hop poultice, 218 

Liquor plurnbi subacetatis, useful as a top- 
ical application, 253 

Opium, 300 

Sulphurated lime useful to check, 116 

Tartar emetic, in sthenic inflammation, 
74 

Turpentine stupe, 381 

Veratrum viride, 386 

INFLUENZA, 598 

Aconite, sweet spirit of nitre, and citrate 
of potassium in combination, valuable 
in "early stage, 599 

Alcohol, 601 

Antipyrin, phenacetin, and acetanilid 
should only be used in small doses to 
allay pain, 598 

Belladonna, combined with strychnine, if 
there be vasomotor paresis, 601 

Bromides, codeine or morphine, if cough be 
excessive, 602 

Cannabis indica, often valuable if pushed, 
for irritative cough, 602 

Castor oil or magnesium sulphate for con- 
stipation, 602 

Chloral, chloralamide, or sulphonal, for in- 
somnia. 602 

Cold bath, preferable to antipyretics for re- 
duction of temperature, 599 

Cups, contraindicated, 600 

Ergot, cannabis indica, with bromides, often 
relieve vertigo, 600 

Monobromated camphor, 119 

Phenacetin, 315 

Remedies for bronchitis when present, 602 

Salol and phenacetin, valuable in combi- 
nation, to allay irritation and pain, 599 

Sandalwood oil, for excessive cough, 346 

Steam inhalations, laden with vaporized 
drugs, for cough, 602 

Strychnine, preferable to digitalis if there 
be tendency to collapse, 601 

INSANITY. (See Mania, Acute.) 

INSOMNIA, 603 

Amylene hydrate, useless if due to pain, 
604 

Bath, cold in cerebral anfemia, hot in ner- 
vous irritability, 405 

Bromide of potassium with Fowler's solu- 
tion, in nervous females, prescription 
for, 603 

Cannabis indica, prescription for, 120 

Chloral, useful if not due to pain, prescrip- 
tion for, 138, 603 

Chloralamide, gr. 15 to 60 (1.0-4.0), in wine 
or capsule, in nervous insomnia, 139, 
604 

Chloralose, 2 to 7 grains (0.1-0.5), in cap- 
sule, 139 

Chlorobrom for insomnia of melancholia 
and acute mania, 139 

Croton chloral, preferable to chloral, if due 
to pain, 182 

Duboisine more useful than hyoscine, 190 

Hop pillow, 218 



758 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Hot-water bags to feet and cold to head, or 
general hot hath, 604 

Hyoscine, gr. T J n to ^ (0.0006-0.0008), by 
mouth, or gr. T ^ to T ^ (0.0004-00006,) 
hypodermically, in mania or hysteria, 

224, 603 

Hypnal, useful in insomnia due to pain, 

225, 604 

Morphine with chloral, if due to pain, pre- 
scription for, 603 

Opium, only to be used in pain, 300 

Paraldehyde, 310, 604 

Potassium bromide, in nervousness and 
overwork, 104 

Scopolamine, if due to nervousness, 349 

Somnal, minims 10 to 40 (0.65-2.6), in 
liquorice and water, 358, 604 

Sulphonal, prescription for, may be given 
in hot water, 365, 604 

Tetronal, useful, 380 

Trional, in 15-grain (1.0) doses, 380, 604 

Valerian, in nervousness, 383 

INTERMITTENT FEVER, 605 

Alcohol, contraindicated during chill, 606 

Anesthetization, has been employed to put 
off paroxysm, 606 

Arsenic, in intervals between attacks, as 
an antiperiodic, 84, 605 

Calomel, gr. \ to i (0.01-0.015), every fif- 
teen minutes until 1 grain (0.06) is 
taken, four or five hours before quinine, 
if constipation is present, 605 

Chloroform inhalations, preceded by lauda- 
num, by mouth or rectum, or morphine, 
gr. I (0.01), with atropine, gr. ^ (0.001), 
hypodermically, if death threatens dur- 
ing chill, 606 

Cool drinks and sponging, in fevered stage, 
cold with friction, 608 

Digitalis or strychnine, to relieve internal 
congestion during chill, 606 

Eupatorium useful in, 203 

Ipecac or zinc sulphate, as an emetie, if 
chill follows full meal, 606 

Methylene blue, 1 to 4 grains (0.05-0.2), 
277, 606 

Phenocoll, sometimes useful, 318 

Podophyllin, gr. T V to | (0.006-0.007), pre- 
ceding quinine, if constipation is pres- 
ent, 605 

Potassium or sodium nitrite, gr. 10 (0.65), 
have been employed to put off attack, 
605 

Quinine, as a prophylactic and antiperiodic, 
605 



INTERTRIGO. (See Chapping.) 

INTESTINAL CATARRH. 

Ammonium chloride, useful in subacute 
types, 68 

Chlorate of potassium, injections (gr. 20 to 
the ounce [1.3:32.0]), in acute rectal 
catarrh, 141 

Iodide of potassium, if ammonium chlo- 
ride fails to relieve, 229 

Leptandra, fluid extract, dose 20 minims to 
1 drachm (1.3-4.0), 254 

Salol, 344 



INVOLUTION (ANOMALIES OF), 647 

Applications of nitric acid and silver ni- 
trate useful in lacerations, 648 

Cannabis Indica, of great value in subinvo- 
lution, 121 

Cinricifuga in subinvolution, 156 

Curette in subinvolution due to retention 
of hypertrophic endometrium, 647 

Digitalis in subinvolution due to sluggish 
circulation, 647 

Ergot, quinine, and strychnine, in pill, if 
due to fibroids, 647 

Purgatives, disinfectants, and possibly hot 
water locally applied, if due to inflam- 
mation, 647 

Removal of placenta, if adherent, 648 

IRITIS, 606 

Atropine, the best local remedy, 94, 607 

Daturine, scopolamine, or duboisine, when 
atropine cannot be used, 607 

Iced compress, in early stage of traumatic 
iritis, 607 

Iodide of potassium, alone or with mer- 
cury bichloride, following mercurial 
impression, in syphilitics, 607 

Leeches and dry heat or hot fomentations, 
to relieve pain, 607 

Mercurv, preferably by inunction, if due to 
syphilis, 607 

Morphine, if pain is severe, 607 

Paracentesis, 607 

Pilocarpine, internally if vitreous becomes 
opaque, also in gonorrhoeal types, 607 

Salicylic acid or oil of gaultheria, followed 
later by potassium iodide, in rheumatic 
iritis, 607 

Saline laxatives, during course of disease, 
followed by iron, after cessation of spe- 
cific treatment, 608 

Scopolamine in early stages of, and in 
plastic, 349 

Subconjunctival injections of sublimate or 
of salt solution recommended in syph- 
ilitic iritis, 607 

Turpentine accompanied by potassium 
iodide, in plastic iritis, following sec- 
ondary syphilis, 607 

Zollicoffer's mixture, useful in chronic 
types, 607 

IRRITABILITY. 

Almonds, as a drink in irritability of in- 
testines and air-passages, 59 

Cantharis, recommended in irritable blad- 
der of women and children, 123 

Cimicifuga, in uterine irritability, 156 

Hops, in vesical irritability, 218 

Hydrocyanic acid in irritability of the 
stomach, 221 

Hyoscyanms for vesical irritability with 
incontinence, 224 

Petrolatum, as a soothing agent in gastro- 
intestinal types, 315 

Piperazine, in bladder irritation due to ex- 
cess of uric acid, 327 

Potassium bromide, in irritability of phar- 
ynx, 103 

JAUNDICE. 

Calomel, gr. \ (0.01), every half-hour till 
gr. i (0.025) is taken, if due to cold, 271 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



759 



Carbolic acid, gr. 10 (0.65), with water and 
glycerin, each 2 drachms (8.0), locally 
applied in itching of jaundice, 128 
Citric acid, in catarrhal form, 164 
Hydrastis, useful in subacute types, 219 
Iodoform, highly recommended, 236 
Manganese sulpbate, may be tried in ma- 
larial types, 260 
Pilocarpine, useful unless due to malignant 

disease, 325 
Salol, said to be of value, 344 
Sodium phosphate, of value, 318 

JOINTS (ENLARGED). 

Tartar emetic ointment, 74 
Turpentine liniment, 382 

KELOID. 

Ichthyol ointment, 226 
Thiosinamine, 10 per cent, solution in al- 
cohol, injected into the growth, 375 

KERATITIS (INTERSTITIAL), 608 

Antiseptic lotions, in marked ciliary con- 
gestion, 608 

Antisyphilitic treatment, if due to syph- 
ilis, 608 

Atropine, in ciliary congestion, to prevent 
iritis, 608 

Leeches, to temple to relieve pain, if pa- 
tient is not too young for bleeding, 608 

Thymol iodide, as a dusting powder, 377 

KERATITIS (PHLYCTENULAR), 608 

Atropine, to relieve pain, 609 

Boric acid, solution to relieve congestion, 
608 

Cocaine, not advisable in photophobia, 609 

Cold-water douche on closed eyelid, to re- 
lieve photophobia, 609 

Creolin, 182 

Dark glasses, to protect eyes, 609 

Tonics and alteratives, with strict hygiene 
and regulated diet, associated with local 
treatment, 609 

Yellow oxide of mercury ointment, or cal- 
omel as a dusting powder, to hasten cica- 
trization, contraindicated if iodine is 
being given, 609 

KERATITIS (SUPPURATING), 609 

Antiseptic lotions, to limit sloughing, 609 
Atropine, instilled into eye, to limit 

sloughing, 609 
Cautery, actual, best means of preventing 

perforation, 610 
Curetting floor of ulcer, if perforation 

threatens, 609 
Hot compresses of carbolized water and 

atropine drops, 609 
Massage of cornea and introduction of 

yellow-oxide ointment to remove scars 

of ulcers, 610 
Pressure bandage, if perforation threatens, 

609 
Silver-nitrate or tincture of iodine applied 

to margin of ulcer does good, 609 
Subconjunctival injections of salt solution 

to absorb corneal nebula, 610 

LACHRYMAL ABSCESS, 610 
Division of canaliculi and washing out sac 



with antiseptic fluids, and insertion of 

probes into ducts after inflammation 

subsides, to restore patulency, 610 
Formaldehyde (1 : 3000) injected through 

external opening if there is purulent 

discharge, 610 
Hot compresses, composed of lead-water 

and laudanum, to relieve pain, 610 
Puncture of abscess, if rupture threatens, 

610 

LARYNGISMUS STRIDULUS. 

Amyl nitrite, 70 
Belladonna, 94 
Bromide of potassium, 103 
Gelsemium, 208 

LARYNGITIS (ACUTE), 610 

Aconite, to control fever, 611 

Antipyrin, as a spray, 79 

Bromides, useful in full doses, 60 to 120 

grains (4.0-8.0) a day, 103, 611 
Calomel, small and repeated doses, fol- 
lowed by saline purges, along with hot 

mustard foot-bath and demulcent 

drinks, 611 
Creosote spray in subacute laryngitis, 180 
Cubebs cigarettes, useful for hoarseness of 

subacute forms, 183 
Dover's powder, if necessary, to give rest, 

301 
Iodine, painted over throat, useful on third 

or fourth day, 612 
Mustard plaster or hot applications over 

larynx, 611 
Oil of amber and olive oil, half and half, 

well rubbed into the skin of the neck 

and chest, 64, 612 
Prescriptions for sprays, 611 
Silver nitrate, 284 
Steam inhalations, charged with benzoin; 

often advantageous to add menthol, 96, 

611 



LEPRA. 



Arsenic, 85 

LEUCOCYTH^MIA. 

Arsenic, very useful in full ascending 
doses, 84 

LEUCORRHOZA, 612 

Alum, gr. 10 to 20 to the ounce (0.65-1.3 : 
32.0), as a vaginal wash, 63 

Ammonio-ferric alum gr. 2 to 5 (0.1-0.25), 
in atonic types, 240 

Belladonna, gr. 1 to 2 (0.05-0.1), with tan- 
nic acid, gr. 6 to 8 (0.5), applied on cot- 
ton, in disease of uterine cervix, 93 

Cantharidal collodion, applied over groins 
to produce blister, 613 

Goodell's prescription for, 613 

Hamiatoxvlon, used internally, of service, 
215 

Hot sitz-bath, or vaginal injections of hot 
water, if due to uterine congestion, 423 

Hydrastis, injections, 219 
j Iron, with tonics, if due to excessive lacta- 
tion or exhausting life, 612 
| Myrrh, if due to uterine ti-ouble, 280 

Nitrate of silver, when there is cervical 
I ulceration, 284 



760 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Potassium permanganate (drachm £ [2.0] 
to water 1 pint [500.0]), as an injection, 
if discharge is foetid, 613 
Prescriptions for injection, 613, 614 
Einger's prescription for wash, 613 
Tampon, saturated with iodoform and tan- 
nic acid, 372, 613 
White-oak bark (ounce 1 [32.0] to water 1 
pint [500.0]), or tannic acid and glycerin 
(ounce 1 [32.0] to 2 quarts [2 litres] of 
water), as an injection, 334, 613 

LICHEN. 

Arsenic, usually cures, 85 
Cantharides, 123 

LID ABSCESSES, 614 

Treatment, same as for other abscesses, 614 

LITILEMIA. (See Gout.) 

LOCOMOTOR ATAXIA. 

Acetanilid, 46 

Antipyrin, relieves lancinating pains, 78 

Exalgine, prescriptions for, 204 

Phenacetin, 317 

Potassium bromide, to prevent laryngeal 

crises, 103 
Suspension, 440 

LUMBAGO, 614 

Acupuncture, often relieves, especially if 
pain is bilateral, 614 

Antifebriu, dose gr. 4 to 8 (0.2-0.5), 614 

Antipyrin, dose gr. 10 to 20 (0.65-1.3), 
614 

Chloroform liniment, 151 

Cod-liver oil, 170 

Foot-bath and Dover's powder, before re- 
tiring, often relieves, 614 

Hot poultice to back often useful, 614 

Ice-bag or ether spray to loins, if hot ap- 
plications fail, 614 

Ironing back with laundry iron, skin being 
protected by cloth or paper, very effi- 
cient, 614 

Monobromated camphor, with other drugs, 
very useful, 118 

Mustard or capsicum plaster or blister over 
painful spot, may relieve, 614 

Phenacetin and salol, of each 5 grains (0.3), 
614 

Potassium iodide or salicylic acid, if recov- 
ery is slow, 228, 614 

Salicylic acid, useful, 341 

Turpentine, gtt. 20 (1.3), said to be useful, 
382 

LUPUS. 

Acid nitrate of mercury, 274 
Europhen, in ointment or powder, 204 
Ichthyol ointment, 226 
Iodine, as a paint, to retard spread, 233 
Thiosinamine, useful in, 375 

MALARIAL FEVER. (See Intermittent 

AND EEMITTENT FEVERS.) 

Antipyrin, 78 

Arsenic, as a cure and prophylactic, 84 
Calomel, 267 

Eucalyptus, instead of quinine, when it 
cannot be borne, 202 



Gelsemium, of doubtful value, 208 
Gentian, in malaria associated with dys- 
pepsia, 208 
Hydrastis, said to be antimalarial, 219 
Iodine externally and iodide of potassium 
internally for enlargement of the spleen, 
229 
Methylene blue, 1-4 grains (0.05-0.2), 277 
Phenocoll, useful in some cases, 318 
Pilocarpine, may be used to abort, 325 
Piperin has been used with varying suc- 
cess, 311 
Quinine, the best remedy as a prophylactic 

and a cure, 159 
Warburg's tincture, said to excel quinine 
in pernicious malarial regions, 387 

MANIA (ACUTE), 615 

Anaesthetics, or apomorphine in emetic 
dose, to relax muscular system, if pa- 
tient is very violent, so that other rem- 
edies may be administered, 615 

Bromide of potassium, as a soporific, 104 

Cannabis indica, with large dose of bro- 
mides, particularly serviceable, 615 

Chloral, in full doses, if kidneys are 
healthy, 615 

Chloroform for insomnia, 150 

Cimicifuga, fluid extract, gtt. 20 to 30 (1.4- 
2.0), thrice daily, in eases occurring after 
confinement not due to permanent 
causes, 615 

Cold douche to head while body is im- 
mersed in hot water, often of service, 
615 

Duboisine, for insomnia, 190 

Hyoscine hydrobromate, gr. T ^ (0.0006), 
when necessary to quiet patient quickly, 
615 

Morphine, in full dose, may be required to 
quiet patient, 615 

Scopolamine as a soporific, 349 

Sulphonal as a hypnotic, 365 

MARASMUS. 

Cod-liver oil inunctions, one of the best 
remedies, 170 

MASTITIS. (See Breast, Inflamed.) 

MELANCHOLIA, 615 

Chloroform for insomnia, 150 
Nitro-muriatic acid gtt. 5 (0.3), in water 

after meals, if associated with oxaluria, 

289, 615 
Phosphorus, useful in some cases due to 

overwork, 321 

MENINGITIS (ACUTE), 616 

Aconite or veratrum viride, in early stages 

to depress circulation, 616 
Alcohol, given with food in second stage, 

if there be asthenia, 617 
Belladonna, often useful, especially when 

opium and calomel are contraindicated, 

616 
Blister to nape of neck, in early stage, to 

prevent effusion : also in comatose state, 

616 
Bromides and chloral, best agents to allay 

nervous symptoms, 616 
Calomel, gr. i (0.025), with opium gr. ± 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



761 



(0.012), every half-hour, in early stage, 
until effect is manifested ; the deodor- 
ized tincture, gtt. 2 to 5 (0.1-0.3), every 
two hours, or less, preferable to powder 
of opium in some cases, 267, 616 
Ergot, in stage of exudation, 616 
Ice-bag to head, in early stage, 616 
Leeches to nape of neck, in early stage, 

616 
Milk diet, in second stage, 617 
Opium, useful in second stage, 300, 617 
Quinine, contraindicated in acute stage, 

617 
Venesection in early stage of sthenic cases, 
if aconite or veratrum viride is not at 
hand, 616 

MENINGITIS (CHRONIC). 

Phosphorus, 321 

MENOPAUSE. 

Bromide of potassium, in nervous disor- 
ders, 103 

Cannabis indica, alone or with aloes and 
iron, if angernia or constipation exist, in 
headaches of the menopause, 121 

Eau de Cologne, saturated with camphor, 
locally applied in headache or drowsi- 
ness, 118 

Valerianate of ammonium, in nervous dis- 
orders, 69 

MENORRHAGIA AND METRORRHAGIA, 

581 

Bromide of potassium or sodium, gr. 10 
(0.65) once or twice daily if bleeding is 
irregular, 104, 582 

Cannabis indica, recommended, 121, 582 

Cinnamon oil, drachm + (2.0), when erig- 
eron is not at hand, in oozing flow, 582 

Dry cups, over sacrum, if due to conges- 
tion, 582 

Ergot, fluid extract, gtt. 10 to 60 (0.65-4.0), 
best remedy in active bleeding, 193, 582 

Erigeron, oil of, minims 3 to 5 (0.15-0.3), 
in capsule or emulsion, the best remedy 
for oozing, 582 

Hamamelis, distilled extract, drachm 1 
(4.0), thrice daily, in irregular bleeding, 
582 

Monsel's solution (50 per cent.) full strength 
locally applied, if due to polypus. 244 

Bhus aromatica, highly recommended in 
menorrhagia, 337 

Bue, in atonic menorrhagia, 338 

Savine, oil of, gtt. 5 to 10 (0.3-0.65), in cap- 
sule or emulsion, every three or four 
hours, as a tonic in menorrhagia, 348 

Turpentine, often of value, 381 

MIGRAINE, 625 

Amyl nitrite, 70 

Bromide of potassium, with caffeine, 

almost a specific, if due to eye-strain, 

104 
Cannabis indica, tincture, gtt. 20 (1.3\ 

hourly, or extract, gr. i to i (0.015-0.03 , 

every two hours, best treatment, 120 

625 
Croton chloral, very efficient, especially if 

fifth nerve is involved, 182 



Gelsemium, with cannabis indica, to abort, 
208, 625 

Methylene blue, gr. 1 to 2 (0.06-0.1) in 
capsule, 278 

Phenacetin, 317 

Salicylic acid, of great service in rheu- 
matic types, 341 

MILK DEFICIENCY, 650 

Electricity, 650 

Treatment for intercurrent affection, if due 
to such cause, 650 

MORPHIOMANIA. (See Poisoning from 

Opium, Chronic.) 
Bromide of potassium, 104 
Phosphorus, of service in sequelae of rnor- 
phiomania, 321 

MUCOUS MEMBRANE (DISEASES OF). 

Acacia, as a mucilaginous drink in irrita- 
tion and inflammation of upper air- 
passages, 43 

Bismuth, as an astringent, to inflamed 
membranes, 97 

Flaxseed, as a soothing demulcent, 205 

Glycerole of aloes, locally applied to fis- 
sures, valuable, 61 

Opium, suppositories, gr. i (0.015), useful 
in rectal inflammation, if not an acute 
catarrh, 301 

Pareira, useful in chronic genito-urinary 
inflammation, 301 

Terebene, useful in subacute and chronic 
genito-urinary inflammation, instead of 
sandalwood or copaiba, 373 

Zinc sulphate, weak solution, as an astrin- 
gent, 389 

MUSCiE VOLITANTES, 617 

Alteratives and correction of anomalies of 
refraction, 617 

MUSCULAR STIFFNESS. 

Hot laundry iron passed over part, skin 
being protected by layers of paper or 
cloth, often relieves, 423 

MYALGIA, 617 
Ammonium chloride, if due to cold or 

bruises, 617 
Camphor liniment, 118 
Chloroform liniment, 618 
Cimicifuga, fluid extract gtt. 20 to 1 

drachm (1.3-4.0), 617 
Clove oil, added to liniment, as a counter- 
irritant, 165 
Iodide of potassium or salicylates, if due to 

rheumatism, 617 
Iodine ointment, pure or diluted with lard, 

617 
Massage or good rubbing, very necessary, 

618 
Potassium acetate or citrate, gr. 20 (1.3), 

may be tried, 617 
Poultices, hot as can be borne, 618 
Prescription for liniment, 618 

MYXCEDEMA. 

Thyroid gland, or extract of, a specific for, 
377 



'62 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



NASAL CATARRH (ATROPHIC), 618. 

Dobell's solution, as a cleansing wash ; car- 
bolic acid may be increased, or thymol 
and eucalyptus substituted for it, to re- 
lieve odor, 618 

Galvano-cautery, or strong silver nitrate 
solution, if ulcerations are present, 619 

Hydrogen peroxide, 618 

Iodine and glycerin (gr. 6 to 8 to the ounce 
[0.4-0.5 : 32.0]), with potassium iodide 
sufficient to make solution, valuable, 
locally applied, 619 

Listerine, may be added to Dobell's solu- 
tion, to relieve odor, 618 

Potassium iodide internally, tonics and 
stimulants to mucous membrane, and 
attention to activity of skin, 619 

Potassium permanganate, useful ; painful 
if sensation is not entirely lost, 618 

Eemoval of necrosed bone, 618 

Silver nitrate and starch (gr. 1 to 10 [0.05- 
0.65] to drachms 2 J [10.0]), as an insuf- 
flation powder, or solution (gr. 1 to 10 
to the ounce [0.05-0.65:32.0]), better, 
in some cases, locally applied, 619 

NASAL CATARRH (CHRONIC), 619 

Arsenic, 85 

Camphor, 117 

Ferric alum (gr. 5 to the ounce [0.3 : 32.0]), 
useful, in spray, in later stage, 620 

Galvano-cautery or snare, to remove hy- 
pertrophic tissue remaining after acute 
stage, 620 

Hydrastis, dilute solution or distilled ex- 
tract of hamamelis and water, equal 
parts, useful in spray, in acute stage, 620 

Iodine and glycerin (gr. 6 to 8 to the ounce 
[0.4-0.6:32.0]), with potassium iodide, 
sufficient to make solution, locally ap- 
plied, 620 

Prescription for alkaline wash, 510 

NAUSEA. (See Vomiting.) 

Hoffman's anodyne, when due to exces- 
sive use of tobacco, 217 

Hydrocyanic acid, dilute, gtt. 3 (0.18), in 
water, often useful, 221 

Lime-water, 116 

NEPHRITIS (ACUTE), 620 

Aconite, to depress circulation, 620 

Blisters contraiudicated, 621 

Bromides or opium, given cautiously if 

aconite fails to quiet restlessness, 621 
Caffeine, in later stages, 621 
Cannabis indica, if hematuria is present, 

also to allay pain over kidneys, 121, 621 
Cantharides, \ drop (0.025) of tincture, 

about fifth day, when kidneys are atonic, 

also if hematuria is present, 122, 621 
Citrate of potassium and sweet spirit of 

nitre, to increase flow of urine, 621 
Cups or leeches over loins if urine is 

scanty, 621 
Digitalis, with squill or calomel, gradually 

increased, followed by gin or compound 

spirit of juniper in later stages, 621 
Elaterium, to relieve dropsy, 621 
Flaxseed tea, as a demulcent, 205, 621 



Gallic acid and ergot, to control excessive 
hematuria, 621 

Hot-air baths, useful to provoke sweat, 621 

Iron, if anaemia be present, also to decrease 
albuminuria, 621 

Juniper, to re-establish secretion, after in- 
flammation has subsided, 247, 621 

Milk diet, 621 

Pilocarpine hydrochlorate, gr. gV to \ 
(0.003-0.008), hypodermically, if urae- 
mia threatens, repeated in fifteen min- 
utes if no sweat appears, but guarded by 
strychnine when the heart is weak, 325, 
621 

Potassium bitartrate, 99 

Sulphate of magnesium, ^ss (16.0) or calo- 
mel to aid in elimination of toxic prod- 
ucts by bowel, 621 

Turkish bath, to aid in eliminating effete 
products, used with care, 424 

NEPHRITIS (CHRONIC), 621 

Basham's mixture for anaemia, 241 

Bichloride and protiodide of mercury, 269 
622 

Cannabis indica, to allay pain over kid- 
neys, also if hematuria is present, 121 

Cantharides, particularly useful if due to 
alcoholism, 122, 622 

Capsicum, to check albuminuria, 124 

Chloride of gold and sodium has been re- 
commended in interstitial forms, 212 

Chloride of iron if anaemia is present ; also 
to decrease albuminuria, 242, 623 

Digitalis and caffeine useful, 622 

Elaterium or jalap, to relieve dropsy, 622 

Juniper of value, 622 

Milk diet, 622 

Nitro-glycerin useful in ascending doses in 
chronic parenchymatous nephritis, 287, 
622 

Oxygen inhalations, 623 

Potassium acetate or bitartrate combined 
with digitalis or the bitartrate combined 
with gin or compound infusion of 
juniper, 99, 622 

Potassium iodide, gr. 5 (0.3), thrice daily, 
used with great care, 229 

Sodium iodide of great value in many 
cases, 623 

Squill, 359, 622 

Strontium lactate for the relief of albu- 
minuria, 362 

Turkish and Eussian baths, relieve dropsy 
by increasing action of skin, 622 

NERVOUSNESS. 

Bromides, 103 

Camphor, as a sedative, 117 

Hops, as a sedative, 218 

Lime salts, 114 

Musk, useful in nervous excitement and 
collapse; only to be used through crisis, 
279 

Phosphorus, in nervous debility and ex- 
haustion, 321 

" Pill of three valerianates," highly recom- 
mended, 384 

Rest-cure very useful where nervousness is 
due to exhaustion, 433 

Strychnine, in functional nervous atony or 
depression, 294 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



763 



Suprarenal gland, 369 

Sumbul, prescription for, 369 

Sweet spirit of nitre, in nervous excitement 
of fever and other nervous states of in- 
fancy, 370 

Valerian, alone or with other drugs, 383 

NEURALGIA, 623 

Acetanilid, useful, especially with mono- 
bromated camphor, 47, 624 

Aconite ointment (gr. 2 to the drachm [0.1 : 
4.0]), or oleate of aconitine (gr. 2 [0.1] 
to sweet oil 100 [6.0]), useful applied 
over painful spot, if limited in area, 49, 
624 

Acupuncture, nerve-stretching, or neurec- 
tomy necessary in some cases, 624 

Ammonium chloride, in ovarian neuralgia, 
68 

Amyl nitrite, inhalations, when due to 
anaemia, 625 

Antipyrin, very useful, especially in gout, 
rheumatism, or nervous depression, 78, 
624 

Belladonna, 95 

Bromide of potassium with caffeine, almost 
a specific, 624 

Prescription for, 104, 624 

Camphor liniment, locally applied, to re- 
lieve pain, 118 

Chloralamide, 139 

Chloroform liniment, as a local anaesthetic, 
151 

Cimicifuga, especially useful in ovarian 
tvpes, 156 

Cod-liver oil, 170, 623 

Croton chloral, gr. 5 to 20 (0.3-1.3), in 5- 
grain pills, often effective in brow neur- 
algia, 182, 625 

Duquesnel's crystalline aconitine in obsti- 
nate forms, 52 

Freezing parts with ether or rhigolene 
spray or by small package of ice and 
salt, 199, 624 

Guaiacol used locally, of value in, 214 

Hydrocyanic acid, useful in intestinal neur- 
algia, 222 

Iodide of potassium, may be tried in rheu- 
matic neuralgia, 228 

Iron and arsenic, in anaemia; often neces- 
sary to associate with them bitter tonics 
and cod-liver oil, 623 

Kataphoresis, 431, 624 

Menthol, locally, 313 

Morphine, gr. £ to I (0.013), injected into 
painful spot, if localized; not advisable 
in chronic cases, 624 

Muriate of ammonium, useful in ovarian 
types, 68 

Mustard plaster, as a counter-irritant, 279 

Nux vomica or strychnine, if nerve is de- 
pressed by anaemia, 623 

Peppermint oil, locally applied on cloth 
over painful spot, 312 

Phenacetin, gr. 3 to 8 (0.15-0.6), very use- 
ful, prescription for, 317, 624 

Phenocoll, 318 

Phosphorus, if due to nervous exhaustion, 
321, 624 

Potassium iodide, 228 

Prescriptions containing antipyrin with 
bromides and caffeine, 624 



Quinine, if due to malaria, 160, 624 

Rest-cure very useful in exhausted patients, 
433 

Salol, if due to exposure, 344 

Specific remedies, if due to scrofulosis or 
syphilis, 624 

Turkish bath, may relieve, if due to rheu- 
matism or gout, 424 

Veratrine ointment, locally applied over 
neuralgic nerve, 384 

NIGHT-SCREAMING. 
Bromide of potassium, 104 

NIGHT-SWEATS. 

Acetic ^icid, as a lotion, diluted one-half, 
48 

Agaricin, of doubtful value, 53 

Alum dissolved in water or alcohol, efficient 
application for sponging, 63 

Belladonna, best remedy, 93 

Camphoric acid, the best of all remedies, 
189 

Ersot, 193 

Gallic acid, 206 

Pilocarpine, gr. ^V (0.003) hypodermically, 
two hours before sweat, often useful, 
even when atropine fails, 326 

Sulphuric acid, with belladonna or mor- 
phine, often useful, 369 

Zinc oxide, prescription for, 306 

NIPPLES (SORE), 625 

Benzoin, tincture, locally applied, 625 

Boric acid (gr. 20 to the ounce [1.3 : 32.0]), 
or mucilage of acacia, applied after 
nursing, nipple being dried beforehand, 
625 

Breast-pump or nipple-shield may be neces- 
sary to effect cure, 625 

Cocaine (gr. 4 to the ounce [0.2 : 32.0]), ap- 
plied and washed off before nursing, if 
breast is very painful, 166, 625 

Ichthyol, w r hen indurated, 226 

Prophylaxis, 646 

Silver-nitrate stick touched to fissure, if 
deep and slow to heal, 625 

Tannin, glycerite of, locally applied, 625 

NYMPHOMANIA. 
Bromide of potassium, of great service, 103 

OBESITY, 626 

Acetic acid, harmful, 48 

Cold bath, 628 

Diet, 627 

Laxative fruits and purges, to regulate 

bowels, 629 
Massage, passive movements, absolute 

skimmed-milk diet, and electricity, if 

exercise is impracticable, 629 
Potassium permanganate, 310 
Saline purges, 629 
Thyroid gland, 379 
Turkish bath, 629 

OPHTHALMIA. (See Conjunctivitis.) 

OPIUM HABIT. (See Poisoning from 
Opium, Chronic.) 



764 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



ORCHITIS. (See Epididymitis.) 

OSTEOMALACIA. 

Phosphorus, 321 

OTORRHEA. 

Creoliu, solution (1:500), used with syringe, 
182 

OXALURIA. 

Nitric acid, 286 
Mtro-hydrochloric acid, 289 

OZ.ENA. 

Prescription for insufflation powder, 268 

PARALYSIS AGITANS. 

Cannabis indica, to quiet tremors, 120 
Chloral, of great service, 137 
Duboisine sulphate, of some use, 190 
Sparteine, 351 

PARASITES. 

Bichloride of mercury (gr. 2 [0.1] to water 
oz. 1 [32.0] ), applied thrice daily in para- 
sitic skin diseases, 270 

Cajuput oil, applied pure, will destroy pe- 
diculi, 112 

Chrysarobin gr. | (0.008), internally, or the 
ointment, with benzoated lard (1 : 4 
or 5), locally applied, in parasitic skin 
diseases ; must not be used on face, 155 

Hyposulphite of sodium, 1 drachm to the 
ounce (4.0 : 32.0), for parasitic skin dis- 
ease, 357 

Mercurial ointment, useful to destroy pe- 
diculus pubis or other parasites, 274 

Oil of cloves, 164 

Pyrogallol, 30 grains to ounce (2.0:32.0), 
for parasitic skin disease or psoriasis, 
333 

Volatile or fixed oils, useful to destroy, 
274 

PARTURITION. 

Antipyrin, for pains, of doubtful value, 78 

Castor oil, to relieve constipation, 132 

Cimicifuga, 156 

Quinine, as a stimulant to uterus, 160 



PEMPHIGUS. 



Arsenic, 85 



PERICARDITIS, 629 

Aconite, to allay inflammation and quiet 

heart, 51, 629 
Alcohol, digitalis, or caffeine, if heart shows 

signs of failure, 629 
Aspiration, gradual, if exudation endangers 

life, 629 
Blister, over prsecordiurn, often useful, 

629 
Calomel, gr. \ (0.025), with opium, hourly 

to prevent exudation, 629 
Elaterium, useful in effusions, 191 
Ice-bag over the prsecordium, very useful, 

403, 629 
Iodide of potassium, to aid in absorption 

of fluid, 228 
Jalap, compound powder of, gr. 20 (1.3) ; or 

elaterium, gr. \ (0.01) ; or saline purga- 



tive, before breakfast, useful in sthenic 
cases, to remove effusion, 629 

Leeches, 5 to 10, over prsecordium, accom- 
panied by large dose of veratrum viride 
in early stages of sthenic cases, 629 

Opium, to allay inflammation, 300 

PERITONITIS (ACUTE), 630 

Acetanilid, 633 

Calomel, \ gr. (0.025) every hour, prefer- 
ably combined with opium, 267, 632 

Hyoscyamus, by suppository or injection, in 

' collapse, 633 

Ice, with white of egg, for thirst. Vomit- 
ing does not contraindicate small 
amounts of water, 633 

Ice-bag or turpentine stupe to abdomen ; 
leeches in sthenic cases, 632 

Opium, pushed until pain is relieved, but 
never to the point of obtunding intelli- 
gence, 300, 632 

Salines, useful in cases following surgical 
operations, but contraindicated by fee- 
bleness, perforation, or obstruction, 633 

Surgical procedures, often necessary. When 
diagnosis is obscure or in septic general 
peritonitis exploratory incision is justi- 
fied, 631, 633 

Eectal tube, milk of asafcetida or turpen- 
tine injections, in tympanites, 633 

Veratrum viride, 386 

PERITONITIS (CHRONIC), 633 

Incision, with or without drainage and 
iodoform, useful in tubercular peri- 
tonitis, 634 

PERNICIOUS MALARIAL FEVER, 634 

Hyposulphite of sodium, grs. 60 (4.0) to 

move the bowels, 634 
Morphine and atropine to control retching 

and vomiting, 634 
Quinine, large doses, in solution by mouth, 

rectum, or hypodermically, 159, 634 

PHARYNGITIS. 

Antipyrin in 4 per cent, spray, 79 

Cocaine, gives temporary relief; after- 
effects bad, 166 

Cubebs, troches of, used in chronic types, 
183 

Monsel's solution, pure or diluted one-half 
with glycerin, applied on pledgets of 
cotton or camel's-liair brush, 244 

Peroxide of hydrogen, 223 

Salol, in 5-gr. (0.3) doses, 344 

Silver nitrate solution, in varying strength, 
locally applied, 284 

PHTHISIS. (See Tuberculosis.) 

PLEURITIS, or PLEURISY, 634 

Aconite or veratrum viride, preferable to 
venesection, in early stage, 634 

Aspiration, when hydragogue purges fail to 
remove effusion, 636 

Calomel, in sthenic cases to prevent exuda- 
tion, 267 

Cantharidal blister, two inches below axilla, 
aids absorption of effusion, 413, 636 

Cotton jacket, 635 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



765 



Digitalis or alcohol, if pulse weakens in 

second stage, 636 
Elateriuin or jalap, useful to remove effu- 
sion, 191, 636 
Gelseniium, 208 
Ice-puultice or jacket, used with success in 

sthenic cases, 403 
Iodide of potassium, used in chronic stage, 

to aid absorption, 228 
Iodine, locally applied, to abort, and aid 

absorption of fluid, 232 
Pilocarpine, 325 
Salicylates, very useful for the removal of 

effusion, 341, 636 
Saline purges, in second stage, to remove 

effusion, 636 
Strapping chest, if respiratory movements 

are very painful, 634 
Veratrum viride, 386 

PLEURODYNIA. (See Neuralgia.) 

PNEUMONIA, 637 

Aconite, preferable to veratrum viride, in 
early stage, in children, 638 

Alcohol, inferior to digitalis, as a cardiac 
stimulant in the second stage in adults, 
but better than in children, 54, 639 

Ammonia useful for adults and children, 
639 

Ammonium bromide and carbonate may be 
used if the chloride fails, 641 

Ammonium chloride, as an expectorant in 
third stage, 640 

Antipyrin, of great value, if fever is exces- 
sive, 77 

Belladonna, very useful if there are evi- 
dences of collapse, 94, 639 

Citrate of potassium, to maintain renal 
activity, 640 

Cold bath, sometimes necessary for high 
fever, 639 

Cold sponging for fever, 638 

Digitalis, tincture, gtt. 5 (0.3) every four 
hours, accompanied by belladonna, gtt. 
5 (0.3), carefully watched in second 
stage, 639 

Dover's powder for pain at onset, 638 

Ethyl iodide, causes resolution, 201 

Gelsemiurn, in early stages, 208 

Gin, to maintain renal activity, 640 

Hoffman's anodyne, useful, 639 

Hot foot-bath, useful at onset, 638 

Ice-bag to heart if fever be high and heart 
tumultuous, 638 

Ice-poultice or jacket, highly recommended 
in first stage of sthenic cases, 403, 638 

Iodide of potassium, in later stages to ab- 
sorb exudates, 229 

Morphine, for pain at onset, and for exces- 
sive cough, 638, 640 

Oxvgen inhalations, if asphyxia threatens, 
307, 639 

Phosphorus, 321 

Prescriptions, containing ammonium chlo- 
ride, to loosen cough of second stage, 
640 

Quinine, gr. 2 (0.1), thrice daily, in sup- 
pository, in lobar pneumonia of" children, 
160 

Strychnine as a respiratory and circulatory 



stimulant in second stage and as an ad- 
juvant to digitalis, 639 

Sweet spirit of nitre to maintain renal ac- 
tivity, 640 

Venesection, in early stage of sthenic cases, 
cardiac depressants preferable, and late 
when heart is laboring and veins dis- 
tended, 444, 637, 639 

Veratrum viride, preferable to aconite, in 
early stage, in adults, 386, 637 

POISONING FROM— 

Acetanilid. 
Supportive measures, stimulants, external 
heat, belladonna to maintain blood-press- 
ure, strychnine to counteract respira- 
tory failure, and oxygen inhalations to 
overcome cyanosis, 46 

Acetate of Zinc. 
Treatment same as for gastro-enteritis, 560 

Acetic Acid. 
Large amounts of milk, alkaline liquids, 
and general treatment for gastro-enteri- 
tis, 49 

Aconite. 

Keep patient in prone position, with feet 
higher than head, Hot applications; 
emetics contraindicated ; evacuate stom- 
ach by siphon or stomach-pump. Ether 
hypodermically, followed by alcohol, and 
this by digitalis. Artificial respiration 
and amyl nitrite, a few whiffs, no more, 
if heart fails ; Atropine ; Strychnine, 50 

Alcohol (Acute). 

External heat, digitalis and strychnine 
hypodermically, in coma, if heart fails. 
Belladonna, if skin is relaxed and 
clammy, and counter-irritation to nape 
of neck, for brain symptoms. After- 
treatment, ammonia, spices, spirit of 
Mindererus; emollients in gastritis. Ice, 
aconite, hydrochloric acid, or ipecac in 
minute dose, and counter-irritation for 
vomiting. Jalap, gr. 40 (2.6), elateriuin, 
gr. £ (0.011), or calomel and salines, as 
purgatives, 55 

Fowler's solution for morning vomiting, 85 

Alcohol (Chronic). 
Withdrawal of drug, at once or gradually. 
Highly seasoned broths, predigested 
foods, and morphine or coca, in small 
dose, if weakness is marked. Capsicum 
prescriptions (pages 56, 124), 56 

Antimony. 

Large doses of tannic acid, external heat, 
alcohol, digitalis, and opium hypoder- 
mically, if respiration is not too feeble. 
If necessary to use opium, it should be 
accompanied by strychnine. Prone po- 
sition, the patient vomiting into towels. 
Stomach-pump, if vomiting is absent, 
73; Atropine, 95 

Antipyrin. 
Maintain bodily heat, stimulants, atropine, 



766 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



and oxygen inhalations, if cyanosis is 
alarming, 77 

Arsenic (Acute and Chronic). 

Stomach-pump, external heat, stimulants, 
and the chemical antidote, hydrated 
sesqui oxide of iron and magnesia. Mag- 
nesia also useful by itself. Opium should 
follow antidote, to allay pain, also large 
draughts of water to flush kidneys and 
dilute poison. For chronic poisoning, 
iodide of potassium, tonics, electricity, 
and out-of-door life, 87 

Belladonna. 

External heat if collapse intervene, and 
strychnine to support respiration. The 
physiological antidote, opium, may be 
carefully given, 93 

Carbolic Acid. 

Soluble sulphates, as Epsom or Glauber 
salts, warm mucilaginous drinks, hot 
applications to extremities, digitalis, 
strychnine, and counter-irritation over 
abdomen. Emetics and stomach-pump 
should be used if possible, 127 

Chloral. 

External heat, emetics in early and stom- 
ach-pump in later stages. Strychnine 
or atropine to stimulate respiration. 
Digitalis, preceded by ether, ammonia, 
brandy, or whiskey. Prone position, 
feet being elevated, 136 

Chloroform. 

Artificial respiration, ether and hot brandy 
hypodermically. Poles of battery with 
rapidly interrupted current swept over 
body, not over diaphragm or phrenic 
nerve. Place patient with head down- 
ward. Compression of the abdomen 
and limbs ; compression and massage of 
theprsecordiuro. Atropine, strychnine, 
and digitalis to stimulate the heart and 
respiration. Laborde's lingual traction, 
147 

Cocaine. 
Ammonia, coffee, strychnine, ether and 
alcohol. If convulsive in type, treat 
same as strychnine poisoning, 168 

Colchicum. 

Tannic acid, emetics, and stomach-pump. 
Opium to relieve pain, and oils. Atro- 
pine and stimulants if collapse comes 
on, 173 

Conium. 
Emetics or stomach-pump, strychnine as a 
nervous and respiratory stimulant, ex- 
ternal heat and cardiac stimulants, if 
circulation fails, 176 

Copper. 

Yellow prussiate of potassium, sweet oil, 
white of egg; followed instantly by 
emetics or stomach-pump. If emesis or 
purgation is present, emetics are contra- 
indicated; instead, mustard plaster over 



abdomen and opium internally are to 
be employed, 178 

Corrosive Sublimate. 

Large amounts of white of egg, followed 
by stomach-pump, external heat, stimu- 
lants, 268 

Croton Oil. 

Treatment same as for gastro-enteritis, 560 

Digitalis. 
Tannic acid as a chemical antidote, emetics 
or stomach-pump, external heat to ab- 
domen and aconite as a physiological 
antidote. Maintain horizontal position, 
187 

Elaterium. 
Treatment same as for gastro-enteritis, 560 

Ether. 

Artificial respiration, lowering head if face 
is pale ; strychnine, atropine, and digi- 
talis hypodermically, or intravenous in- 
jection of ammonia to stimulate heart 
and respiration ; frictions and hot ap- 
plications ; ether (lashed on chest and 
abdomen ; Laborde's method of traction 
of the tongue, 196 

Eucaine. 

Treatment like that of cocaine intoxica- 
tion, 168 

Gelsemium. 

Emetics and stomach-pump, digitalis, atro- 
pine, and ammonia as cardiac stimu- 
lants ; external heat, strychnine, and 
atropine for respiratory centre, 208 

Iodine. 

Emetics or stomach-pump, large amounts 
of starch, hot applications, and hypo- 
dermic injections of alcohol, ammonia, 
atropine, digitalis, or strychnine, 231 

Iodoform. 

Sodium bicarbonate to combine with iodine, 
alcohol, diuretics, and hot blankets; 
saline transfusion, 235 

Lead (Acute). 

Epsom or Glauber's salts, in large amounts ; 
alum ; emetics or stomach-pump. Hot 
applications and opium to relieve pain, 
250 

Lead (Chronic). 

Jalap and calomel with opium or alum, 
gr. 2 (0.1), in full dose, valuable in lead 
colic. Blister to back of neck, revulsives 
and pilocarpine in cerebral inflamma- 
tion. Iodide of potassium to eliminate 
lead. Strychnine in progressive paral- 
ysis. Electricity and baths of sulphuret 
of potassium, 250 

Mineral Acids. 

Alkalies, such as magnesium, lime, white- 
wash, and soap as antidotes ; white of 
egg, external heat, oils, and opium, to 
relieve irritation. 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



7G7 



Monsel's Solution. 
Soap, 245 

Nitrate of Silver (Acute). 
Common salt as the chemical antidote, 
opium and oils to allay irritation ; also 
large amounts of milk and soap and 
water ; maintain bodily heat, 282 

Nitrate of Silver (Chronic). 
Iodide of potassium, to aid in eliminating 
poison, 282 

Nux Vomica and its Alkaloids. 

Inhalations of amyl nitrite, to prevent con- 
vulsive tendencies, at the same time use 
stomach-pump. Tannic acid followed 
by physiological antidotes, potassium 
bromide, gr. 60 (2.0), with chloral, gr. 
20 (1.3). If convulsions prevent swal- 
lowing, chloroform patient carefully and 
give antidotes by rectum in starch- 
water. Amyl nitrite, hypodermically, 
if relaxation does not occur, 293 

Opium (Acute). 
Emetics, or stomach-pump, tannic acid, 
black coffee, electricity, and other meas- 
ures to keep patient awake. Atropine 
or strychnine, hypodermically, if res- 
piration fails. Alcohol, ammonia, and 
external heat. Artificial respiration 
may be necessary ; repeated washing 
out of stomach. Permanganate of po- 
tassium, 297 

Opium (Chronic). 

Decrease a sixth or fourth of customary 
amount each twenty-four hours. Co- 
caine not advisable as a substitute, as 
the coCaine-habit may be established. 
Digitalis and strychnine if heart fails, 
298 

Phosphorus. 

Permanganate of potassium, 1 per cent, so- 
lution, or peroxide of hydrogen. Sul- 
phate of copper is too poisonous in itself, 
320 

Physostigma. 

Atropine as a physiological antidote, ex- 
ternal heat, and cardiac and respiratory 
stimulants, 322 

Scammony. 

Treatment same as for gastro-enteritis, 560 

Strychnine. (See Nux Vomica.) 

Veratum Viride. 

Prone position, head higher than feet ; 
atropine, strychnine, external heat, and 
cardiac stimulants, 386 

POST-PARTUM HEMORRHAGE, 587, 648 
Auto-transfusion, or actual transfusion of 
weak salt solution, necessary in some 
cases, 649 
Beef-tea, i pint (250.0), and morphine, 
gr. £ (0.01) hypodermically, after reac- 
tion is established, 649 



Correction of displacement sometimes neces- 
sary, 648 

Drugs have been recommended, but are 
dangerous as local applications, 649 

Enema, of hot water, 1 pint (500.0), after 
cessation of bleeding, 649 

Ergot, as a cure and prophylactic, 193, 587 

Ether, hypodermically, if symptoms of 
shock are manifested, followed by small 
doses of hot, strong brandy and water, 
aud warm milk, 649 

Gauze, preferably iodoform, packed into 
uterine cavity, 649 

Ice used externally and internally, 649 

Injections of lemon-juice, vinegar, or hot 
water, 587, 649 

Manipulations of the uterus, 587, 648 

Method to pursue when caused by hsenia- 
toma, 648 

Suture, if due to laceration, 649 



PRIAPISM. 



Hops 218 



PROLAPSUS ANI AND RECTI. 

Injection of cold or hot water, often re- 
lieves, 405 
Quercus alba, infusion, 334 

PROSTATITIS, 567 

Cold-water injections and perineal douches, 
408, 567 

Local treatment to prostatic urethra, and 
use of cold steel sounds in chronic types, 
567 

Perineal incision, to evacuate pus, if ab- 
scess forms, 567 

Rest in bed, regulation of bowels, leeches 
to perineum, medication to render urine 
alkaline, and. morphine hypodermically 
or in suppository, 567 

Soft catheter, allowed to remain in blad- 
der, if retention of urine is persistent,. 
567 

PROSTATORRHOZA. 

Cantharides, 123 

PRURIGO. 

Cantharides, 123 

PRURITUS, 641 

Alum solution in pruritus vulvae, 63 

Arsenic, quinine, bitter tonics, cod-liver 
oil, alkaline diuretics or mineral waters, 
in debility, and avoidance of condi- 
ments if mouth of vagina or urethra is 
affected, 641 

Boric acid, 100 

Calomel and lard (1 drachm to the ounce 
[4.0 : 32.0]), locally applied, 273 

Carbolic acid, 642 

Chloride of calcium, prescription for, 113 

Chloroform may be used, 642 

Cocaine, relieves temporarily, 642 

Cold douche and injections highly recom- 
mended in pruritus ani and vulvae, 407 

Goulard's extract, dilute, useful in pruritus 
pudendi, 244 

Hydrocyanic acid, locally applied, 222 

Ivory plug for, 642 

Prescriptions for lotions and ointments, 642 



768 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Salicylic acid, prescription for, 341 

Silver nitrate (gr. 20 to the ounce [1.3 : 
32.0]), locally applied, preceded by co- 
caine, if itching is intense ; a 4- to 6- 
grain (0.2-0.3) solution may relieve 
itching of pruritus pudendi, ani, and 
vulvae, 284, 642 

Sodium bicarbonate or borax (1 drachm to 
the pint [4.0 : 500.0]), as a wash, 641 

Teucrium scordium, highly recommended 
by Briuton, 642 

PSEUDO-LEUKEMIA. 

Arsenic internally, and injections of Fow- 
ler's solution into glands, 84 

PSORIASIS. 

Amnion iated mercury in, 268 

Anthrarobin, 71 

Aristol, 377 

Arsenic, 85 

Cantharides, 123 

Chrysarobin, gr. & (0.008) internally, or the 

ointment with benzoated lard (1 to 4 

or 5), locally applied, face excepted ; 

prescription for application, 155 
Gallic acid, ointment, 206 
Pyrogallol,' 30 grains to ounce (2.0 : 32.0) 

of lard, 333 
Eesorcin, prescription for, 335 
Tar, locally applied, 329 
Thymol iodide, 377 
Thyroid gland in, 379 

PTYALISM. 

Alum, applied on swab, in mercurial ptyal- 

ism, 63 
Belladonna, in idiopathic or mercurial 

types, 93 

PUERPERAL DISEASES, 642 

(For treatment see special titles.) 

PUERPERAL FEVER, 643 

Antipyretics, best abstained from as long as 
possible, 644 

Antistreptococcic serum nuclein and injec- 
tions of normal salt solution important 
adjuvants, 644 

Bichloride of mercury (1 : 2000), or creolin 
(2 per cent.) solutions, as antiseptic in- 
jections, 642 

Boric acid, creolin (2 per cent.), or bichlo- 
ride (1:8000), solutions, as injections 
into bladder, to prevent septic cystitis, 
646 

Curette or placental forceps, to remove 
membranes if fever continues after an- 
tiseptic injections, 643 

Epsom salts, concentrated solution, 2 
drachms (8.0) every fifteen minutes, if 
peritonitis develops, 645 

Laparotomy occasionally saves life, if sep- 
tic peritonitis develops, 644 

Nutriment in large amounts and alcoholic 
stimulants, if symptoms of systemic in- 
vasion arise, 644 

Silver nitrate (gr. 40 to 60 to the ounce 
[2.6-4.0 : 32.0]), locally applied to un- 
healthy ulcerated wounds; zinc chlo- 
ride solution maybe necessary, 645 

Veratrum viride, 386 



PURPURA HEMORRHAGICA. 

Suprarenal gland, 369 
Turpentine, 382 

PYELITIS. 

Buchu in chronic types, 109 

Cantharides, 122 

Copaiba, 177 

Juniper, as a tonic in chronic types, 247 

Pareira, 310 

Uva ursi, 383 

QUINSY. 

Aconite, in early stage, 51 

Salicylic acid, gr. 3 (0.15), hourly, acts as a 
specific, especially if due to rheuma- 
tism, 341 

REMITTENT FEVER, 653 

Antipyrin, or cold pack, if fever is exces- 
sive, 654 

Eupatorium, 203 

Monsel's salt, gallic or tannic acid inter- 
nally, if intestinal hemorrhage occurs, 
654 

Morphine, spirit of chloroform, or aconite, 
• in sthenic cases, to control vomiting, 
654 

Phenocoll, 5 to 8 grains (0.3-0.6), 316 

Quinine, gr. 20 to 30 (1.3-2.0), preceded by 
calomel, gr. 3 to 4 (0.15-0.2) ; if not re- 
tained, administer by rectum, or hypo- 
dermically, with divided doses of Seid- 
litz powder by mouth, 159, 653 

Tonics, potassium salts, to regulate kid- 
neys, and purgatives, if necessary, dur- 
ing convalescence, 654 

Turpentine stupe, if belly is tender, 653 

RETINITIS, 654 

Atropine, dark glasses, and later suitable 
lenses, if due to eye-strain, 654 

RHEUMATISM (ACUTE ARTICULAR), 654 

Acetanilid, relieves pain and fever, 46, 656 
1 Acetate of potassium, 48 
Aconite, or veratrum viride, useful at onset 

of inflammation in sthenic cases, 655 
Alcohol, in depression, 655 
Ammonium bromide and phosphate, 67, 69 
Antimonial powder as an antipyretic, 75 
Antipyrin, gr. 10 to 20 (0.65-1.3), or anti- 

febrin, gr. 4 to 8 (0.2-0.4), often very 

valuable, 78, 656 
Benzoic acid, drachms 2 to 3, daily, said to 

be a specific, 96 
Bicarbonate or citrate of potassium, gr. 20 

to 30 (1.3-2.0), in water, every five 

hours, in obstinate cases, 658 
Bicarbonate of sodium, 356, 655 
Blisters over joints, useful after systemic 

disturbance is past, 659 
Caffeine useful to support the heart, 658 
Camphor liniment, 118 
Capsicum plaster, 125 
Cimicifuga, shortens attack and relieves 

pain in some cases, 156, 658 
Colchicum, prescription for, 658 
Cold pack, if fever threatens life, 656 
j Fuller's lotion, applied on hot cloths to 

joints, 655 



INDEX OF DISEASES AXD REMEDIES. 



769' 



Guaiac, 213 

Ice-cold compress, may relieve inflamed 
joints, 655 

Ichthyol, ointment valuable, applied to 
joints, prescription for, 226, 655 

Iodine, ointment or tincture, painted over 
parts, 659 

Lemon- or lime-juice, or citric acid, bene- 
ficial in nearly all cases, 164, 659 

Oil of ganltheria, useful as a substitute for 
salicylic acid; also used as a local ap- 
plication to the joints, 207, 656 

01. succini, applied locally over joints, 63 

Phenacetin, alone or with salol, 317, 658 

Phenocoll, 313 

Potassium iodide, useful in subacute or ob- 
stinate types, prescription for, 228, 658 

Potassium nitrate, 281 

Ehus toxicodendron, especially useful for 
night pains, 658 

Salicylic acid, gr. 20 (1.3) thrice daily; if 
untoward symptoms arise it must be 
stopped, 340, 656 

Salicylic acid, applied to joints in a salve 
when stomach is irritable, 342, 655 

Salol, useful as a substitute for salicylic 
acid ; dangerous in large doses, 344, 659 

Sodium bicarbonate (gr. 20 to the ounce 
[1.3 : 32.0]), to inflamed joints, 655 

Splints for fixation of limbs, may relieve 
greatly, 655 

Veratrine ointment, used locally, applied 
to joints, 659 

RHEUMATISM (CHRONIC), 659 

Arsenic, useful in some cases, 85 

Cimicifuga, sometimes relieves, 156 

Citric acid, 164 

Cod-liver oil, internally; also useful rubbed 
into joints, 170, 660 

Colchicum, with iodide of potassium, pre- 
scription for, 173 

Hot-air bath, 424 

Ichthyol, the best remedv for joints, 660 

Iodine, locally applied, 232, 660 

Liniments, prescriptions for, 660 

Ointments, prescriptions for, 660 

Potassium iodide, colchicum, and sarsapa- 
rilla, usually indicated; see prescrip- 
tions, 228, 659 

Salophen, 345 

Sulphur, 367 

Turkish or Eussian baths, very valuable, 
659 

Veratrine ointment, gives greatest relief in 
some cases, prescription for, 384, 660 

RHEUMATISM (MUSCULAR). 

Burgundy pitch, a mild local remedy, 328 

Croton oil liniment, 183 

Dover's powder, in conjunction with hot 

drinks and hot foot-bath, often cures, 

301 
Mustard, as a counter-irritant, 279 
Veratrine ointment, locally applied, 384 

RHINITIS. 

Creolin (1 : 1000), as a nasal douche, 182 
Fluid cosmoline, in spray, 315 
Potassium permauganate, solution, in foetid 
rhinitis, 314 

49 



RHUS POISONING. 
Crindelia, 212 
Infusion of lobelia, 258 
Lead acetate, 252 
Liquor plumbi subacetatis, 253 

RICKETS, 661 
j Arsenite of copper, 661 
| Cinchona, or strychnine, 661 
i Cod-liver oil, prescription for, 170, 661 

Cool sponging or rubbing with salt and 
whiskev (1 drachm to the pint [4.0: 
500.0]), useful at night, 662 

Hvpophosphites and lactophosphates useful r 
*113 

Iodide of iron, syrup of, if scrofulous tend- 
ency or aneemia exists, prescriptions for, 
661,* 662 

Lime salts, phosphorus, zinc phosphate, as 
bone tonics, 661 

Massage and passive movements, 662 

Mineral acids, physostigma and simple 
bitters, as digestive tonics, 661 

Nux vomica, rarely given because of bit- 
terness, 661 

Phosphate of lime or sodium gr. 1 to 2 
(0.05-0.1), in child's milk, 662 

Phosphorus (gr. T Jo [0.0006]), in sugar- 
coated pill, 321, 662 

Quinine, cod-liver oil, nux vomica, and 
iron as general tonics, 661 

Sodium and lime salts, useful in nursing 
and pregnant women, 662 

RINGWORM. (See Tinea Circinata.) 

SATYRIASIS. 
Potassium bromide, one of the best rem- 
edies, 103 

SCABIES. 

Sulphur, the best remedy, 367 

SCARLET FEVER, 662 

Aconite, harmful if constantlv emploved, 

51 
| Alcohol, indicated in collapse, 665 

Antipyrin or acetanilid, may produce col- 
lapse in large doses, 77. 664 

Antistreptococcic serum, 400 

Bromide of sodium, with chloral, useful 
when convulsion ushers in attack, 664 

Carbolic acid (gtt. 2 [0.1] to olive oil oz. 2 
[64.0]), benzoated lard, vaseline, cosmo- 
line, or almond oil, useful, locally ap- 
plied, to allay itching, 665 

Chloral, very useful, prescription for, 663 

Chlorate of potassium, locally applied, by 
spray or swab, in sore throat, 665 

Cold sponging, useful ; pack must be em- 
ployed if fever is excessive, 664 

Ice applied externally and held in mouth, 
to prevent swelling of throat, 665 

Ice-bag or rubber head-coil to head, if very 
hot, 665 

Juniper, in later stages, if there is renal 
atony, 248 

Potassium citrate and sweet spirit of nitre, 
prescription for, 664 

Quinine, unsuccessful in most cases, 665 

Salicylic acid, highly recommended, pre- 
scription for, 663 



770 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Strychnine, iron, simple bitters, quinine or 1 

Basham's mixture, in convalescence, | 

666 
Sweating necessary in nephritis, 665 
Warm wet pack, useful to bring out rash, 

664, 665 
Water, pure, such as Vichy or Poland, in 

large amounts, 664 

SCIATICA, 666 

Absolute rest of limb in splints very need- 
ful, 667 

Acetanilid and antipyrin, 46, 666 

Acupuncture, recommended, 666 

Cod-liver oil, of service in obstinate cases, 
170, 667 

Chloroform, deeply injected over exit of 
nerve, a favorite remedy, 151, 666 

Ether or rhigolene sprayed on part, often 
effective, 666 

Hot water-bags, placed around exit of 
sciatic nerve, 667 

Liniments for rheumatism, may be tried, 
667 

Massage of nerve with glass rod, 666 

Morphine, injected over course of nerve, 
666 

Nerve-stretching, 666 

Potassium bitartrate or citrate, gr. 40 (2.6), 
thrice daily, in plenty of water, to reg- 
ulate kidneys, 666 

Potassium iodide, 228 

Eemedies for rheumatism, often relieve, 
667 

Salicylic acid, 341 

Sulphur, 367 

Wet or dry cups, highly beneficial over 
course of nerve, 666 

SCLERITIS, 667 
Atropine, boric acid, and hot-water com- 
presses, in early stage, 667 
• Eserine, with pilocarpine sweats or cautery, 
in stubborn episcleritis without iritis, 
667 
Specific treatment, in syphilitic cases, 667 
Yellow-oxide ointment, associated with 
massage, to subdue infiltration, 667 

SCLEROSIS. 

Antipvrin, 78 
Nitrate of silver, 283 

SCROFULOSIS, 667 

Arsenic or corrosive sublimate useful if 
anaemia is present, prescriptions for, 667 

Calcium chloride, 113 

Cod-liver oil, the best remedy, 170, 667 

Diet and exercise, 667 

Europhen in scrofuloderm, 204 

Excision, or scraping gland, and packing 
with iodoform sauze if other treatment 
fail, 668 

Hypophosphite of calcium, 113 

Ichthyol ointment, useful, rubbed into per- 
sistent enlargements, prescription for, 
668 

Iodine ointment and lard, equal parts, 
rubbed into glands, stopping at first 
sign of reddening or fluctuation, 668 

Iron, syrup of the iodide, in aneemia, pre- 
scription for, 243, 667 



Lactophosphates, or hypophosphites, with 
cod-liver oil, useful in young children, 
667 

Phosphate of sodium or lime, if glands are 
breaking down, 113, 668 

Sulphurate of calcium, if suppuration is 
active, 668 

Thiol, recommended in scrofulous skin dis- 
eases, 375 

SCURVY, 668 

Arsenic and iron, of service in most cases, 
668 

Citric acid, if lemon-juice is not attainable, 
163, 668 

Diet, 668, 669 

Lemon- or lime-juice, particularly indi- 
cated, 668 

SEA-SICKNESS. 

Bromides, the best prophylactics, 104 
Chloralamide and potassium bromide, 139 
Nitrite of amy], 70 
Kola, 249 

SHOCK, 669 

Alcohol, 54 

Atropine, gr. fa to fa (0.001), hypodermi- 
cally, with hot applications, very useful 
in first or second stage, 94, 670 

Digitalis, valuable as an adjuvant to atro- 
pine, 188, 670 

Heat, external, very useful, 670 

Hypodermoclysis, useful, 670 

Strychnine, very valuable, 295 

SKIN DISEASES. 

Arsenate of iron, 241 

Arsenic, in dry, scaly types, 85 

Bismuth subgallate when there is much 
secretion, 99 

Boro-glycerin, 101 

Cod-liver oil, in strumous types, 170 

Copper sulphate gr. fa (0.005), thrice daily, 
if arsenic is not well borne, 179 

Corrosive sublimate, oz. ^ (16.0), and am- 
monium chloride, oz. 1 (32.0), useful, 
added to bath, in syphiloderm, 269 

Hydrocyanic acid, in itching types, pre- 
scription for, 222 

Ichthyol in those forms associated with 
atony and induration of the deeper 
layers, 226 

Ointment of biniodide and of yellow oxide 
and lard, in equal parts, useful applica- 
tion, 270, 275 

Petrolatum, as an emollient dressing, 315 

Tar and suet, equal parts, locally applied 
except on face, 329 

Unguentum hydrargyri ammoniati, 268 

Zinc oxide ointment, 305 

SMALLPOX, 670 

Aconite, with spirits of nitre and Min- 
dererus, useful as a fever mixture, 670 

Antipyrin or acetanilid, to control head- 
ache and backache, 77, 670 

Brandy and whiskey, if pulse fails, 670, 671 

Bromides and chloral, in insomnia; latter 
must be used carefully, 670 

Carbolic acid and sweefoil (1:100), as an 
ointment to check irritation, 671 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



771 



Chlorate of potassium with tincture of 

myrrh, as a mouth-wash, 671 
Disinfection and hygiene necessary, 671 
Flexible collodion, glycerite of starch, or 

simple cerate, locally applied, to prevent 

itching, 671 
Iron, tincture of the chloride, to give 

strength and act as a specific, 671 
Mustard plasters contraindicated, 670 
Salicylic acid and vaseline, or cold cream 

(4 : 100), best local application, 671 
Silver nitrate, locally applied, to prevent 

pitting, 283, 671 

SORDES. 

Glycerin and water, equal parts, useful as 
a mouth- wash, 211 

SORES. 

Acetic acid, in old sores, 48 

Black wash, useful for syphilitic sores, 270 

Camphor, locally applied, as a stimulant in 
indolent sores, 118 

Charcoal, applied to old sores, as a deodor- 
ant and antiseptic, 129 

Cold cream, as an emollient dressing, 337 

Dried alum a useful dressing, 63 

Formaldehyde solution useful for cauter- 
izing syphilitic sores, 206 

Gallic acid, 206 

Iodoform, gr. 20 (1.3), with oil of eucalyp- 
tus, oz. \ (16.0), or iodoform, oz. \ (16.0), 
camphor, gr. 75 (5.0). and essence of 
roses, gtt. 2 (0.1), as a dressing for syph- 
ilitic sores, 236 

Petrolatum, as an emollient dressing, 315 

Potassium permanganate (gr. 60 to the pint 
[4.0: 500.0]), as a wash, 314 

Quercus alba, powdered, as a poultice, to 
check discharge, 334 

Eed or yellow oxide of mercury a good 
dressing for syphilitic sores, 275 

Salicylic acid ointment, 2 per cent., for 
sores from riding in a saddle, 342 

Sulphuric acid, sometimes used as an es- 
charotic in venereal sores, 368 

Zinc-oxide ointment, 305 

SORE THROAT. 

Aconite, in earlv stage, 51 
Alum (gr. 20 to the ounce [1.3 : 32.0]), lo- 
cally applied on swab, 62 
Arsenic, 85 
Belladonna, of greatest service in some 

cases, 94 
Capsicum, tincture of, and glycerin, 124 
Carbolic acid (1 : 100), in spray, in ulcerated 

types, 128 
Catechu, as a gargle or in troches, 133 
Copper sulphate (gr. 4 to the ounce [0.2 : 

32.0]), often of service in relaxed sore 

throat, 179 
Guaiac, 213 

Hamamelis, in relaxed sore throat, 215 
Hydrogen peroxide (2 per cent, strength), 

in spray, in foetid types, 223 
Kino, as a gargle, 248 
Myrrh, tincture of, diluted one half, as a 

gargle in ulcerated types, 280 
Potassium chlorate gargle in anginose 

form, prescription for, 141 
Quercus alba, useful as a gargle, 334 



Quinine (gr. 1 to 2 to the ounce [0.05-0.1 : 
32.0]), in spray, in foetid sore throat, 
160 

Rhus glabra, with glycerin and water, use- 
ful as a gargle, 337 

SPASMS. 
Belladonna, useful in urethral, anal, and 

vesical spasm, 94 
Bromides in spasmodic contractions, 103 
Cannabis indica, useful in vesical spasm, 

120 
Conium, useful, if due to irritation of 

nerve-trunk, 176 
Ether, inhalation, relieves local spasms, 

199 
Gelsemium in localized muscular spasms, 

208 
Hyoscyamus in local spasm or where pain 

is due to spasm, 224 
Nitrite of amyl, of service to relax, 70 

SPERMATORRHOEA. (See Emissions.) 

SPRAINS. 

Arnica, 82 
[ Camphor liniment, 118 
Cold applications, useful in sprained ankle, 

401 
Croton oil liniment, 183 
j Hot-air bath, 424 
Hot bath, very useful in sprained ankle, 

422 
Ichthyol ointment, well rubbed in, very 

useful, 226 
Lead-water and laudanum, 253, 301 
Soap liniment, 354 
Soap plaster, used as a support to sprained 

joints, 354 
Soluble glass, 353 
Turpentine liniment, 382 
Warming plaster, 328 

STINGS AND BITES, 671 

Ammonia or alkaline liquids, locally ap- 
plied to neutralize poison, 671 

Carbolic acid (1:50 or 100), sponged over 
part, useful in mosquito-bites, 671 

Corrosive sublimate, with flexible collodion 
(1:1000), painted over part; salicylic 
acid a useful addition, 671 

Hydrogen peroxide applied locally to hor- 
net's sting, of great value, 223 

Ipecac paste for stings of bees, 239 

Ligature, or cleansing of wound, at once, 
to prevent absorption in snake-bite, 
671 

Potassium permanganate, applied and in- 
jected around snake-bite, followed by 
alcohol in full dose, 671 

Vinegar, dilute or. pure, locally applied, 
often relieves insect-bites, 671 

STOMATITIS, 672 
Borax, as a mouth-wash, prescription for, 

99, 672 
Bromide of potassium or sodium, gr. 1 to 
3 (0.05-0.15), thrice daily, when nervous 
irritability is excessive, 673 
Carbolic acid, as a mouth-wash, 128 
Cleansing nipples, in breast-fed babies, 672 
i Cocaine, before cauterization, 166 



772 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Nitrate of silver, stick touched to sore 
spots when they fail to yield to other 
treatment, 284, 672 

Nitric acid, gtt. 3 (0.15), in water, taken 
through tube, 286 

Nitro-muriatic acid, indicated when he- 
patic torpor exists, 672 

Peroxide of hydrogen, 672 

Potassium chlorate, prescription for, 140, 
672 

Salicylic acid (1 : 250), as a mouth-wash, 
after blisters have broken, to allay pain, 
341 

Salines or rhubarb, if constipation exist, 
672 

Sozoiodol (5 per cent, solution), locally ap- 
plied, 358 

Sweet spirit of nitre, 10 drops (0.65), well 
diluted, to a one- or two-year-old child, 
and a warm foot-bath, before retiring, 
to produce rest, 672 

Thymol, prescription for, 376 

Tonics and careful diet after the attack, 
673 

STYES, 673 

Boric acid (saturated solution), collodion 
(ethereal solution), or red or yellow ox- 
ide of mercury salve (gr. 2 to the ounce 
[0.1-32.0]), locally applied to abort, 
673 
Calcium sulphurate, if they tend to return, 

673 
Hot compresses, to alleviate pain, 673 
Incision, as soon as pus forms, 673 
Tonics, if general health is poor, 673 

SUBINVOLUTION OF UTERUS. (See In- 
volution, Anomalies of.) 

SUNBURN. 

Almonds, in emulsion, 60 

Carbonate of lead, prescription for, 253 

SUNSTROKE, 673 

Antipyretics, almost useless, 77, 674 

Hot baths (105° to 110° F.). or hot bottles 
or bricks, in heat exhaustion, 674 

Ice, application to chest, back, and abdo- 
men, as quickly as possible, in thermic 
fever, 674 

Salicylic acid, quinine, and similar drugs 
contraindicated, 674 

Tonics, during convalescence in heat ex- 
haustion, 675 

Venesection, best treatment, if face be cya- 
notic and heart laboring, and if menin- 
gitis threatens, after thermic fever, 
674 

Veratrum viride may be used if meningi- 
tis threatens, 674 

SYNCOPE. 

Ammonia, if due to shock or indigestion, 
65 

SYNOVITIS. 

Carbolic acid (2 per cent, strength), as an 

injection in chronic types, 128 
Counter-irritation, 413 
Iodine, 232 



SYPHILIS, 675 

Biniodide of mercury, 270 

Bismuth and calomel, as a dusting-powder, 
or bichloride solution (1:2000), locally 
applied to mucous patches about geni- 
talia, 677 

Calomel, gr. \ (0.011), every two hours, for 
cephalalgia, 677 

Cod-liver oil. useful in advanced cases, 170, 
679 

Expectant plan of treatment, 676 

Formaldehyde solution, useful for cauter- 
izing sores, 206 

Hypodermic injections of mercury, 263, 
275, 679 

Iodides, followed if necessary by mercury, 
recommended by some, 228, 675 

Iodoform, gr. 1 to 5 (0.05-0.25), internally 
in tertiary stage, and the ointment ap- 
plied to ulcers, very useful, 236, 679 

Iodol, in tertiary stage, 237 

Mercurial ointment, by inunction, 273, 
678 

Mercury, at beginning of secondary stage, 
followed later by the iodides, 676 

Mercury, by fumigation, general and local, 
263, 678 

Mercury, with chalk, chiefly employed in 
infantile syphilis, 273 

Mixed treatment, 677 

Ointments and washes of mercury, and 
hot applications, to combat surface erup- 
tions, 677 

Prescription for blue mass and iron, 678 

Prescription for potassium iodide and mer- 
cury, to be used after first eighteen 
months, 677 

Pressure bandage and mercurial inunctions 
for periostitis, 677 

Protiodide of mercury, 275, 676 

Salicylate of mercury hypodermically, 275 

Sarsaparilla, a useful adjunct to potassium 
iodide, 348, 680 

Shampooing and local application of croton 
oil, or cantharides, as a lotion, to com- 
bat alopecia, 677 

Silver nitrate, copper sulphate, chromic 
acid solution (20 per cent.) or acid ni- 
trate of mercury, locally applied to mu- 
cous patches, in mouth, 677 

Stillingia, used as an aid to other drugs, 
361 

Thiol, in syphilides, 375 

Tonic and general treatment, 679 

Vapor baths, hypodermic injections, or in- 
unctions, useful modes of applying mer- 
cury if it cannot be taken by mouth, 
678 

SYSTEMIC STRAIN. 

Opium, useful in prolonged physical strain, 
302 

Quinine, gr. 2 to 4 (0.1-0.2), useful to pre- 
vent exhaustion following physical and 
mental strain, 160 

TABES DORSALIS. (See Locomotor 
Ataxia.) 

Chloralamide, prescription for, 139 
TAPE-WORM. (See Worms.) 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



773 



TEETHING. 

Bromide of potassium, to prevent convul- 
sions, 104 

TETANUS, 680. (See Poisoning from 
Strychnine.) 
Amyl nitrite, to relieve and prevent, 70 
Antitoxin, value of, not established, 680 
Chloral and bromide of potassium, by 

mouth or rectum, 138 
Fowler's solution, said to be almost specific 

in some cases, 680 
Physostigma, of moderate value, 322 

TINEA CAPITIS. 

Lime-water, locally applied, 115 

TINEA CIRCINATA. 

Borax, strong solution, locally applied, 100 
Iodine, applied with camel's-hair brush, 

233 
Turpentine, useful, applied with a brush, 

382 

TINEA TARSI. 
Copper, crystals, or weak solution, applied 

to diseased eyelid, 179 

TINEA TONSURANS. 

Borax, strong solution, locally applied, 100 
Iodine, applied with camel's-hair brush, 

233 
Oil of cajuput, applied pure, 112 

TOE-NAIL (INGROWING). 

Absorbent cotton, soaked in strong alum 
solution, and inserted under nail, 63 

Liquor potassse, to soften nail prior to pack- 
ing with cotton or partial evulsion, 250 

TONSILLITIS, 680 

Alum stick, deeply applied, 62 

Ammonium iodide, for enlarged tonsils, 69 

Carbolic acid, solution (1 : 100), as an anti- 
septic gargle, 680 

Glycerin and tincture of capsicum, equal 
parts, applied by swab, 124 

Guaiac, 213, 680 

Hot fomentations and gargles useful in 
some cases, 680 

Hydrogen peroxide (2 per cent, strength), 
in sprav, in ulcerative types, 223 

Ice-bag to "throat, 680 

Iron, tincture of the chloride, 242, 680 

Monsel's solution, pure, applied with cam- 
el's-hair brush, 244 

Nitrate of silver, applied locally, 680 

Salicvlates, are valuable in rheumatic cases, 
341, 680 

Saline purgative, followed by fever mixture 
of aconite, sweet spirit of nitre, and po- 
tassium citrate, 680 

Scarification may be of service in early 
stage, 680 

TOOTHACHE. 

Creosote, applied on cotton, often relieves, 

181 
Oil of cloves, inserted into cavitv on cotton, 

164 
Oil of peppermint, applied on cotton, 312 



TORPOR. 

Acetate of potassium, in hepatic torpor, 48 
Ammonium chloride, in hepatic torpor, 68 
Arsenic, in gastric torpor, 85 
Citric acid, in hepatic torpor, 164 
Euonymus, in mild hepatic torpor, 203 
Lactophosphates and hypophosphites, useful 

in hepatic torpor, 114 
Nitro-hydrochloric acid, in torpor of liver, 

288 
Bussian and Turkish baths, useful in tor- 
pidity of skin and kidneys, 424 
Taraxacum, in hepatic torpor, 373 

TORTICOLLIS. 

Belladonna, injected into muscles, 94 
Gelsemium,208 



TREMOR. 



Hyoscine, 225 
Sparteine, 351 



TUBERCULOSIS, 681 

Acetanilid, generally acts unfavorably, 46 

Agaricin, of doubtful value in night-sweats, 
53 

Almonds, essential oil of, recommended in 
cough, 60 

Alum (gr. 10 to 20 to the ounce [0.65-1.3 : 
32.0]), or sulphuric acid (1 drachm to 
the pint [4.0:500.0]) useful, sponged 
over body in night-sweats, 684 

Antipyrin, harmful, 77 

Arsenic, in phthisis, 85, and in phthisical 
tendencies, 84 

Atropine, gr. ^ to -^ (0.001), hypodermi- 
cally, in excessive night-sweats, 68, 684 

Blister, small, useful over new pleuritic 
spots, 683 

Camphoric acid, gr. 20 to 30 (1.3-2.0,) in- 
valuable, 684 

Cannabis indica, 120, 683 

Carbolic acid (stt. 5 to 15 to the ounce [0.3- 
1.0:32.0]), in spray, 128 

Chloride of calcium, 113 

Chloroform, spirit of, used by inhaler, often 
relieves cough, 683 

Climatic treatment, 438 

Codeine, recommended in excessive cough, 
169 

Cod-liver oil, rules for its use, 682 

Copper in tubercular tendencies, 179 

Creosote, internally, in spray or by inhaler, 
often relieves cough and discomfort; 
contraindicated if fever and haemopty- 
sis are present ; prescription for, 180, 
682 

Glycerin and water equal parts, with lem- 
on-juice, useful as a mouth-wash, 211 

Guaiacol, useful in, 213, 214 

Hydrogen, peroxide (2 per cent, strength), 
in fine spray in laryngeal phthisis, 223 

Hygienic measures, 682 

Hypnal for cough, 225 

Inhalations of steam from corrosive subli- 
mate solution (1:10,000), stopping at 
first sign of mercurial effects, in laryn- 
geal phthisis; precede inhalation with 
cocaine-spray (4 per cent, solution), 
683 

Iodine, useful, painted over new pleuritic 



774 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



spots, also useful in chronic cases as an 
inhalant, 233, 683 

Iodoform with small amount of powdered 
talc and a little morphine, useful when 
puffed into the larynx in laryngeal tu- 
berculosis, 684; also used in spray, 
236 

Iodoform emulsion (10 per cent.), useful in 
tubercular abscess, 236 

Iodol, of use in tubercular laryngitis, 237 

Lactic acid applications (10 to 60 per cent, 
solution), in laryngeal tuberculosis, 
using cocaine-spray first to relieve pain, 
684 

Lactophosphates and hypophosphites, 114 

Morphine and wild-cherry bark in cough, 
prescription for, 683 

Nuclein, 291 

Oil of cloves, 164 

Opium, may be given in last stage, to re- 
lieve pain and discomfort, 302 

Oxygen, inhalations in dyspnoea, 307 

Pilocarpine, gr. ^a (0.003), one to two hours 
before sweat, sometimes arrests ; if it or 
atropine fails alone, give them together, 
684 

Potassium cyanide, in excessive cough, pre- 
scription for, 184 

Silver nitrate (gr. i to 2 to the ounce [0.03- 
0.1:32.0]), in spray, may be tried in 
laryngeal types, 284 

Strychnine, in dyspnoea, 295 

Sulphuric acid, internally, may relieve 
night-sweats, 684 

Terebene, iodide of ethyl and chloroform, 
equal parts, for inhalation, 683 

TYPHOID FEVER, 685. (See Fever.) 

Acetanilid, generally acts unfavorably, 46 

Alcohol, useful throughout course of dis- 
ease, 54, 686 

Asafeetida, by rectal injections, in tympa- 
nites, 88 

Belladonna in case of collapse or vasomotor 

■ relaxation, 94 

Calomel, gr. £ (0.011), every fifteen min- 
utes, till gr. 1 (0.05) is taken, followed 
by magnesium sulphate, \ ounce (16.0), 
if constipation lasts two days, 272, 687 

Cascara sagrada for constipation, 687 

Enemas, to be tried first, if constipation 
lasts over two days, 687 

Glycerin and water, equal parts, with a 
little lemon-juice, as a mouth-wash, if 
sordes are present, 211, 687 

Guaiacol, an antipyretic in, 214 

Guaiacol carbonate, an intestinal antiseptic 
of value, 215, 688 

Hydrochloric acid, dilute, gtt. 5 (0.3) every 
few hours, or, if bowels are inactive ni- 
tro-hydrochloric acid, gtt. 3 (0.15), 220, 
687 

Lime-water added to milk, if vomiting 
threatens, 687 

Liquorice powder, drachm 1 (4.0) if consti- 
pation lasts over two davs, 687 

Milk diet, 685, 687 

Morphine in large dose, if perforation oc 
curs. 688 

Opium for insomnia, 300 

Phosphorus, if nervous system is affected, 
321 



Prescription for diarrhoea, 688 
Quinine inferior to new antipyretics, 160 
Reduction of fever by cold, 401, 410 
Rest and diet, 685 

Silver nitrate, gr. \ to \ (0.011-0.015), high- 
ly recommended, 283 
Sulphocarbolate of zinc, useful, 364 
Thymol as an intestinal antiseptic, 376 
Turpentine, in the form of stupes, enemata, 
or by mouth, in tympanites, also useful 
in later stage, to relieve diarrhoea, heal 
ulcers, and prevent relapse, 381, 688 
Venesection, contraindicated, 688 

(For remedies for complications — intesti- 
nal hemorrhage, pneumonia, and pleurisy 
— see their titles.) 

ULCERS. 

Alcohol, a useful local application, 55 

Aristol, 376 

Benzoate of bismuth, as a dressing for in- 
dolent or sloughing ulcers, 98 

Burnt alum, as a dressing for old ulcers, 63 

Caustic potash, as an escharotic for exu- 
berant ulcers, 134 

Chimaphila, said to be of service in stru- 
mous ulcers, 135 

Conium, used locally to relieve pain, 176 

Copper, in solid or powder form, locally 
applied to indolent ulcers, 179 

Creolin, solution (1:100), as a douche for 
nasal ulcers, 162 

Dried alum, useful, 63 

Europhen, in 10 per cent, ointment, in leg 
ulcers, 204 

Gallic-acid ointment, in actively discharg- 
ing ulcers, 206 

Hamamelis. locally applied on a cloth, re- 
lieves leg ulcers, 216 

Hot pack to increase activity of skin, 426 

Hydrogen peroxide, a useful application, 
223 

Lime, as an escharotic in old ulcers, 115 

Methyl blue in corneal ulcers, 276 

Nitric acid, as a caustic for phagedenic 
ulcers, or a solution (gtt. 5 to 30 to the 
ounce [0.3-2.0 : 32.0]), locally applied to 
indolent types, 285 

Ointment of lead carbonate as a dressing, 
253 

Potassium permanganate (gr. 60 to the pint 
[4.0 : 500.0]), as an antiseptic wash, 314 

Precipitated carbonate of calcium, as a dry 
dressing, 113 

Silver nitrate, in hard pills, for intestinal 
ulcers, and by injection for rectal and 
caecal ulcers, 283 

Sulphuric acid, sometimes used as an es- 
charotic in slow ulcers, 368 

Unna's dressing, 306 

UREMIA, 689 
Atropine useful in pulmonary oedema, 689 
Bromides for convulsions, 690 
Caffeine useful to stimulate the kidneys, 

689 
Chloral and chloroform for convulsions, 

690 
Elaterium thought to aid elimination of 

poison by the bowel, 191, 689 
Ether given by the mouth or hypodermi- 

cally, 199 



IXDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



i (O 



Hot pack. GS9 

Hypodermoclysis, 690 

Xitro-glyceriD to increase the urinary flow 

when arterial tension is high, 6S9 
Pilocarpine, a most efficient remedy, 325, 

669 
Strychnine, followed by digitalis, for heart 

failure, 639 
Transfusion of salt solution of great value, 

690 
Urethan for convulsions, in large doses, 

690 
Venesection, very useful, 690 

URIC-ACID DIATHESIS. 

Acetate of potassium, 48 
Lime-water, 115 

Piperazine in the dose of 15 grains (1.0) a 
day in 1 pint (500.0) of water, 327 

URTICARIA. 

Calcium chloride, to prevent, 113 

UTERINE INERTIA. 
Kola useful, 249 
Quinine not of great value, 160 

UVULA (RELAXED). 

Capsicum, tincture of, and glycerin, equal 

parts, as a gargle, 125 
Kino, as a gargle, 248 

VARICOCELE. 

Cold water, applied by bidet, highly recom- 
mended, 408 

VARICOSE VEINS. 

Barium chloride, internally and locally ap- 
plied, said to be of value, 91 

VITREOUS DISEASES, 690 

Antisvphilitic treatment, if due to svphilis. 
690 

Galvanism, 690 

Leeches, in early stage, if due to inflam- 
mation, 690 

Pilocarpine, hvpodermicallv, in opacities, 
325, 690 

VOMITING, 690 

Acetanilid, very useful, 47, 691 
Allium-juice, gtt. 2-5 (0.1-0.3), useful in 

nervous vomiting, 59 
Arsenic in vomiting of pregnancy, and of 

hand-fed babies, and of drunkards, 85, 

693 
Bismuth and aconite may be of service, 

prescription for, 97, 692 
Brandv poured on cracked ice verv useful, 

55, 691 
Bromide of potassium, effervescing, 104 
Bromide of sodium, with laudanum as a 

rectal injection, prescription for, 104, 

301, 691 
Calomel, 272 
Carbolic acid or creosote, with bismuth, 

useful in aciditv and fermentation, pre- 
scription for, 128, 692 
Chloroform, gtt. 1 to 2 (0.05-0.1), in water, 

692 
Cloves, oil of, sometimes controls, 165 



Cocaine or aconite, if due to hyperexcita- 
bility of stomach, 168, 691 

Enemas, partially digested, if vomiting is 
incoercible, 693 

Faradism sometimes gives relief, 693 

Fowler's solution, gtt. \ to 1 (0.025-0.05), 
every two hours, useful in nausea fol- 
lowing debauch, 55, 693 

Hydrochloric acid. gtt. 5 to 15 (0.3-1.0), in 
water, every two hours, in alcoholic- 
nausea, 220, 693 

Hydrocvanic acid, dilute, gtt. 2 to 6 (0.1- 
0.3), in water, 221, 692 

Ice-bag, to nape of neck, lumbar region, or 
epigastrium, 693 

Iodine and carbolic acid, gtt. 1 (0.05) of each 
in dr. 2 (3.0) of water, 692 

Ipecac, in small doses, if due to gastric de- 
pression, 233, 692 

Lime-water, added to milk, may relieve 
nausea, 116, 693 

Mustard plaster over stomach, useful in all 
cases, 693 

Nitro-^lvcerin, verv useful in some cases, 
237"; 692 

Nux vomica, if due to gastric depression, 
prescription for, 693 

Peptonized milk, best food, 693 

Podophyllin, useful in gastric depression 
and hepatic torpor, 330 

Seidlitz powder, often settles stomach, if 
due to constipation, 351 

Vinegar fumes of service when inhaled, 691 

VOMITING OF PREGNANCY. 

Aconite, as a nervous sedative, 51 

Arsenic, may be tried, 85 

Bromide of potassium, as an effervescing 
draught, or with opium by enema, pre- 
scriptions for, 104 

Cerium oxalate, gr. 2 to 5 (0.1-0.25), in pill, 
every four or five hours, 134 

Cocaine, useful to decrease irritability, 168 

Iodine, tincture of, largely used of late 
with good results, 234 

Ipecac wine, gtt. 1 (0.05), or powder, gr. 2 
(0.1), useful in some cases, 233 

Menthol, very useful, 313 

WARTS. 

Acetic and salicylic acids combined, 48 
Chromic acid (gr. 100 to the ounce [6.5 : 

32.0]), locally applied, to remove, 154 
Fowler's solution, locally applied, 86 
Glacial acetic acid, useful to remove, 48 
Nitric acid, as a caustic, 285 
Salicylic acid, locally applied, 86 
Trichloracetic acid, useful. 379 

WHITE SWELLING. 
Iodine, 233 

WHOOPING-COUGH, 693 

Aconite or veratrum viride, if vascular en- 
gorgement is excessive, 694 

Amber, oil of, 63 

Amyl nitrite, when paroxysms interfere 
with respiration, 70, 694 

Antipyrin, gr. 2 (0.025-015), every five 
hours, probablv the best remedy, 78, 
693 



776 



INDEX OF DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Belladonna, tincture of, gtt. \ (0.025), thrice 
daily, to child of one or two years, 94 

Benzine, 694 

Bromoform, prescription for, 107, 694 

Bronchitis tent, to modify severity of at- 
tacks, 694 

Carburetted hydrogen, 694 

Chloral, 138 

Chloride of gold and sodium has been rec- 
ommended, 212 

Chloroform, a few whiffs, if paroxysms in- 
terfere with respiration, 151, 694 

Gelsemium, 208 

Hyoscyamus, probably better than bella- 
donna, 224 

Milk, in small amounts, may overcome 
vomiting following paroxysms, 694 

Monobromated camphor, 119 

Quinine (gr. 1 to the ounce [0.05:32.0]), 
in spray, useful, also of service in ex- 
posed children as a prophylactic, 160, 
694 

Eesorcin, gtt. 10 (0.65), of a 2 per cent, so- 
lution, internally, or, better, in spray, 
335 

Silver nitrate (gr. J to 1 to the ounce [0.025- 
0.05:32.0]), in spray, used when stom- 
ach is empty, 284 

WORMS, 695 

Aspidium, very efficient against tape-worm, 
prescription for, 89, 695 

Azedarach, a useful remedy against round- 
worms, 90 

Brayera, as an infusion, or fluid extract, 
against round-worms, 694 

Calomel, should follow or precede all drugs 
used for tape-worm, 696 

Castor oil, or a saline purgative, should fol- 
low remedies for round-worms, 695 

Chenopodium, oil of, gtt. 5 to 20 (0.3-1.3), 
on sugar, to remove round-worms, 135. 
695 

Chloroform, should not be used against 
tape- worm, 151 

Cusso in tape-worm, 183 



Kamala, drachms 1 to 2 (4.0-8.0), in syrup, 
against tape-worms, 248 

Koosin, gr. 40 (2.6), to adult, against round- 
worms, contraindicated in pregnant 
women, 695 

Matricaria, 261 

Pelletierine, gr. 1 to 2 (0.05-0.1), in capsule, 
best remedy against tape-worm, 695 

Pepo, ounce 2 (64.0), in confection, against 
tape-worm, 311, 695 

Pomegranate, useful in tape-worm, 331, 695 

Quassia injections, preceded by soap and 
water, most useful remedy against seat- 
worms, 334, 695, 696 

Bue, should not be used against round- 
worms, 338 

Bules for diet preceding tseniacides, 695 

Salicylic acid, gr. 8 (0.6), hourly, till gr. 40 
(2.6) are taken, against round-worms, 
or as an injection against seat-worms, 
prescription for, 342 

Santonin, gr. \ to \ (0.016-0.3), in troches, 
for child, against round-worms, 347, 695 

Spigelia, alone, or, better, with senna, to 
remove round- worms, 359, 695 

Turpentine and castor oil, equal parts, effi- 
cient, but somewhat dangerous, against 
tape- worm, 382 

Zinc oxide, prescription for, 306 

WOUNDS. 

Acetanilid as a dusting powder, 47 
Alcohol, very useful in contused .wounds, 55 
Collodion, as an air-tight dressing for small 

wounds, 173 
Oil of cinnamon, 163 
Potassium permanganate (gr. 20 to 60 to the 

pint [1.3-4.0:500.0]), as an antiseptic 

wash, 314 
Salicylic acid, 342 
Sozoiodol, as an antiseptic and disinfectant 

in diseased wounds, 358 

YELLOW FEVER. 

Cocaine of great value as a stimulant and 
anti-emetic, 168 



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